The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-11-12

multi ever increases on the floor Of the
stage, as does the noise Of lamentation
po se s sssa AND NJ 9on o
until at last the words OF Capulet spoken
to Paris from the window put an end to
this shocking contrast In the modern
and decorations. half Of the effect Of such
scenes Is lost"
A modern manager puts Shake
spearean play on the stage with vast
display OF elaborate scenery and gorge
Gus costumes Long waits between the
scenes and acts make II necessary to
mutiiate the play in various ways. Scenes
apart, the order of the parts OF the play
Is freely. departed from. and many pass
ages and whole scenes are omitted alto
gether. In this way many touches OF
preparation. retrospect, transition and
characterization are simply dropped. The
result may be magnificent. but in many
ways i Il not Shakespeare. Moreover,
so oppressive that managers are loath to
produce Shakespeare at all Sir Henry
Irving recently announced that his losses
70 eloo.Wo Plays written expressly for
the modern stage are more cautious In
the demands that they make.
Undoubtedly Shakespeare sometimes
went too far in breaking UP the action Of
a drama into separate, scattered scenes,
bnt in his greatest works all the parts
OF the play should be presented. and the
scenes
sary part Of the effect The order OF the
separate short scenes In the firth act OF
Macbeth is definite part OF the dra-
matte effect
shakespeares plays were constructed
Tor Shakespeare's theater; they are faisi-
fled when presented to an audience in an
entirely different manner. This fact has
and various attempts have been made to
remedy the difficulty. number OF
Eiixabethan plays have been presented by
the students of Harvard university dur
constructed In the Eizabethan fashion.
Since 1895 the Eiixabethan Stage Society.
Of London. has presented number OF
manner. But the only important attempt
to appeal to the general public by means
OF reformed method of presenting the
plays OF Shakespeare has been made in
terval Of two years. the plays of Shake
speare have been frequently acted there
upon a specially prepared stage. Only
such omissions are made In the text as
strict imitation OF the Eixabethan, but
Is said to resemble Il In the more i'm.
portant features. Only a moderate use
tive efrects. This element is kept subor-
dinate There are no waits between the
scenes. and only slight ones between the
acts. The specially prepared stage en-
speare- Buhne"--the Shakespeare stage
Many lovers OF Shakespeare I'm Germany
are enthusiastic over this reform. They
insist that whole play Of Shakespeare
makes very different impression from
the selected parts and tableau effects TO
which the modern stage has accustomed
US. The Shakespearean presentations at
Munchen offer an abundance Of pleasure
and instruction for the students of the
great dramatist
The peculiar feature In the mechanism
Of the Shakespeare Buhne In said to be
that one movable back stage can be set
In order while another Is being used
each OF these back parts can be moved
In behind the permanent forward portion
or the stage when II II wanted.
The important facts are that Shake
speare's plays are given at Muncher in
full, without waits. and with only a mod
crate amount of stage furnishing. The
accent is put upon the acting and elocu-
ton and not upon the scene painting and
rich setting. Judging by the reports the
experiment IL a success. popularity, edu-
cationally and financially. Would that
America might honor In similar wny
the memory Of the grr~. ~ost,
I9eA~<HGA<~o.
University of Chicago.