New-York tribune., 1912-03-10
"HAMLET" IN MOSCOW
Gordon Craig's Production,

Gordon CraIg's production Of Hamlet
has aroused the keenest interest on all
sides. and. 10 iudge from the enthu7ia m
I dIspIaved hy crowded house At tho re-
|hearsaI. its success is already assured
To any ono acquainted with tho Theatre
'd'Art It will not appear surprising tha'
Mr.. craig should have accepted an invita-
tfou 10 go 80 far as Moscow To produce
/ Hamlet" I'm a country where the drama
/ holds "A more important and a more con-
sistcntIy serious place among thu arts than
II does I'm England, this theatre has at
tanned an almost unrivalled position among
its kind II not only aims at a Mgr
standard. but has succeeded In MAINTAIN
| ing that standard for many years, and
with e. n reputation which Is rapidly
spreading throughout Europe
/ whatever play they produce il carried
out with thoroughncss and mastery of de-
tail. and they are able TO handle the most
diverse material with such surcness o.
/ toucb that one can but wonder at IN
I,Ialnrat. mechanism which must be PIT
IN motion TO produce such technical per-
| fcction. II has carried realism as FAR,
probably. as any theatre i'm the world ana
now II has proved that 1t can withoat DIM
. CNllN go as ldl III A'i' 'll'''''
The success Of their latest cntcrpr.S" Is
grcatIv IN tEc credit OF Mr. CraiE's work.
/ II has proved, moreover, what up till now
| has been 50 pcrsistently doubt'd-lts pIa'-
| ticability. Mr.. Craig has long ago given
rs I'm picturas and writing the ideas which
! il has remained for Moscow to put INTO
actual practice. and certainly 10 ueo':
Of art has ever been more completely JUS
u loot i4n
| those ideas.
! IL would be a mistake To imagine that
! Mr.. Craig Is responsible FOR the sccnfry
alone: he Is directly concerned IN every
I part Of tho production. The staging how
ever, as the most obviously novel lart O.
Ire, will undoubtedly rouse much discu sion.
| Whatever ma be said, 1t certainly has the
paramount advantage of simplicity, a quail
ny which has hoen conspicuously absent
! in almost all recent productions Of Shake.
speare.
! Every scene i'm the Hamlet has tor its
! foundation an arrangement ot screens
which rise to the fun height of the pros
cenum. and consist Of plain panels devoid
| Of any decoration. Only two colors are
| used-a neutral cream shade and gold.
| complete change Of scene is created SIMPLY
| by the Encouragement OF these screens
whose value lies, OF course, not so much
! in themselves as in their formation and
| the lighting. Mr.. Craig has the singular
power of carrying the spiritual significance
| OF words and dramatic situations beyond
| the actor to the scene In which he moves
| BY the simplest of means he Is able III
/ some mysterious way, 10 evoke almost any
sensation OF time or space, the scenes even
J I'm themselves suggesting variations oil
! human emotion.
| Take. for example, the Queens chamber
| in the Castle of Elsinore. Like all the
other scenes. It is simply an arrangement
! of the screens already mentioned. There
! iss nothing which definitely represents Il
castle, still less the locality or .peEIod ana
vet no one would hesitate as To. It's sig
nihcance and why? Because II. is the
suirituaI symbol OF such Il room. sym
LnI uoreoyer whose form Is wholly de
pend.ut upon the action which II sur
rounds: every line. every space or light
| and shadow going directly To hrlshten ana
ampIify the significance of that action. ana
becoming thereby something more than Its
mere setting-a vital and component part
no longer separablc from the whole,
Whatever Mr.. Craig has done he has
obviously done II not only with the touch
of an artist but also with all the care and
reverence of a true lover of Shakespeare.
TO Judge from his work he is not so
much a revolutionary as q reformer Far
from being an enemy 10 theatrical tradl-
dition he seems to realize better than any
one how much valuable material for his
art lies buried in that limbo OF things for
gotten He has gone back over a field
whose fertility q many hays ignored and