Shakespeare in the Theatre
SHAKESPEARE
IN THE THEATRE
BY
WILLIAM POEL
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE ELIZABETHAN
STAGE SOCIETY
LONDON AND TORONTO
SIDGWICK AND JACKSON, LTD.
1913
All rights reserved.
NOTE
These papers are reprinted from the National Review, the WestminsterReview, the Era, and the New Age, by kind permission of the owners ofthe copyrights. The articles are collected in one volume, in the hope thatthey may be of use to those who are interested in the question of stagereform, more especially where it concerns the production of Shakespeare’splays.
W. P.
May, 1913.
ADDENDUM
An acknowledgement of permission to reprint should also have been made tothe Nation, in which several of the most important of these papersoriginally appeared.
W. P.
Shakespeare in the Theatre
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| I | |
| THE STAGE OF SHAKESPEARE | |
| The Elizabethan Playhouse—The Plays and the Players | 3 |
| II | |
| THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE | |
| Some Mistakes of the Editors—Some Mistakes of the Actors—The Character of Lady Macbeth—Shakespeare’sJew and Marlowe’s Christians—The Authors of “KingHenry the Eighth”—“Troilus and Cressida” | 31 |
| III | |
| SOME STAGE VERSIONS | |
| “The Merchant of Venice”—“Romeo andJuliet”—“Hamlet”—“King Lear” | 119 |
| IV | |
| THE NATIONAL THEATRE | |
| The Repertory Theatre—The Elizabethan Stage Society—Shakespeare at Earl’s Court—The Students’Theatre—The Memorial Scheme | 193 |
| Index | 241 |
I
THE STAGE OF SHAKESPEARE