New-York tribune., 1919-06-15

revival of Hamlet" at the Old Vic
IN London is thus described bv
Maurice Barring in "The New
Statesman:
"A tragedy written by Shakespeare,
called Hamlet has lately been acted
'on the stage in London for the first
time for very many years-at the
old Vic. 1t is true that versions and
portions of Shakespeare's Hamlet"
have been frequently put on the stage
at various theatres; but it is long
time, perhaps fifty or hundred years,
since the whole play has been per-
formed as it was written-from
beginning to end. Mr.. PoeI, it is true.
produced 1t Gin two parts, I beleve),
and produced it, so l am told, beau
tifuIly; but Mr.. Poels enterprises are.
so to speak, private views, and are not
faced by the British public. At the
Old Vac. Shakespeare's play was face
to face with the best of all publics;
the public which wanted to see the
play, and were ready to sit listening
to 1t from ! to p. Mon hard
seats and on a stufy afternoon. The
public enjoyed it; they listened with
absolute attention. and they applauded
Enthusiastically at the right moments
throughout and deliriously at the end.
Any one seeing that performance could
tell what the author was about, and
could follow the story he had to tell
without difficulty. There was no elab-
crate scenery to distract him, but
just enough to suggest the colorng
of the circumstances; there was no
noise of hammering behind the scenes
to deafen the speech Of the players;
and the words of the play were spoken
and not mouthcd, and spoken as they
Wele written.
81 don't wish to decry the Hamlets
that, given the time allotted by the
County Council or whatever gods there
be to an evening performance, are
all we usually get. Nobody who has
ever seen MIR. Forbes Robertsons
Hamlet will forget the courtly grace
Of his bearing, the cunning melody of
his delivery, the perfect understand
ing of rhythm, which he gave to the
utterance Of sIch speeches as % what
Z rogue and peasant slave am I: the
naturalness OF his conversation with
the grave diggers; the noble dignity
cF l. Il tl,o To- IL.
years there have been many memor-
able Hamlets: Martin Harvey's, H. B.
Irving's. L. II. Sothern's Ia brisk, sharp
American Hamlet), Nine. Sarah Bern
hardt's, an inspired performance;
and the Art Theatre at Moscow con-
tributed, under the guidance Of Mr..
Gordon Craig, at least two new unfor-
gettable pictures: the play scene, with
a stiff, gold King and Queen facing the
audience high on two golden thrones,
away on a broad shield in rosy and
azure dawn by silver-armored captains
to the sound of clarions.
But in none of these productions
was it possible to see the whole play,
although Forbes Robertson's gave US
much that is usually left out, and al
lowed us the final entry OF Fortinbas.
But a the old Vic. you have it all, and
consequently you understand the story
and you enjoy the poetry. There isn't
time for the ranting that delays the
action, nor for the shifting, setting,
resettlng, and manipulation of porten-
tous accessories; what is left is the
( play-le spectacle. 1t is the rarest
thing in the modern world to be able
TO go to lie spectacle. AS far as know,
the only two theatres where this is pos
slble a the present moment are the old
/ Vic. and the Hammersmith Theatre
Everywhere else it is the accessories
that count; and if they are not the chief,
tney arc, at any rate, an indispensable
factor in the production.
Years ago, in the sos, Theophole
de BanVillc, the poet who was at that
time dramatic eric, wrote star
Ting prophecy; he said that he fore
saw that the stage would svclop into
two diverse channels; one in which
scenery would be the paramount object
real waterfalls, dazzling squadrons of
spangled nymphs. proccssions-and
here he forcsaw the cinema. because,
he said, the eye grows swiftly weary
of all stationary spectacle, however
spectacular, and demands motion.