Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-24

uy 70 reach the SAID Ben Greete dressing
room by the route that lies behind the
stage and he will change his mind.
The path lies through, By and among
many bits Of canvass, spears a ton or
30 OF thunder lightning to burn. plenty
Of wind and a Kitchen full Of witchs uten-
sils' 90 that yoJA can't help wondering how
MI Greet ever sot the reputation Of be-
ING manager whd carried all his costumes
and belongings for Sts productions in a suit
case.
hVen his dressing rom has none OF tho
aseetie appearance that would harmonize
Awith his rather cleIhoal appearance, and
we Walls screens nd doors are papered
aIpd peppered with the latest hinEs from
thy critics
Ahd no matter howl many devious paths
gpu may have travbrsed in finding Mr..
street, there Is only bne that he will allow
you 70 wander in u bder his supervision
that is the path OF Retaliation for he as
serts that he feels that he has been mis-
understood and mihrepresented By the ma
jority Of dramayd critics.
Before taking the button on his foil. how
ever and m9fEing his FIRST lunge Mr.. Greet
gives q few managerial notes concerning
the performdl nce Of Macbeth"
Very few works of Shakespeare" says
Mr' 0reet,T have been 80 badly mauled
py thee play adapter, The object Of this
representation is 70 show the work, how
ever inadequateiy, as a dramatic and lit
!. ferary masterpiece. The play is undoubt-
edly fine vehicle for modern stage eff
fects, provided its dignity is not made sub
servient 20 limslight and machinery. Tho
tragedy OF Macbeth was hrst acted in
1905 and frat printed automatically in 1921
Ms
served In the Ashmolean musemum, states
that he saw Macbeth acted at tho Globe
theater April %. 1910 Samuel Pepys was
so fond OF The play that he writes Of hav-
/ ing seen It some dozen times In Ave years,
16e4-sa
''Myriads Of commentators have imputed
all sorts OF motives to Shakespeare and
the court OF King James I (James VI Of
Scotland) In writing this play. II is de-
clared that It was written 70 order and
partly in revenge for the death Of Mary
Stuart, the kings mother, during the
reig1f of Elizabeth.
IAN material required for the play is
derived from Holinshed's Chronicles,
Sixty lines are omitted; there are three
OF four intervals.
I'm regard to the scenery, the first re-
corded use OF painted scenery in England
was a cloth representing the sun, used
in a court masque, 1888, but a piece Of
painted canvas IL used in this representa-
ton for one OF the witch scenes.
''The greater part OF the music per-
formed in Macbeth consists Of sixteenth
century Scotch tunes taken from the stra-
loch manuscript, now preserved In the Ad-
vocate's library, in Edinburgh. The orig
inRl music Of the songs Come Away and
Black Spirits being lost, Arnold Dol
metsch has written new settings for this
performance in the style OF the time Of
the play.
''The words Of the songs are the same
as those used by Thomas Middleton in
The Witch, written about the same time,
.
1.-THE care in research and detail shown
IN Macbeth" continues Mr.. Greet, drop
ping tho managerial manner for while,
''are paralleled by that represented in
every one of the other plays given by us.
zone OF the New York critics called our
costumes 'threadbare.' honestly don't
know what he expected to see-bright
pinks and yellows and reds, possibly.
What he did see were costumes absolutely
accurate, 80 far as human ability could
show them, and costumes on which neither
time, money nor patience was economical.
The Macbeth costumes are not magnih-
cent: they could not represent the time
and place II they were like those, say, of
Romeo and Juliet Merchant Of Venice
and Twelfth Night II was rough Time
and in the faded tapestries on the wall,
the battle-stained garments, the primitive
weapons and appliances you see the Scot
land OF the day, not that Of the fevered
imagination of a spectacular minded man
ager,
I'm regard TO the protests that / don't
use scenery which has led many people
TO believe that / give my representations
In bare, whitewashed interiors, l do not
use scenery in the sense that a curtain with
an advertisement or an assurance that it Is
made of asbestos drop down every few
moments. nor do l use the modern shifting
scenery that is familiar to the playgoer Of
today; but SO far as possible l represent
the stage effects OF shakespeare's time.
1.-THE critics. noting with wonderful
acumen, that have merely put the names
Of the characters OF the plays, without the
usual names OF the actors and actresses
following, have assumed that there could
be but one reason for this, One of them
said he didn't blame me for not mentioning
their names because they were all anna
tours, and another asks who ever heard OF
years 70 English plsygoers, but not here,
OF course
Some OF the men and women. in the
Players have been with me for more than
ten years, All OF them have been selected
for a special gift OF voice or style and,
above all. for enthusiasm, without which
not even criticism Is ever rightly accom-
plished.
Personally / do not believe that all the
critics combined win make one single per-
son 20 70 a theateF who does not want 70
see that particular play, but l do think
that a consensus Of adverse criticism must
have a pernicious, deterrent effect upon the
public mind II isn't In human nature "a
hold fast to a faith without some sort OF
Endorsement. don't think It is fair at all
for people who are trying to do serious
work 70 be treated In this hippant way.
And don't critics know that in crtticizins
US IN this way they are holding up TO ridi'
Guile the men who are authorities on these
matters and from whom are constantly
coming letters OF encouragement and ap-
proval2 There Is scarcely college presi'
dent who has not given us this word OF
approval. not a student OF recognised au'
thority !n the field OF shakespeAriana. FOL
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