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Show SHAKESPEARE TwnErH in Hi THEN AND CENTURY DRAMATIC NOW . I, IMPROVED ON THE PRESENTATIONS prod"piD and aet- - coatumea were magnificent rather than rMtn,7 play writ-7- . appropriate. ' .WTteenth een- - A typical Elizabethan playhouse, like f"r Ul Miedes of the Globe ,kt period or the Black friar, stood roof-le" dvancemont in Vt to the air. The stage was a proKhoijid ,iJe bkespe,re jecting. platform, anrronnded on throe ,k nthor vb ."'V ,n i",r"lit"re side by "hoi poIW. who had paid threeWBBtwuedl pence for the privilege of (Landing in . Tt drms, r ! wdltJBiwl the pit; and aronnd thia pit (rare Tfiwinrjn1Vn,rJ' boxes for the la die and gentleHinrr tjjo Physical condition men' of mean. Often the aide, of the Tlf- - lh "thoda of the utage itself were lined with young galw1 bj t!ai lt i ,'1 a he w V hrot W piria in Mn!,rT ",n ?nris Ule it .,,, of the English drama; .Jnd aeveuteoiitb a drama of and Ihfougliout the '"bally at !,?;; k; Jsktwntj, n" T1" WM r" he "JO ,J V 7 7 -.- . I"'1 dnrim the hM .beCme J:BWiuk , data .r of J.tat hin,r' ro71''l thespiao- the fast the ,f tlIt fel- wi,h hand ,!r hi, p.r.i'1' mU, dil, .1-- dlrJf ,"ttJiahaa himw,f to C part of t d lant perched on stools, who twitted the actor when they pleased, or disturbed the play by boisterous interruption. very' like the student of today at New ITaren or Ana Arbor. At the back of the platform wu bang an arras, through which the players made their entrances and their exits, and which could ha drawn aside to reveal a piece of stage furnishing. No ecenery was employed except some rude properties which could be drawn oa and off before the eye of the spectators. Since there waa no curtain, the acton could never be discovered on the stage, and were forced to exit at tha end of every scene.- This drama of rhetoric had to appeal to the ears of fhe audience rather than the eyes. Spectacular elements it had to some ektent, hut no Illusion in tha reality of rep resentment could he effected. three-legge- Tree (union all ln1 rni,Jred .7picture, Stage a Imagine Annie Russell playing in A Midsummer Night's Dream- - amid such a rude environment as that! Upon the assurance from nome functionary that aU was In readiness, the first person seen by the endian ce wonld and notice that tbe furniture is natural. Modern stage craft in the theatre has be that of an archin who would appear, bearing a board upon which had been made possible many worthy things that Beene 1, Athena, were not dreamed of in the philosophy roughly painted Act the Falace of Theseus, tbns easily and of Shakespeare. But the financial outeffectively transforming at least for the lay to accomplish this end is fairly We have outgrown onr audience, the rough planking and gen- staggering. eral aordidneas into tho royal hall of the pristine simplicity, hot perhaps wa have not yet arrived at tbe age of wisdom. proud and mighty dnke. When playgoers have progressed for The fact that the stage waa anirouad-e- d on three sides by standing spectators another century or two they may see forced the actor to emnlate tha platfrom fit to discard soma of tho trappings of otator. Bet speeches were in trod need the present day drama, becoming again bodily, into the text of a play, the most liks little children, content with simple notable example being in tbe second an toys and in that happy day tbe producof A Midsummer Night's Dream, tion of A Midsummer Nights Dream where the progress of the action of the will, not approximate an outlay which piece waa Impeded by these interlarded seems all hut foolhardy, such for examWta, which, although a portion of tba ple aa the Wagenhals A Kemper producoriginal varsion, have been expurgated tion, which Annie Russell is offering this as unnecessary In a revision of the man- year, which required an outlay close upon uscript for later presentations. BoIIloqnie 00,000. were common and formal dialogues pm. vailed. By convention, all characters, CRUCIAL MOMENT IN A PLAY. their education 'or station regardless in life were considered capable of talkthe Great Beene of ing, not only In verse, hint in poetry Something About This Benson. Thus, in the play Just referred to, we see Quince, a carpenter; Bring, a joiner-FlltWhat is the strongest scene in modern a bellows maker; Snout. a tinker iday? This is the text that hasany furnished and Bottom, a weaver, conversing a the snbstance for a decidedly heated discusmoat high flown and scholarly way sion recently In New York, and has been intervala concerning tba old store at of taken part in by theatregoers, dramatic Pyramus and Tfaiaby. critics, manairere and actors. The disNowadays, elaborateness of stage llln. cussion has .been intensely interesting Ion has made spoiled children of ns all and Instructive. 8cer.es We must have been pampered with me- been decidedly out from every sort hivea of pointed chanical toys until we have lost tbs art success to the of playing without them. Where have play, from the Broadway Bowery thriller, and the pickers ami our imaginations gone that we must have choosers all kinds of real rain upon the stage? Shall we labor reasons htve presented think their choice for real anow before long, that must be should bowhy they first choice, poo-sihl- y. . tt e, In the effort to decide on . the one where Miss Walsh, in tbe role of Moll "great scene, no end of good has been O'Hara, i girl of the alnma, is led to bedone; attention baa been directed to lieve that her Inver haa discarded her. reformed woman for many a'most unheard of plays, and it She baa become baa been shown that many plays are his sake, and no in a spasm of hopegreatly admired that have not succeeded lessness and ntter despair she dot ermine with tbe vast army of the persona who to forget her former avowal to walk the attend the theatre. But what it haa done straight road and to drown her troubles best is to bring strongly forward tbe in a wild debauch. Like a mad woman lence of wliat a really great arena1" abn tears at tbe furniture: she grasps must be. Told in a few wonts it is this: a flask of Hqaor and pulls the cork with A great scene mast be vital human her teeth; she tears the shade from the nature, not exaggerated, but intensely window, and then stands quivering with dramatic; More than this, it must come the liquor in her n praised hand. For the window covJust at tiie psychological moment of the the aweepiqg away-oplay; it must be worked np to logically, ering haa flooded tbe room with light, naturally, and with every due sense of and ore stray moonbeam illumines weirdly a picture of the Virgin hung on the dramatic propriety. After much deliberation, it haa finally wail. Tha woman falls on her khees bebeen decided that the great scene of the fore the picture of- the Mother of BorMadonna rows in an agony of contrite weeping. present decade is the Beene, in Blanche Walshs new Clyde The acne is almost terrible.. Of Fitch play, The Btnigbt Road. course this decision was not arrived at without endless argument. The strongPUCK AND THE FAIRIES. est objection was that tbe scene is mainly great1 because of the artistic ability of Blanch Walsh, conceded to he the Plus HaslHt'a Ctmractm" of Bhakapcrs's l'layo. greatest emotional actress on the AmeriPuck is the leader of the fairy band The argument wan adcan stage a madcap ajirita, full of wantnn-nevanced that almost any scene might be , who langba at those and called a great scene" in her hands. Lord, what foola But the result arrived at in the end was whom he misleads Pnck Is that thia particular portion of The these mortals be! Straight Road is far and away tbe home along on his fahry errand like the greatest scene of many years; that it i light and glittering gossamer before the a throbbing bit of intensity, concerning hreece. lie in Indeed a most epicurean which there have appeared more ethical little gentleman dealing in quaint devices reviews than have and faring in dainty delights. and been written of any offering on Broad- With Oberon and hi fairies wa are launched at once into the empire of the way in many years. The scene occurs in tho third act, butterflies. Bow beautifully ia this race . sow-aile- d ai mbs-hief' of beings contrasted with the men and women acton by n single epithet which Titania give tbe latter, the human morTbe reading of the play tal!" is like wandering In a grove by moon- light; the descriptions breathe a sweetness like odors turowa upon beds of flowers. 1 i; A MODERN POETS VIEW. Swtnhmu it la Hit ftortnlgfcltr Kevlew, JITS But in the final poem, which eoududee and crown the fin! epoch of Bhaken-licare- 's work, the special graces and peculiar glories at each that went before are gathered together aa in one garland of every hu and every scent." Tho voting genius of the master of ail poets find its cHMummation fat the Midsnm-raNights Dream. The blank verso ia aa foil, eweet and strong as tke beat f R iron 'a or Borneo's! tke rhymed verso aa dear, pure and true as. the simplest and truest melody of Venn and Adonis or the tlomedy of Errors. Blit here each kind of excellence is equal throughout; there are here no purple patches on a gown of serge, but one seamless and imperial robe of a single dye. Of tho lyric and prosaic part, the connterchango of loves and laughter, of fancy fine a sir and Imagination high as heaven, what need can there be for any one to ihatue himself by tbe helpless attempt te aay some word not utterly unworthy? Let it nffice to accept thia poin aa a landmark of our first stage, and pause to look back from It on what lies behind us of partial 3t of perfect work. er |