Shakespeare and the Modern Stage

PREFACE

CONTENTS

I

SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE

I. The Perils of the Spectacular Method of Production

II. The Need for Simplifying Scenic Appliances.

III. Consequences of Simplification. The Attitude of the

Shakespearean Student .

IV. The Pecuniary Experiences of Charles Kean and

Sir Henry Irving

V. The Experiment of Samuel Phelps

VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor

VII. The Example of the French and German Stage

VIII. Shakespeare's Reliance on the "Imaginary Forces

of the Audience

II

IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of
Shakespeare's Plays constantly and in their
variety on the English Stage

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER

I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal.

II. Shakespeare in the Rôle of the Ghost on the First

Production of Hamlet in 1602

III. Shakespeare's Popularity in the Elizabethan Theatre

29

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER-continued

IV. At Court in 1594

V. The Theatre an Innovation in Elizabethan England
VI. Elizabethan Methods of Production.
VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the Mod-
ern Methods

VIII. The Fitness of the Audience an Essential Element
in the Success of Shakespeare on the Stage

III

SHAKESPEARE IN ORAL TRADITION

I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death

II. The Evolution in England of Formal Biography

III. Oral Tradition concerning Shakespeare in Theatri-

cal Circles

IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors

V. Sir William D'Avenant's Devotion to Shakespeare's

Memory

VI. Early Oral Tradition at Stratford-on-Avon

VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century

Scholars and Statesmen .

IV

VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's Biog-

raphers. The Present State of Knowledge re-

specting Shakespeare's Life.

PEPYS AND SHAKESPEARE

I. Pepys the Microcosm of the Average Playgoer
II. The London Theatres of Pepys's Diary.

III. Pepys's Enthusiasm for the Later Elizabethan

Drama

IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare. His Admiration

of Betterton in Shakespearean Rôles

V. The Garbled Versions of Shakespeare on the Stage

of the Restoration .

VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre.

Betterton's Masterly Interpretation of Shake-

speare

CONTENTS

MR BENSON AND SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA

I. A Return to the Ancient Ways.

II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of Pro-

gramme. The Opportunities offered Actors by

Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt

III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of Hamlet with-

out Abbreviation

V

IV. Mr Benson as a Trainer of Actors. The Succession

to Phelps

VI

THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE

I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre .

II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor-

Manager System. The Control of the Capitalist .

III. Possibilities of the Artistic Improvement of Theat-

rical Organisation in England.

IV. Indications of a Demand for a Municipal Theatre

V. The Teaching of Foreign Experience. The Exam-

ple of Vienna

VI. The Conditions of Success in England

VII

ASPECTS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PHILOSOPHY

I. The Conflicting Attitudes of Bacon and Shakespeare

to Formal Philosophy

II. Shakespeare's "Natural" Philosophy. Concealment

of his Personality in his Plays

III. His lofty Conception of Public Virtue. Frequency

of his Denunciation of Royal "Ceremony

IV. The Duty of Obedience to Authority.

V. The Moral Atmosphere of Shakespearean Drama

ASPECTS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PHILOSOPHY-Continued

VI. Shakespeare's Insistence on the Freedom of the
Will.

VII. His Humour and Optimism

VIII

SHAKESPEARE AND PATRIOTISM

I. The Natural Instinct of Patriotism. Dangers of

Excess and Defect.

II. An Attempt to Co-ordinate Shakespeare's Detached

Illustrations of the Working of Patriotic Senti-

ment. His Ridicule of Bellicose Ecstasy. Corio-

lanus illustrates the Danger of Disavowing Patri-

otism

III. Criticism of One's Fellow-countrymen Consistent

with Patriotism. Shakespeare on the Political

History of England. The Country's Dependence

on the Command of the Sea. The Respect due

to a Nation's Traditions and Experience

IV. Shakespeare's Exposure of Social Foibles and Errors

V. Relevance of Shakespeare's Doctrine of Patriotism

to Current Affairs

IX

A PERIL OF SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH

I. An Alleged Meeting of Peele, Ben Jonson, Alleyn,
and Shakespeare at "The Globe" in 1600.
II. The Fabrication by George Steevens in 1763 of a
Letter signed "G. Peel"