Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-05


banked with theatc-s and taverns that
Elizabethan literature has made famous
5000 residents of Richmond and visitors
from nearby towns joined az specta-
tors and players In commemorating at
Richmond College yesterday the three
hundredth anniversary OF the death Of
William Shakespeare.
Seven miles TO the west of the c!t".
at beautiful Westhampton. 1000 hands
reared another Boar's Head Inn. an
other st. Bartholomew Fair. another
Hampton Court and another Globe
Theatcr TO provide faithful setting
for the diRnltaries o. the spacious days
of great Eliza beth. These walked again
among the living. prociainlng by their
presence the eternal message OF the
, playwright whose stage remains u this
day the most densely peopled with Nv
ing characters
SACK WAS NOT THE KIND
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF KNEW
There were obvious crudities. Much
was left 10 the imagination. London
Bridge was impersonated BY a dapper
little concrete span across an arm OF
Westhampton Lake. y famous preIat o
of Shakespeare's day puffed contentedIy
ar cigarette Country lassies at
Bartholomew Fair were brave In Eliza
bethan furbelows, but omitted to dis
card painfully modern patent-leather
pumps. And. worst OF all. tho sack
served in the taverns was q base imita-
tion OF the JOY luid Fals,aT knew
But the shortcomings were few and
the virtues many. From gao o'clock
until almost nightfall there was un-
rolled on dozen green's and stages
among the hills and dales OF the pic
turesQue Richmond College campus n
vtv!dly colored record OF the deeds and
days OF Sbakespeare's lifetime Five
thousand men, women and children re-
newed their love for the greatest poet
OF the English speaking race and min :
glcd familiarity with the famous char
acters that enjoy immortality In his
dramatic works
DIR. j. c. METCAIF PLAYS
HAMLET WITH coon EFFECT
Standing on the terraced slopes Of the
campus, where they stretch away from
the waters edge, Hamlet. best know
and most remembered Of all Shakes
peare's characters. addressed his fol-
; lowers and his players rihboned in
! front OF the Mermaid's Tavern and the
crowds at case on the grass around and
behind him In the words of his strident
speech to the players who were about
10 appear before the King and Queen.
Speak the speech" quoted DR.. J. G..
Metcaif, playing the role Of Hamlet, "as
pronounced 1t to you. trippingly on
the tongue: but If you mouth IT, as
! many of our players do, I had As lief
the town crier spoke my lines. Nor
do not saw the air too much with your
hand. thus; but use all gently. for in
the very torrent. tempest and. as l
may say, whirlwind of your passion
you must acquire and beget temper
| auce that may give 1t smoothness. Oh!
1t offends me to the soul to hear n
| robustious periwig- -pated fellow tear a
passion to tatters, to very rags: to split
| the ears OF the groundlings. who. for
the most part, are capable of nothing
but inexplicable dumb show and
| noise. would have such fellow
whipped for o'erdoing Termagant: It
; outherods Herod. Pray you avoid It,"
The players needed. and "the very
age and body Of the time" in which
Shakespeare lived was mrrored In ap-
proximately perfect fashion to tho re :
viewers.
QUEEN IsLIZABETH APPEARS
BORNE IN ROYAL LITTER
The pageant began promptly on tho
scheduled hour. Its immensity and tho
care and thought with which it had
been arranged under the supervision
OF Miss Orie L. Hatcher, so as to con-
form with the minutest detail OF
Elizabethan times, were not revealed
until the Queen, borne in her stately
| Continued on Tenth Page)