The New York herald., 1922-12-24

~ purposed to produce the plays
the chief part of my earliest study, and
my love for them increased with my
years. In youth il was my frequent
privilege to see many of the best ac-
| tors our stage has known in their fin
est Shakespearean embodiments, and
sometimes. personating minor charac-
ters, to act in association with them.
The first words l ever spoke in the
theater were words of Shakespeare
those of the little Richard, Duke of
York, in king Richard Ill.," part
which. in childhood, I played at the
old Theater Royal in Victoria, B. c.
with the famous Charles Kean and
Ellen Tree, his wife.
Year by year my familiarity with the
best Shakespearean acting increased.
Walter Montgomery idol of my boy
hood) as Marc Antony. Beredtck and
Hotspur; John Mccullough as Brutus,
Falconbridge and Lear; Lawrence Bar
rett as Hamlet, TG9o and Cassius; Barry
Sullivan as Richdrd the Third, OthelIo
and Macbeth: Adelaide Nelson as Juliet,
Viola and Iniogen; Edwin Booth as
Othello, logo, Homlet. Richard, Macbeth
and Brutus-those and many others like
to those. were objects of my constant
and admiring study. Among the plays
of Shakespeare in which I appeared
during my theatrical novitiate. and
which then were acted under my stage
management-some of them many times
were Hamlet" king Richard ILL.,"
"Othello." Romeo and Juliet" Julius
Caesar" Macbeth" king John" king
L ear" "Coriolanus.' "Cymbeline,"
ia adu
of Errors" Much Ado About Nothing"
"A Midsummer Nights Dream" THE
Tanning Of the Shrew.' "As You Like
It." Twelfth Night" and THE Merchant
of Venice" Among the great players of
Shyfock for whom II has been my for
tune to direct the stage and to rehearse
the immortal drama Of which he Is the
central and pervasive figure are Nc
Cullough. Barrett Sullivan. Booth and
by no means least-Wiliam E. Sheridan
/ In various early transforming ventures
| Of my own ! INDUCED my dominant de-
sire and presented "rhe Merchant" and
| some other OF the bard's great plays,
| with, be II said, a simplicity of scenic
| investiture which would cause produc-
| tions made "in the Elizabethan man
| ner" TO appear as lavishly overloaded
with ornament! But such juvenile en-
deavors do not count; and circum-
| etdnCeS nave not, Until now, peTmltteu
me really to begin fulfllment of my
ambitious purpose. which I do with this
oft postponed. but at last accomplished
revival Of ''The Merchant of Venice" In
which 1t Is my privilege to present the
| leader Of the American stage, my dear
friend. Mr.. David warfeld. In one Of
| the most exacting of test parts. In
Shakespeare's own words. "Joy be the
| consequence !"
1t Is my earnest purpose to follow
this revival with presentments OF many
other great plays of Shakespeare
among them "King Lear" with Mr..
| Warfield as the heartbroken and the
heart breaking monarch of misery !;
| Romeo and Juliet" king Henry W."
Julius Caesar Twelfth Night" and a
trilogy comprising King Richard. H.
and the first and second parts Of King
Henry w" The last named three
plays were In great part arranged for
my presentation by my friend the late
] William Winter, to whom I was, at the
| time of his lamented death. under
promise to produce them. They shall
be brought forth as soon as il Is pos
| sible for me to do so.
In a matter so largely one of taste
| there never can be universal accord !:
and to the end of time there will be
divergent ideas of adequacy in the set,
ting Of Shakespeare. Ever since Charles
Kean. for example. began his series OF
sumptuous revivals OF Shakespeare at
the Old Princess Theater. London. with
king John"-February Q. 1s52-there
has been n wall of clamorous complaint
about ''overloading Shakespeare with
scenery" and an outcry as to the need
of reverting. in Shakespearean revivals,
to 1.-THE original text"
II is. of course, to be conceded that
neither the plays OF Shakespeare nor
those Of any other DIRE matist should be
Overloaded" with scenery. Also It is
conceded that where clear. consistent
dramatic Original text" exists IL should.
as far as possible. be adhered to.
In this matter the first disagreement
must necessarily come over the ques-
ton Of what constitutes scenic over
loading. Shall we have the stage prac.
tically bare? Or. shall we have 1t sc.
to represent as closely as possible the
scenes specified? a very small minor
fly of the theatergoing public. which
enjoys mere rhetoric and defamation,
approves presentation of plays upon
stages almost barren and most insuffi-
cientiy illumined. The immense ma
Jority OF that public, upon the other
hand. prefers and demands (and therein
| reasonable and right representations
designed TO create Illusions: represen-
n fiopu Uhsrein artoYa frppeps on affn0