The times., 1901-03-12
AT THE THEATRES.
y. III. Sothern i'm "HamIet." -"

cent production Of Hamlet, as showed
It the National Theatre last evening he
| fore an audience that was numerically
| large and decidedly demonstrative in its
reception of the play ana its interpreters.
Seldom has presentation Of a cassi
cal drama received the same amount of
approval that was accorded to Hamlet
To judge from the amount of commenda-
| lion that was manifested, one would b,
led to imagine that it was not Shake
spearean drama that occupied the stage.
but a popular modern book play. In his
latest contribution to local theatrical his
tory Mr.. Sothern scored veritable tri-
umph and displayed the most intelligent
and Credtable piece of acting of his ca
reer
The Hamlet of Mr.. Sothern is a more
correct physical reproduction of tho
character as made fa miliar to the thea
tire patrons Of this country by Edwin
Booth than has ever been showed by any
other player of the role. The Booth dress
the dark, clustering hair. the handsome
eyes with the shadow of mournfulnes:
haunting them, the broad, pale brow-an
these characteristics of the Booth Ham
let are exhibited by Mr.. Sothern, wheth-
er Intentionally or not and cannot but
help call I'D memories of Hamlet of
another day
Mr. Sotherns production of the play
VIII prove most attractive to serious stu
dents OF the drama, for in it they viii
ma that ShakeSpeareS lines have rot
! been very materially tampered with 10y
| any OF the modern stage managers, and
! that the readings and illustrative .'busi-
ne IS are those that have been made
familiar in previous presentations Of the
piece, Rather more Of the text is used
in the first scene of horatio and the
soldier than is generally showed on the
stage. Ophelia : recital of Hamiet'S visit
Is retained. but the speech Of Hamlet
while the King is at prayer is omitted.
After the King : solloquy and prayer, the
Queen and Polonius take possession of
the room he has occupied aud there Ham
let berateS the one and slaughtefS the
1 other The harsher treatment of Guilden-
stern, because he wears a media llion Of
| Claudius while Rosencrautz has none is
apparently a new but not especially vaIl-
able point Throughout the entire per
fOrmance there is no effort at triCkorV
and when on the throne Sothern does not
resort to Theatres and does not crawl like
a serpent in the play scene or juggle with
the bedchamber candlesticks as has been
done Dy some previous HdmletS. The
to be or not to be speech, which is de-
liVered while gazing into a ire, is a
rather pleasing innovation The Sothern
production of Hamlet is the very thing
that has been looked for by all who are
Interested in the proper establishment of
ShakeSpearean standards-a careful SEN
slble. coherent, tasteful, pictorial, and de
=
which VIII lind great favor with those who
like Shakespeare and help form the thea
tregoing habit in many who now quite
eXcuSaMy deem attendance at the thea
tire merely waste of time.
Mr. Sotherns idea of Hamlet is
poetical one. His treatment of the part
is highly romantic, and there is but little
glamour on the gloom. His prince is an
intellectual parsonage. with almost a
relish for the artistic quality his life has
come to bear In this light, the corus-
eating genius of Hamlets speeches is
easily inteIigible and in no sense the
utterances of a madman. The soliloquy
Is done Superbly and almost in a whis-
per and with a fine sense of cadence in
every line and phrase. The paSsa ges
with POlonius, HOratiO, Rosencrantz. and
} Guildeustern are models Of the mood in
which Hamlet may be supposed 10 have
{ been in foCilDg all, and the cryptic preg-
narCies Of his utterances seem to gratify
/ himself as much as they puzzled his
hearers.
Virginia Harmed is the Ophelia of the
! performance, and brings to the role
charming personality, an undeniable
genius. and Il varied and valuable eX-
/ perience which combine to make her
/ work notable. Her reading as a rule is
/ lucid, and she never gives her audience
/ the idea that she is elOcutionist on
/ the rampage, as so many Of her predeces-
I sOrs in the part have done. She is always
easily understood across the line of foot
/ lights. and makes good foil for her
! husbands Hamlet Her delivery Of the
f SiltttH 10 LdefttS III ncf HTSI scene IS
! splendidly done and in the scenes with
! Hamlet she is invariably satisfying The
/ mad scene. which only needs to be con-
/ Quoted simply and without any striving
/ for effect, is played very gracefully and
with fine sense of the picturesque
Miss Charlotte Deane Is a decidedly able
Queen, and her work is particularly
/ strong i'm the scene In which Hamlet re-
proaches her for her infideiity to her lord
or the male members Of the cast. next
| to Mr.. Sothern undoubtedly comes Edwin
! Farrey, who displays an uncommonly fine
! ability and who makes Poonius a really
! great conception. Roland Blackstone. that
! standby of so many Sothern productions
! is excellent First Gravedigger. Vim
! cent SternrOyd as Laertes shows a strong
! tendency to oVeract. which mars an other
/ wise cOmmendable performance. Arthur
! Lawrence is a King of the old school. and
/ a good one, too. while the HOratio OF
| Henry CaVil is especially well done
As a production. pure and simple. the
! Sothern Hamlet is elaborate and with
! out any doubt the most magnificent the
/ drama has ever been given on local
| stage. There is "A large number Of extra
! players who are ably handled and who
! contribute greatly 10 the effectiveness Of
/ the scenes in which they appear
Mr.. SOthern will continue to present
! Hamlet during the remainder Of the
/ week, with a matinee on Saturday On
/ Wednesday. Miss Harmed will give a spe-
! cial matinee of Camille" which is at
! tracing a good deal of attention. and
/ promises to be event Of more than
! ordinary Importance.