New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-27
THE WINTERS TALE
BinthroP fines Tets Of ITS
Production al Mex Thcqlre.

T
as nearly -e7em0ling jhe stage 90 sha.s-
speare's day as The n.os- careful Oh cst..,a-
tiOn has permitted. AZ leae. ~7 -er. We
throp Ames. director OF The New Theatre
The measurements n the (tase wills coin
eiee with recently dlscovereaN inns ~ an ort
theatre patterned after tho sha<esno-,,.
theatre. The stage viii be made n. - -.
parasitic inner STAGE ami the outer e..
or neutral zone. The inner STAGE y,9ri ~o-,..,-
practically all the prOperties ana rcape-,.
The outer stage viii have nothing h., =,
bench or two. and there is no aftlorr,,,
even for this. There win 10 an s--,, -
extension OF the stare. reac1inr cur i~.o
the audience. az IN shakor-e7-a.s d9v --s,,
VIII be accomplished 5r raising tra aoor
OF the musicians PIT D. level qr.1 -.,.,
the staSe The audience however win
have a roof over their heads. which, 49,
more than they could boast I'm Eliza.o..,,
times. The scenery viii be- taocstr,os
since no authority is known FOR ANYTHING
else. Over and around the stage win ev-
tend a balcony. which. I'M This oerfo~,,-
anee, will probably be used By musicians.
In speaking OF the production OF I'm,
Winters Tale on a shsk espearia- stage
Mr.. Ames said.
1--WE are not doing this because n fs ~
archaeological value. We wanted o. bro
duce play on a Shakesqear4an stage and
we selected The Winters Ta.e' because
4 IS one of the most beautiful of Saake-
speare's plays. because the settings are
beautiful and because 10 will play faster
and give more vivid idea 81 the story
than a modern production would. Tas
Winters Tale is a fairy tale 10 should
not be made real everything Is suggestive
Modern scenery would only call attention
20 the anachronisms OF the play. II would
be almost impossible 70 stage IL in any one
locality. The little inner stage suits the
idea exactly. Shakespeare used this 20
represent the scenes OF the action. There
is no authority for saying that acting was
done on the inner stage. but II is alto
gether likely that there was.
I'm the various acts we shall have our
settings on this inner stage.
Scenes Of the Play.
The first scene opens in the palace %
Leontes. which is represented by two
thrones, behind which Is a state canopy.
The decorations make the whole stage
Ike palace. We have used only two seats
on the apron. In one or two other cases
furniture is brought on during the course Of
the action. This scene lasts until Hermions
Is taken TO prison. and then the curtains
reopen, indicating a prison. or. rather. ths
outer approach 70 a prison. In Act III.
Scene I. the scene changes TO a court OF JUS
tice II is plain panelled. like the walls OF
a court. with the table. which contains the
law books. the swords OF state. etc. Act
III. Scene 2 shows a cave in a desert cOun-
try near the sea. This is indicated by filing
a.
shape OF a cave. AT the same time the
hangings are changed from court tapestries
70 OUt-Of-dOOT tapestries.
''Then we represent the palace Of POLK
enes in Bohemia. with a single throne. dif-
ferent royal hangings. different royal prop
critics. In Act ". Scene ?. Shakespeare
represented no particular place. Editors
call II a road. In that case the curtains are
closed There is no need OF suggestion.
Then we come TO the sheep shearing scene
"a pastoral scene. In Act ". scene g,
the shepherds hut is shown now the inner
stage is Set like the interior OF a cottage
for the sheep shearins feast. The table IS
loaded with fruit and strings OF drying
vegetables hang from the roof The iron.
OF the stage may'be taken as a continual
ton Of the same room. or the garden; the
suggestion is complete. In Act v. Scene !.
the scene returns TO LeOntes's palace. The
last scene indicates the house OF Paulina,
the inner niche being set like a shrine with
the statue Of the Queen. which comes %
life. There is an interesting bit Of history
here. Shakespeare says this statue was
made by Julio Romano, noted IN bis time.
Like the tomb OF Queen Elizabeth. this
tomb was painted and coIored 70 represent
life. so that the statue. even when IL came
TO life. kept the same color.
Curtain for Intsrmission Only.
Il think the audience will md this pres
entatiOn very vivid. We shall not drop the
outer curtain al the end OF the scenes. We
shall draw IL only for the intermission.
The divisions will be indicated Just as they
were in Shakespeare's day. by strains OF
Elizabethan music.
VERY much OF the investigation for this
production has been done by John Corbin.
who has made a special study Of the
Elizabethan stage. n is interesting % note
that probably this little inner stage was the
forerunner Of the present stage As scenery
developed this little stage enlarsed and
pushed its way forward until 10 filed TIE
entire space The curve Of the footligh's
OF to-day Is probably a survival Of t1e
apron.
I'm the version we use Scene = Of Act
III OF the original Is omitted but ms
scene is only twcnty-one lines long ih
the original and has no bearing on ths
story The Rhine speech OF the chorus -
also omitted. Il is doubtful 81 this VS.
written by Shakespeare az all for ih'
versidcation is very poor. Most Of t'
noted critics agree that 30 was written il
Iafer There - also ore other omission OF
one hundred lines IN ACT Y. Scene . o"'
there seems % be authority Tor on-tu"s
these. as they have always been omitted.
and Collier wrote IN the margin, as 't nos
originally acted. The PLAY Is long one
There are SOFA lines. II has always 'ee"
my belief that the printed versions ve He''
OF Shakespeare are not the acting vefsip''
When he talked about the TWO and n@
hours trafhc Of play. 1 th.uS De Ui'--..
just that Just as In Shaw's and fl"eto
plays-entire acts are omitted rn ,Ac aS''"s
versions
The winters Tale Is one OF snaA
speare's later PLAYS when he wrote " -
STYLE was getting more 'nvolvcd-thc's ~
tons we have eliminated. 6ct ''e.v
much beautiful poetry IN &C. ana 70 !"
vel adapted o. our particular P''''
That IS why We chose &C."
s
ILLUSTRATED LECTURES.