New-York tribune., 1900-01-31

BOOTH. Edited BY William Winter 9ctstHo, S,eat
pp vi 41s Philadelphia: The Penn PUBLISHING
Company.
Modern revivals OF Shakespeare give students
much TO think about Criticism of the actor
has wide scope for il must embrace much
more than lies the surface, extending not
onv 10 his impersonation of a character but
10 his treatment Of the text to the version OF
the poet that he presents. We say version
because both as regards text and setting modern
representations Of Shakespeare illustrate the
widest diversity of taste and opinion Mr. Win
ter reminds us that until Irving presented The
Merchant of Venice" in this country in its in
tegrity. some seventeen years ago, Booth omit
ted the fifth act in his performances. The ques-
ton OF stage setting. intimately related to the
question Of textuaI fidelity or independence, has
likewise excited abundant argument At the
present moment MI Poel and his associates in
London give occasional performances of Shake
speare which follow as far as possible the pre-
sumed theatrical conditions Of the Elizabethan
era simultaneously Mr.. Beerbohm Tree and
other English actors have set Shakespeare on
the stage with the magnifcence of accessories
made familiar by Sir Henry Irving and by the
late Augustin DAILY. a magnifcence which has
moved a student like Mr.. Sidney Lee to protest.
The author of the new Life Of Shakespeare"
is Of the opinion that play can be dressed too
much. Into controversial details are not
Mr.. Winters edition of the shakespearean and
other plays acted by Edwin Booth, printed
for the first time in handsome library form,
with additional prefaces and augmented notes,
suggests once more the solution which to many
observers undoubtedly seems the best one These
volumes demonstrate the efficacy of the golden
mean between drastic freedom and pedantic
awe in all that relates to the representation Of
Shakespeare's plays.
- rbo
had illusions about the French fetch Of the
jejune critic. "the well made play" never
theless keenly aware Of the fact that the
stage art and scholarship should meet half way,
producing an essentially dramatic effect. His
version Of Hamlet" discloses perfectly his
gacious view Of the matter 'It is shorter than
the original" says M. Winter "by about one
thousand lines The passages excluded are
those which, 1t is thought, might prove tedious
in the representation, and which, therefore, may
well be spared Among them are the episode of
Fortinbras, the colIoquy between Polon!us and
Reynaldo, and the interview between Hamlet
and the Norwegian soldiers. Certain speeches
which momentary arrest the action-of the piece
such as that of Horatlo the preparations for
war, and that of Hamlet the custom Of rev.
elry in Denmark-have been rejected, as impedi-
ments to directness of dramatic effect. The
excisions also include dialogues, such those
but the descriptive repetition of action that has
already been shown the narration of incident
that has been distinctly implied Passages
which do but amplify and reiterate ideas that
have previously been made sufficiently clear for
the practical purposes of the stage have likewise
been discarded. The servtlity Of Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern. for example, is known well
enough without their candied and fawning
speeches to the king, after the play scene; and
hofh Ham fa1 he
of It are plainly evident long before he reaches
his monologue the expedition of Fortinbras.
In few instances lines of the original have
been transposed; In a very few instances words
have been altered-but never to the perversion
Of the meaning. Coarse phrases have been cast
aside. or modified, wherever they occur. In the
fourth act. Marcellus. instead of Horatio has
been made to announce the madness of Ophelia
and to attend upon her, for the reason that had
Horatio been aware Of her calamity he must
have communicated il to Hamlet prior to their
encounter with the funeral procession in the
churchyard. Care has been particularly taken
10 omit nothing that is essential to the exposi-
ton Of Hamlets madness. and of the mental
condition that leads him 10 assume it. E.
The clearness and fulness Of all the characters
implicated have been studiously sought in the
necessary condensation of the piece" Charles
Cowden Clarke thought that the stage versions
Of Shakespeare were so ''notoriously abridged"
that IL was impossible TO judge from them "of
the poets delineation of character" However
true this may have been of acting versions
known IN his day, there can be only one answer
TO the question to whether Booth did any
essential violence 70 Shakespeare when he put
the plays the stage. Not only in his repre-
sentation Of Hamlet but in the case of every
other Shakespearean drama with which he dealt
it is the unanimous testimony Of those best
qualified to judge that he gave first and last an
Interpretation OF the poet unerringly faithful
to the latterAs central idea, unfaihngly wise and
noble
The purpose of these volumes is not merely
to celebrate his judgment and art, but to per-
petuate his practical contributions to the re-
sources Of the actor and the student. The flame
and beauty of his genius have passed. His prac-
tical services to the stage remain. AS far back
1S77, in conversation with Mr.. Winter, he
acknowledged the loss to modern dramatic art
in the disappearance OF nearly all record Of the
stage business of famous actors in the past
To-day it is extremely difficult for to recreate
in the mind picture of how those actors played
the parts with which their names are associated
in history, and il suggested to Booth that
1.-The time would come when students of acting
might find it hard to learn material facts
about his Hamlet and Richelieu we had
found it to learn material facts about Burbage
in Shylock Henderson in Iago." The out
come Of this talk was the printing of Booths
plays as he presented them, with the text rein
forced by such notes and indications as would
enable the actor and manager to put them on
the stage in Booths way long after Booth had
departed. The work was admirably DONE and
in this new edition much fresh matter goes to
make it still more serviceable and interesting
he