Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-13
THE LONDON THEATER,

LONDON, April 29.-Otho Stuart, man.
ager of the London Adelphi, must be feel
ing bit like Frankenstein at present.
Stuart hasn't called any uncouth monster
into being, it is true, but he is directly to
blame for the extraordinary epidemic of
Hamlet which is raging in London just
now. That epidemic has not reached its
height, but promises to do so in week or
two, when no less than ten princes of Den
mark are to be on view at different Lon
don theaters.
1t was the uncommon success of the Ade-
phi revival of The Tanning of the Shrew''
that decided Stuart to follow it with Ham
let, and, as every one knows H. B. Irving
was chosen for the Dane and has scored
immensely in the part Probably Stuart
had no idea what would be the consequences
of this lead on his part. Probably it never
entered his head that practically every con-
temporary actor of prominence who ever
had essayed Hamlet would promptly be
moved to essay it again. But so it was to
be. Hardly had the Adelphi Hamlet been
produced than the announcement came that
Beerbohm Tree would also be seen as the
Dane, and no sooner had the public mind
recovered its serenity than news came from
Dublin, where Martin Harvey has been ap-
pearing, that the erstwhile Sidney Carton
was planning to give London a taste of
his Hamlet"
yet His Hamlet is due at the Lyric as
soon as Maxine Elliott's four-wcek season is
over, and will have a special interest through
the appearance of Stephen Phillips, author of
Ulysses and 'Herod," in the part of the
Ghost, which he formerly played in Ben
sons company Mr.. Tree. however, has al
ready appeared the Dane, both with the
ordinary stage accessories and without
them-interest in his single performance at
Oxford upon a stage hung with green cur
tains having led him to repeat the expert
ment at His Majesty's. E. F. Benson, too,
has been giving Hamlet at Stratford-on-
Avon, and now, to make the thing complete,
an astonshed thea ter-going world has
learned that Forbes Robertson, who got
back from the United States this week,
means to lose no time in putting on Ham
let'-with his wife, Gertrude Elliott in the
part of Ophelia.
But the end is not yet. The craze has
spread to the music halls and variety
of comic "Hamlets" is threatened instanter
Already Bransby Williams is reproducing
the respective Danes of Irving and Tree at
the Empire. Whimsical Walker is prepar-
ing to revive the late Sir Augustus Harris
Hamlet in a Hurry" and Edwin Barwick
is rehearsng a sketch called Shakespeare
Shattered or Four Hamlets in the Field"
Walter Passmore. late of the Savoy COM
pany, is also going to appear as Hamlet
for the edification of Coliseum audiences.
VIII this latest theatrical bacillus find its
way across the Atlantic? 1t is to be hoped
not Meanwhile LondOners have just re-
membered with perturbation that Bernhard
is coming soon. Bernhard. 1t will be re-
membered. played Hamlet once, and the
spirit of emulation might induce her to play
it again. There is some anxiety, too, lest
William Gillette who arrived in London this
week. should be tempted by the general ac-
tivity to make that production of Ham
let" which he promised so long ago.
x *
With all due respect to Clyde Fitch's tai
ents it would be better for the reputation
of American dramatists in general if the
managers would stop trying to please Lon
don audiences with his plays. The thing
cannot he done-and Her Own Way is
further proof of ii. Even Maxine Elliott's
personal charms fail to distract attention
from the thin theatricalness of the play.
seen through London eyes. The first night
performance at the Lyric on Tuesday was
warmly, even enthusiastically. received by
the Americans in the stalls but the Briton
in the pit said boo a the final curtain
call and the British critics mostly said
boo in the apers next morning. although
there were many kindly words for Maxine
Elotts beauty. There is an unfortunate
tendency here to accept the vulgarities sa-
tried in the play as typical Americanisms.
and the sardonic Times critic gets almost
a column of amusement for himself in view
ing the whole thing as an entertaining
chronological exhibit, not to be discussed Sc
riously drama.
X
One wonders what the feelings of that
anonymous old author of "Everyman'' can
be if his spirit. departed hence these many
centuries is cognizant of the fact that his
fine morality play has been successfully
revived yet again. after prosperous runs last
year in both England and America. Tita
Brand interrupted her season at the
Shaftesbury to put "Everyman'' on during
holy week. with herself in the role of
knowledge and Edith WynneMathison as
''Everyman" the part that made her ia
NOUS The simple, sincere. solemn old play
seemed all the more effective by contrast
on the very boards once sacred to THE
BELLE of New York; and The Prince of
Pilsen."
This is Sousa week again in London. The
agile conductor is beginning to be looked
upon as such an established British insti-
tuition that if it were not for THE Stars
an. Stripes and similar patriotic outpour-
ings your average British concertgoer would
soon be pointing to the indefatigable John
Philip as prime product of British art
and exemplar of the supremacy of music
made in England.
Americas foremost purveyors of vaude-
vile enterprises are now in Europe prepara-
tory to the establishment of houses of en-
tertainment in London similar to those
which have been successful in the United
States B. F. Keith, his son, Paul Keith
| and F. F. Albee, general manager of the
! Keith system. have just passed through
| London to the Continent a still hunt"
| / am told for talent with which to enter
| the English field. Their presence on this
side has not been made public here, and