The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-16
Will Play Hamlet" if Ef- forts of Drama League
 Prove Successful
MAKING FAREWELL
 TOUR OF THE WORLD
Third Season It Has Been in Pro- gress = Mrs. Patrick Campbell and William Faversham to
 Appear Early in Season

Through the efforts of the Birmingham
 center of the Drama League of America
 it is probable that Birmingham theatre
 goers will have an opportunity of seeing
 Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, admitted
 to be the greatest actor on the English
 stage today, in his masterpiece-Hamlet. The tour of Forbes Robertson through
 America this winter will be in the na-
 ture of a farewell and he will appear in the cities to which he has not already paid final visit. Sir Johnson is now in England, where he is rehearsing his players for the remainder of the sum-
 mer.
 He will return to America early in De- tober and will begin his tour at Rich
 mond on the eleventh coming here dur ing the latter part of the month. His season will last 30 weeks and will in clude many of the important cities of the United States Forbes Robertson will travel in his own private car and will be supported by the same cast of English
 players with him for the last two sea-
 sons.
 Sir Johnston will have a repertoire of three plays-"Hamlet," "The Passing of the Third Floor Back" Jerome K Je-
 rome's great symbolical play, which he
 has already played here once. and Kip ling's. The Light That Failed. Each city has been given the privilege of se-
 leeting which of the plays it is desired
 to put on Sir Johnston's mana cement naturally was swamped with requests for 1 Hamlet. which led to the announcement l that Sir Johnston would not play Hamlet more than twice a week on account of the terrific strain on his constitution which it necesstated. His performance of Hamlet begins at s o'clock and is not ! over until midnight.
 Brown Parks of the Jefferson theatre 7-''rieated with the Drama league,
 asking them to select the play to be .n 2
 sented here. Hamlet of course, was enasen and special appeal was sent to l Forbes Robertson to arrange matters so that Birmingham might witness one of
 the performances that week. While noth-
 ing has been heard officially it is under 1 stood that every effort will be made to
 put on Hamlet here.
 The farewell tour Of this great actor
 will be an event in the theatrical world | ] pes- Robertson nas been on the stage
 for 40 years, and has made number
 Of visits to America, where he has as
 many friends and admirers as he has in 1 England. His first trip to the United States was over 30 years ago when he
 came as the leading man for Mary Ander- srr. Forbes Robertson is saying farewell not
 only to the United States, but to the world
 on the present tour which began at Not | ltingham, England, in 1912, and included all | the nriDrinal Enp1iSh Ha 1 his last London engagement on March l 22, 1913, and made his final appearance on the English stage June as Ham l let" The following two seasons he spent l in the large eastern and western cities of l the United States. His present trip em- 1 braces those cities which he was unable l to reach on previous tours, among which
 was Birmingham.
 l While the management of the Jefferson
 theatre is not prepared as yet to an
 nounce bookings for the coming season,
 attention is being turned to the winter ] and preparations made for the coming
 season. The opening date of the Jeffer-
 son has not been determined owing to a difference of opinion.
 Mir. Douglas, manager of the local the atre believes 1t the better policy to open l late. say in October, and run until late
 in the spring next year instead of opening
 and closing early. He thinks that the former arrangement would better please
 the patrons of his house. New Orleans theatres are more in favor of the former plan. as 1t is hard to get an audience
 in September there on account of the ex- cessive heat. So at present the opening date is in the air and has not been
 definitely determined.
 ] The opening attraction has not been set 1 tied yet owing to the scramble always
 made for opening dates which are regard ed as money-makers.
 l The management has announced that
 during the first month the theatre is open three stars of the first water will be here. In addition to Forbes Robertson, Mrs Patrick Campbell will appear in a George Bernhard Shaw play which ere ated furore in London on account of the
 use of the word bloody which is re-
 garded as' a terrible oath by polite so-
 ciety in England. The third star will be William FAversham, whose vehicle has | not as yet been announced.