The Washington times., 1928-11-13
t'MACBETH'' In
THE CRAIG
METHOD

As that tragic pageantry of me.
dieval murder wherein Nemesis
stalks the boards as typhoon
sweeps the south seas--that inn
mortal work Of shakespeare's,
Macbeth was unfolded on the
stage of the National last night,
it became apparent that the hour
belonged, not to the actors or to
the producer. but to Gordon Craig.
It is Craig who has given the
production its outstanding distinc-
tion.--its "designment, !" as he pre-
fers to call it. in which he gives
his winged imagination in stage
settings full play. What symphon-
les of shadows he Weaves to swing
the imagination OF the onlooker
into the metaphysical depths of
the play! What gray. mystical
drapes he uses as murals and back
drops! Such splashes and splotcnes
of lighting, focalizing in their
Rembrandt chiaroscuro the at
nlosphere OF blood lust and the
avenging furies
This young English stage de-
signer is trail-bIazer. pioneer
of the same type as our own Robert
Edmond Jones. and in Macbeth
he has given us more than pne
scene-notably the witches cauld-
ron scene-which win go down in
stage history. His entire Macbeth
indeed is thing Of glamorous,
gloomy beauty. giving the produc'
ton no realistic pictures OF medic
val Scotland wherein the tragedy is
set, but aiming to use all the mod.
ERNST sorcery OF light and color
and symbolic decoration to repro
duce the murderous aura that
hangs like fog over the play.
Now as to the acting. The
eIouuence of the Shakespearean
verse was somewhat submerged
last night by the commanding
power Of the Craig "designnent, z
and at other points the action
was so swift moving, so compact,
so well.done in the best fashion
of modern meIodrama that the
audience had Hltle time for the
golden phrases of 80 Bard. Be
that as it may, there Is no ques-
ton that the Macbeth" Of Lynn
Harding was in the best tradi-
tions Of the part. His reading
of the part was excellent il not
inspired. his Interpretation full
of power and imaginative grip.
His voice. his robust physique,
his artistic attainmentS all come
into full play in this role.
The Lady Macbeth, Florence
Reed, an emotional actress Of ex-
perience and resourcefulness, gave
her part the right Lucretia Bor-
gia touch, but was sadly lacking
in her reading of the Shake
spearean lines. In her haunting
somnambulistic scene wherein she
descends the spiral Craig staircase
-one Of the best OF his settings
Miss Reed was genuinely moving
and effective. She always had
plenty of dramatic force and
vitality, but neither her voice nor
her method is suited to the re-
Quirements Of Shakespearean lines.
Basil Gill as Macduff ;.4ld
william Farnun1 as Banquo were
both exceedingly effective. The
entire cast, indeed, gave an ex-
GGA4CAAL gC1 " OC 4CCOIhCu
in the gallery of Shal1espearean
portraits. As for the stage man.
agement, smoother, better-paced,
or compact performance could not
be desired. and the credit for it
goes to Douglas Ross. The play
moved almost with the high.
tension speed of a b. Idway melo-
drama-indeed, at points one won
dered whether this ancient play
of vaulting ambition and murder
could not be transferred, in it's
essenticls, to the framework of a
modern cabaret and gunman
thriller.
AS for George C. Tyler, the
producer, he has added another
item to the long list of debts
which the ancient and honorable
company of American theater-
goers owe him. A. M. j.