The New York herald., 1922-12-10
Broadway 'sShake-
spearian Revival
Brings to Mind
the Great4Acto
Of the Past Who
Played the Prince
By JOSEPH l. c. CLARKE.

the favor or tne toWu- 10 IA
almost passionate degree, and in the
main justly. Outside the joy OF his
embodiment got, however. another
keen pleasure at the performance last
Saturday afternoon, born OF seeing n
packed matinee audience, mainly OF
course of young, very modern" women,
making what seemed to be a first and
delighted acquaintance with the mas
terpiece Of William Shakespeare Old
playgoers know that the mental atti-
tude of a cultured audience at q long
honored classic OF the stage has yisi-
bic sign in the distinctly critical SEN
sitive lowering and raising OF the
brows which accompanies all other
facial marks Of pleasure or the re-
verse, while the round eyed, fixed
saze. now charged with intensity, now
flashing to light laughter betr;-ys any
audience on the first night Of any alb
sorbing play And there were your
first nighters Of Hamlet" clear, heart
enng-amusing. Old PoIontus says to
Hamlet, who was walking in the
lobby"
what read you, my lord?"
Hcmlct looking from his book says
Words, words, words"
A very wave of young crystalline
laughter sweeps over the house. And
so 1t went. Never was the First Craze
Di00er,s grim humor moro tickling
And OF course the slim beauty Of my
H1t Tot v,d \, Ia Gra orA hiG
fencing found fevcrish response in fair
young bosoms to the end.
Since the Barrymore-H Hopkins pro-
duction OF the play IVES made here
many have fallen to writing Of the
Hcmlets of other days as well as our
own, but cne gains little light from
nero list. IT liked it" sit was far
from bad;" "he suited me-" Such
phrases tell you nothing beyond one
mans geaerelizations. For my part,
looking over sixty years of Hdm!ets,
ten Of the years in London and the
balance In our New World. / realize
the difficulty of an appraisement Of
the better Hdmfets, because no mat
ter how 1T you were to judge when
you saw them, unless you saw them
when they We're really young HGmlets.
or seeming so, you are not furnished
with the true key to judgment.
Charles Kean's Portrayal
That of Solemn English Lord
The first Hdmlet saw was Charles
Kean, son of the great Edmund Kean.
mt Drury Lane Theater. London. in the
sixties. I knew the play well, and
took his Interpretation as authorita-
tive because of his paternity. Now ]
recognize it as sort Of solemn Eng
lish lord, very correct in bearing and
giving way to his emotions reluctantly.
a highly trained actor, however, speak
ing the poetry Of the part with skill
end occasional depth. Irecall one true
note on the entrance OF the Ghost. His
cry, ANGELS and ministers of grace.
defend us!" had a ring of fear forced
by the Notwithstanding miss
ing from most. If not all, the English
Hamlets. His scene with his mother
was tense and dramatic. What was
really the matter with 1t was that
it was not young HdmIet but a
stiff, middle aged gentleman with
queer voice. The Homiet Of Samuel
Phelps--"the great Phelps" who played
all of Shakespeare's plays and was best
OF all in tho FalstdG OF Henry w.
was OF the Charles kcan mold. more
human, less stiff, and when 1 saw him
woll away from the spring of youth.
I saw ono Hdmlct at that early day
who came nearer to tho ideal I was
forming Of the young Prince OF Den
mark, namely, Barry Sullivan. Here
were grace, the appearance at least OF
youth. a noble, plant carriage--in fine.
q delightful embodiment with a warm
spirituality saw him subsequently
81 other SLakespeariGn roles. but in
nothing else did he reach the same
heights. though always good. His
dashing Falcon bridge to the King
John of Phelps ut Drury Lane was
flne. 1t would be hard to say at this
late date why Barry's Hamlet did not
become one of worldwide fame. Pos
sibly because 1t was but n finer type
of a HontIet on the sitter type of
Kean and Phelps and Gustavus
Brooke, which In turn followed the
still older model OF Garrick and
Kemble.
The first intimation l had OF a diff
fering type was the Hamlet OF the
French actor Charles Fechter. who
had been playing In English for some
three or four brilliant years. lie had
brought from Paris in his handsome
person the very soul OF Latin romance
Its eager charm. it's sweeping grace.
sts transfxing thrill. its piquant
hun1or, its gentle pathos. its sure dis
finction. His Ruy Bias In Victor
TIugo's play had held the town for
almost year ut the Priucess's in
1860. The English characterizations
in such similar characters as Don
Cesar de Bdsan were lumplsins beside
Il. So it was that after Don Cesar
and THE Corsican Brothers" he was
announced for Hamlet >svw II should
ba ss.S ..c.. Fechter was nearly 40
rnen (1S63). Had he not been the
original Armand Dual in the younger
pumas's la Dame Aux Camelias" in
1859? still though his Hamlet was
not first OF all young. It was full OF the
spirit and flre and form of youth.
A Fluent. Human Prince
With Gentle. Courtiy Dignity
Ho had made distinctively Hdmlet
OF his own. The inky wig of the Eng
lish Hcmfct he discarded for the surely
more plausible fair hair OF the North