The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-03-01
Walter WlnCheII On BrO0dw0y
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age to shubert Alley hopefuls: He attended the horses outside while the patrons watched the antics withinl He acted some, because his name may be found on certain old playhills. He never starred. It is believed that he once acted be. fore the Queen, Elizabeth, in Green- wich Palace Number OK, of the sonnets, has the lines: Alas, 'tis true have gone here and there, And made myself a motley to the view"
 one of his favorite hangoutS was the notorious Falcon Tavern, tho Sardis and Cub Room of its day The gossip here was swapepd With famous actors, like Richard Burbage, other playwrights, like Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson Bur bage was the top hummer of the group. He probably created such roles as Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear, Shylock, Cariolanus, Henry V, Romeo, Brutus, and Othello. Some critics think that the queen s line in "Hamlet"-that her son is fat and short of breath was writ ten in to excuse the plump Bur bage in the fencing scene!
 To have written or not to have written is most often said about him. just as they spell his name m many ways; Shakespeare, ShagSpere, Shakspear, Shakspere, cd !ntinl, lum. The essayist, Hazlitt, found him real enough to say He sees nothing loftier than human hopes; nothing deeper than the human heart" Milton called him an hear of lame"; Dryden, the most comprehensive soul"; Walter Scott, "being of Q superior order"; Co., | leridge, a "stupendous power; In- gersoil, an intellectual ocean,; Har- ris, "of all the Shining Ones, the most divine and the most lovable."
 No other writer who took quill pen or typewriter to paper has invented as many world-famed speeches as he. Out of thousands, you can bet the man on the street knows some or all of "The quality of mercy" speech from "T'he Mer- chant of Venice"; Juliets Swear not by the moon" or the Queen Nab speech from Romeo and Juliet" !; the Friends, Romans, countrymen' bit from Julius Caesar; Polon. us advice or Halnlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet" {; "Richard ITS" Let's talk of graves, of worms; the Seven Ages Of Man list or sweet are the uses ot ad- yerSity" from "As You Like it';; The lunatic, the lover, and the poet" from "A Midsummer Nights Dream; ''Othello's speech about the one who loves not wisely; Mac heth's" Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow; the Winter of discontent" speech from King Henry VI, Part III; from "The Tempest" We are such stuff as dreams are made on"; the tribute to Cleopatra in Antony and Cleo- patra," Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety"
 Whether he merely revised per- ennially popular plays, or collabo- rated, hack style, with others like Marlowe, we'll never know. We do know his poetry, like that of the Bible, has been @ deep well to other writers, who go there to draw up titles These come from his works: Barren Ground" Cue for Passion Remembrance of Things Past" Some Must Watch" Sum- mer'S Lease" The Name of Ac- ton, Rain from Heaven, Sermons from Stones, Under the GGreen- wood Tree Leave Her to Heaven" "Russet Mantle" Cakes and Ale" Instruct My Sorrows" '"This Eng land" Small Beer" Tn Abraham's Bosom" "This Nettle, Danger "Cry Havoc" "Told by an Idiot" '"The Primrose Path" Time Out of Mind" This Mortal Coil" and '"rhe Plays the Thing"
 The will he left has fascinated all students of his work-if it was HIS will! To most of his theatrical cronies, including Burbage, he left SuIIlS VO Duy JlleuI AANSCo 4O Anne Hathaway he made the be- quest which still arouses controversy and interpretations among the pro- fessors. She got his second best bed". This may have been a slam; but it may have been custom. as the best bed" was used for guests only In Henry James story, The Birthplace" the serious but highly comic plot revolves around the mystery of his "home' at Strat- ford-on-A Avon. Even the most pre- else and honest of caretakers must pretend that everything happened to him.
 His advice to the players c'Ham- let'D is sound to this day. He insists on careful enunciation- otherwise. the town crier might do it. He objects to wild, unnecessary gesturing. The secret is to suit all action to the words. the words to the action. The comics-let them beware-must not ad lib to steal scenes. Essentially simple and ahso- lutely right, he advised the thespi- ans to hold the mirror up to nature,