The New York herald., 1922-12-24
Random Notes on Shylock

and interpreting character. are re-
| quired TO ''suit the word to the action.
the action to the word" and wherein
also. stage directors strive TO suit the
| scenic investiture to the indications of
| time and place and to the dramatic and
| histrionic needs Of plays presented. Yet
| by the minority, such stage directors
are those most often (and most un-
| JUSTIFY censured for "overloading"
| Shakespeare with scenery.
| The whole long and sometimes acri-
monious controversy over proper methods
of reviving the plays OF Shakespeare upon
the stage of to-day twhe.her in respect
TO the nature of investiture or the editing
of the texD resolves itself into this:
Should producer utilize all the ex-
pedients, devices and improvements
which incessant study and continuous
scientific discovery and invention have
developed during tho last three hundred
years, or should he (not for a special,
educational occasion but as a permanent
policy) throw away ambition, and with
| it all the advancement that has been
made in that long time. and revert to the
| crude, inferior, wholly Inadequate
methods which were in vogue (and which
were condemned while they were In
vogue) during the infancy OF the modern
theater?
To do the latter, honestly and con-
| sistently. we should. among other things,
have to Danish women from our stage
and to have such parts as Portid, NerfssG
and the amorous Jessicd represented by
"squeaking boys" to dispense with
suitable music and the almost limitless
advantages and all the exquisite beauties
! of electrical lighting; to forego the use
of proper makeup (wigs, pigments. &C., |;
to do away with all adequate scenery,
furniture and dressing; to present-for
example-"The Merchant of Venice" not
| In the garb and the environment of the
Venice of the sixteenth century, but in
| the cast off garments Of the nobility OF
Elizabeth's court, and in a rough, semi
barren environment scarce dignifled
| enough for q bear batting
The public certainly would not tolerate
such ineptitude In management. Nor. Is
II possible for me to doubt that Shake
speare himself would eagerly have en-
ployed all the many invaluable access
sories of modern stagecraft IL they had
been available to him. Therefore. In
making this revival of ''The Merchant Of
| Venice" what / am sure Shakespeare
would have done, what / am sure he
would do If he were here to-day, that
have done-and availed myself to the
full of all those accessories and aids to
effect. But in the doing so have neither
forgotten nor disregarded the study, in
sight and achievement Of three centuries
of precedent labor. Thus it win. I trust,
be found that. while making innovations
such as the lifelong study and expert
ence have suggested I have neither
numbered the stage with superfluous and
hampering embellishments nor disre-
garded anything valuable in the tradi-
tions with which. through generations OF
genius, this great play has become en-
crusted.
Into the controversy as to whether
Shglock is a monster or a martyr !
shall not, here and now, enter. Mr..
| Warfeld's performance Is I am sure.
the best essay upon his conception
which could be provided. But some
singular doctrines concerning the seri-
BUSINESS, l might perhaps say the sin
cerity, of the character of ShyIock have.
in the coming of time, got themselves
accepted. Not long ago. for example
I read warm communication OF an actor
who presented him as a short. fat. red
haired, smirking Jew, grotesque and
comicai. Indeed. OF recent years, the
assertion that shylock was acted in
Shakespearc's day as a red haired,
co,nSc cha rscter has been 80 often made
that, at last, ignorance has accepted
mere itiperant asseveratlon as truth and
this notion has become widely preva-
lent
II Is a notion both false and prepos-
ferrous. There is nothing In the char
acter. the conduct, or the experience OF
Shylock that is in the least comic Nor
is there any sufficient ground for as
suming and alleging that ShyIock was
ever acted In the presence. or period,
| of his creator as a comic character. AS
Hamlet is an embodiment OF introspcc-
tive. suffering Enthusiastically OF
guilty. conscience scourged ambition
Lear of paternal love. outraged and
anguished by f1liai ingratitude-Ia0o of
diabolical treachery-so ShyIock Is an
embodiment (and a supreme one) of
vindictive hatred overreaching and de-
stroying itself In a hideous purpose Of
revenge. And he Is not the less 50
because in his final discontinue and
utter ruin he Is, in some sort. pathetic.
There Is nothing comic In such char
acter and experience there Is much
| that is afTiictingly tragic.
Intelligent reading of the text Of
Shakespeare's play can leave no slight
est doubt of the vital, rugged. grim and
essentially tragic character OF Shylock.
Here and there, indeed, that text re-
! veals or suggests momentary. f1eetfng.
/ grisly jocularlty: but any person who
can heedfuily and apprehensively study
| II and find In that character anything
comic assuredly must possess q most
| peculiar sense of huYnor