New-York tribune., 1919-07-06

formance Of Hamlet" IN Bagdad:
"On the evening Of February IL,
1919. there was performed at the Gen.
trail Theatre, Bagdad, q play called
'Khun-i-Nahsg.' and I read In The Bag
dad Times of the following day that
owing to the unprecedented demand for
tickets another performance would b
given in . few days time. The play
was the Urdu version. acted BY Indians,
Of Hamlet The actors were obviously
under the impression that Shakespeare
miscalled the play tragedy and they
acted accordingly. Some Thousands Of
Indians were present, sitting sntranesd
in the cold night air, and apparently
found the entertainment highly sstis-
factory.
I'VE arrived just after the curtain
had been raised, making our way over
the stage to the seats in front, and at
once realized hat we had come under
total misapprehension ss to the nature
of the performance. Against bright
background Of English country scenery
in springtime there were placed .
number of Victorian chairs and Q sofa
Of the same period. On the sofa .
gentleman Of villanous appearance re-
clned, clothed in . long, red dressing
gown with a Christmas-craeker crown
on his head. At his feet sat . lady
: Of uncertain age in emerald green. A
she was employed in the curious pur-
suit Of singing an Oriental song In q
loud. grating voice, punctusting the
stanzas by pushing the gentleman in
a the ribs, and as also the latter appeared
supremely unconscious Of her playful
l. little performance, we were led to be-
lieve that he slept. asked the attend
I ant who showed Us to our seats wheth-
er Hamlet was to be performed that
night, and. IL so, when was it to begin,
He replied, rather hurt, This is Ham
let," sir!' and then, seeing me uncon'
( vinced, added condeseendingly. The
$ Indian version, Of course I apollo
!. gized, displayed keen interest, asked
z for the names Of the lady in green and
the gentleman in red-whieh he didn''
a know-and applied myself to the plot
r "The song continued. accompanied
Z by an inhuman excess Of rib-prodding
}. 1t now appeared either that the gentle
$ mans ribs were padded or that the,
\ were not made after the usual pattern
y or that he was dead; mere sleep eoul'
4 not have withstood the lady's impor
4 tunity. | decided in favor Of death
, At length the lady stood up, advances
toward the footlights and cracked
few Jokes. She was ultimately joine'
y by another gentleman, attired in tn
Uniform Of O rear admiral, who mad
d il plain that he was not there for tn
mere fun Of the thing by retiring up
;. stage backward in a series Of spira
movements, probably learned In . skat
ing rink, which unquestionably bode'
i'll for the person against whom the.
were intended. These proceeding
eliminated in the production Of . bot
Z tie from an outer pocket in his navs
jacket and the emptying Of its con
tents into the beard Of the gentleman
whom | had believed to be dead. HI
instantly sat up, uttered some heartfelt
q, comments, possibly referable to tn
, personal behavior Of the rear admiral
= and again sank into a profound stat
a Of somnolence. The stage was thsl
, plunged into darkness, and / realized
: with an intutive skill which canno
\ be overprsised, that we had just wit
> messed the famous story Of 'murde
most foul which Shakespeare, showing
l. wanton disregard Of probability, in
d troduces autobiographically by mean
v of the ghost. communicated this i'm
/ mense discovery to my friends, whe
W either from jealousy or ignorance, di
r not appear to consider it important.
t. Entered Hamlet in deep mournin
Id before a drop scene Of Windsor Castl
g. and the Thames, with . commodiou
s. houseboat moored to the bank. H
t sang a dreary ditty right through
ic the bitter end, in spite Of the entranc
le Of Hora.io. in the belt and uniform q
At modern English officer. who eonten'
r ed himself with looking supremsly d.
ID jected until the time came for him
le open his mouth. Before he manage
le 70 utter a word, however, Hamlet lei
20 the stage abruptly and the lights wsr
cut.
r, Next scene: Windsor Castle at
%. different angle, with Queen vieterI
Id inspecting the turrets from . distans
d. through an eyeglsss. BY this tin
er Claudius had donned the decess<
ne monarch's red dressing gown. thoue
re his rear admiraps trousers showed b
meath. He sat lazily by the side I
in Gertrude (the lady in. green), hsvir
IL Just finished a meal. At first I thougl
ID. the frequent movement Of his jaws Il
w dicated the aftermath Of IN aetv
'ir meal that the actor himself had pr
re viously been enjoying; but - he CO..
tinued to chew the cud in every fc
OF lowing scene concluded that
We meant to lay stress on the gluttonol
~ ..roct ~ Ciaudius'x rharacteV p