The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-11

atre Friday and Saturday nights and Sat urday matinee, presenting three Shake spearean plays. On Friday night Mac beth'' will be produced; "The Merchant of Venice will be offered at the Saturday matinee, and Hamlet" will conclude the engagement.
 For 20 years in England and during the past six years in the United States the Ben Greet players have delighted large audiences everywhere with their unique presentation of Shakespeare's plays as Shakespeare intended them to be played. Following their appearance in New York state and Pennsylvania cities, they are touring the large cities and college towns of the south, where they are meet ing with even greater success than dur ing their visit to this part of the country two years ago.
 March 30, 1909, this famous English com pany of players presented Macbeth at Co., lumbia, s. c. The State devoted almost a column to an enthusiastic account of the performance. It said in part: .'The production indeed, recalled to readers of Shakespeare the open-air performance in the so-called theatres of the early years of the seventeenth century or in the court yards of the nobles It recalled, also, the traditions of the stage productions of that time, the fine simplicity of the scenery,
 
 confidence of the actor to produce by his own impersonation whatever of illusion was essential to the proper understand ing and appreciation of the work of the dramatists.
 '"The play was produced throughout in single setting-a courtyard with d gate way. The scant shifting of scenes was accomplished by the setting of tables or chairs or in the witch scene by pile of rocks and stones and an imitation caul- dron, for the manufacture of the charms witches brew. These simple devices proved sufficient. The spare setting of the stage for the Ben Greet players did not jar upon the audience, nor did 1t seem to strike any one as ridiculous or unusual It satisfied the artistic sense in every re- spect What particularly impressed one was that this very spareness and chari- ness of scenery in stage properties and devices seemed to leave to the actor a greater spaciousness in which to act his part. He was not trammeled, not 'cabined,' cribbed,' confined by the intricate and emeshing paraphernalia of the modern stage. This liberty gives him a new inspiration, the spaciousness of the scene enfranchising his spirit in his art
 ''One of the ideals of the company is to interpret the play both as drama and as literature. That both objects are fully attained no one can reasonably doubt. It Is probable that no other company that has been seen and heard upon the Amer ican stage has ever read the lines of Shakespeare with such beauty and effec- tiveness. Not only were the words read with perfect articulation. they were ready with perfect expression and with fineness and sureness of interpretation, that de- noted the full significance of every pas sage. All the players were good and some of them were excellent Passages that seem, in our closest reading, to be long and intricate enough to over-burden the interpretation of the actor, were read in natural manner, yet with perfect under standing.
 MT. Staley Drewitt's Macbeth was a particularly fine and pleasing character ization. His Voice was rich and clear, and his presence attractive and sufficient ly martial and kingly. Possibly his best work last night was in the banquet scene when murdered Banquo's ghost sits in his own place at the table. His denote ment of terror and stricken conscience was powerful and convincing This scene. by the way. which Is one of exceed ing difficulty in production of this simple character, was managed with great adroitness and with fine illusory ef-