SHAKESPEARE THEATRE IN THE. oan (^Anthology of Criticism STANLEY WELLS. Compiled and Edited by

Transcription

1 SHAKESPEARE IN THE THEATRE oan (^Anthology of Criticism Compiled and Edited by STANLEY WELLS Clarendon Press Oxford 1997

2 CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS EDITORIAL PROCEDURES INTRODUCTION: SHAKESPEARE AND THE THEATRE CRITICS Xll xiv i TEXT 17 [c.1700], Colley Cibber on Thomas Betterton as Hamlet 18 [c1738-9], Thomas Davies on Colley Cibber as Justice Shallow in Henry the Fourth, Part Two 19 [ ], Thomas Davies and James Boaden on David Garrick and Mrs Pritchard in Macbeth 20 [ ], Thomas Davies on David Garrick as King Lear 23 [1774-5], Georg Christoph Lichtenberg on David Garrick as Hamlet May 1776, Henry Bate (Sir Henry Bate Dudley) on David Garrick as King Lear 28 [c ], Charles Lamb on Robert Bensley as Malvolio and James William Dodd as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night 29 [1789-C.1817], Sir Walter Scott on John Philip Kemble as Macbeth and in Coriolanus' death scene 33 [1789-C1812], Julian Charles Young on J. P. Kemble as Coriolanus and Sarah Siddons as Vblumnia in Coriolanus February 1814, William Hazlitt on Edmund Kean as Richard III March 1814, William Hazlitt on Edmund Kean as Hamlet January 1816, William Hazlitt on A Midsummer Nights Dream, adapted by Frederic Reynolds, with music composed and arranged by Sir Henry Bishop 43 4 November 1816, Leigh Hunt on Edmund Kean as Timon of Athens 46 Vll

3 21 December 1817, John Keats on Edmund Kean as a Shakespearian actor; with John Hamilton Reynolds on Kean as Richard, Duke of York in the play of that name adapted by John Herman Merivale from Henry the Sixth, Parts One, Two, and Three 50 4 October 1818, Leigh Hunt on Edmund Kean as Othello October 1819, Leigh Hunt on William Charles Macready as Richard III 57 5 December 1819, Leigh Hunt on William Charles Macready as Coriolanus April 1820, anonymous review of Edmund Kean as King Lear 62 [1832], James E. Murdoch on Charles Kean as Posthumus in Cymbeline 64 [f.1837], Helena Faucit on herself as Hermione, with W. C. Macready as Leontes, in The Winters Tale February 1838, John Forster on W. C. Macready as King Lear March 1838, John Forster on W. C. Macready as Coriolanus [1844], James Robinson Planche's description of Ben Webster's neo-elizabethan production of The Taming of the Shrew October 1853, Henry Morley on A Midsummer Night's Dream, produced by Samuel Phelps October 1854, Henry Morley on Samuel Phelps's production ofpericles 92 [1856], Theodor Fontane on Charles Keans production of The Winters Tale April 1858, anonymous review of Charles Kean's production of (and performance in) King Lear 99 [C1850-C.1860], Henry Austin Clapp on Charlotte Cushman as Queen Katharine in Henry VIII 103 November 1874, Clement Scott on Henry Irving as Hamlet April 1875, Joseph Knight on Tommaso Salvini as Othello 112 [ ], William Winter on Henry Irving as Shylock November 1880, anon., The Times on Edwin Booth as Hamlet 126 Vlll JJ

4 [1887-C.1900], William Winter on Ada Rehan as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew July 1895, Bernard Shaw on Augustin Daly's production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona July 1895, Bernard Shaw on Augustin Daly's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream October 1897, Bernard Shaw on Johnston Forbes-Robertson as Hamlet , William Archer on Julius Caesar, produced by Herbert Beerbohm Tree February 1898, St John Hankin on Julius Caesar, produced by Herbert Beerbohm Tree September 1899, Max Beerbohm on Beerbohm Tree's production of King John November 1899, anon., Richard II, produced by William Poel December 1899, C. E. Montague on Frank Benson as Richard II May 1903, Max Beerbohm on Much Ado About Nothing with Ellen Terry as Beatrice and designs by Gordon Craig November 1903, Max Beerbohm on The Tempest at the Court Theatre, London April 1905, Max Beerbohm on H. B. Irving as Hamlet September 1912, John Palmer on The Winter's Tale directed by Harley Granville Barker January 1922, Harley Granville-Barker on Twelfth Night directed (in French) by Jacques Copeau November 1922, Stark Young on John Barrymore as Hamlet 195 [1923], Herbert Farjeon on Nigel Playfair s production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, with Edith Evans as Mistress Page August 1925, Hubert Griffith on Hamlet directed by Barry Jackson September 1933, Virginia Woolf on Twelfth Night directed by Tyrone Guthrie 206 IX

5 18 November 1934, James Agate on John Gielgud as Hamlet in his own production October 1935, James Agate on John Gielgud's production of Romeo and Juliet, with John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Laurence Olivier and Edith Evans November 1937, John Mason Brown on Orson Welles's production of Julius Caesar 220 [1944], Ronald Harwood on Donald Wolnt as Lear 224 [1944-5], Kenneth Tynan on Laurence Olivier as Richard III 230 [1945-6], Kenneth Tynan on Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in Henry IV, Parts One and Two 234 [1947], Kenneth Tynan on Donald Wolfit and Frederick Valk in Othello July 1949, T. C. Worsley on Tyrone Guthrie's production of Henry VIII 244 [ I 95 ]> Richard David on Measure for Measure directed by Peter Brook, with John Gielgud and Barbara Jefford September 1955, Evelyn Waugh on Titus Andronicus directed by Peter Brook, with Laurence Olivier as Titus 252 [1959], John Russell Brown on All's Well that Ends Well directed by Tyrone Guthrie 256 [1959], Laurence Kitchin on Laurence Olivier as Coriolanus, directed by Peter Hall 260 [1962], Laurence Kitchin on Peter Brook's production of King Lear, with Paul Scofield as Lear May 1964, Ronald Bryden on Laurence Olivier as Othello August 1965, Ronald Bryden on Peter Hall's production of Hamlet with David Warner as Hamlet , Robert Speaight on Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Nights Dream 277 [1973], Peter Thomson on Richard II directed by John Barton 279 [1976], Roger Warren on Macbeth, directed by Trevor Nunn, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench 283

6 [1978], Roger Warren on Love's Labour's Lost directed by John Barton June 1984, Stanley Wells on Antony Sher as Richard III, directed by Bill Alexander 289 [March 1985], Nicholas Shrimpton on a production of the First Quarto version of Hamlet 292 [1985], Roger Warren on Howard Davies's production of Troilus and Cressida 294 [1986], Stanley Wells on Henry TV, Parts One and Two, and Henry V directed by Michael Bogdanov April 1987, Michael Billington on Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Peter Hall 301 [1987], Stanley Wells on Titus Andronicus, directed by Deborah Warner 303 [1989], Robert Smallwood on Othello, directed by Trevor Nunn October 1990, Paul Taylor on The Tempest, directed by Peter Brook December 1991, Paul Taylor on As You Like It, directed by Declan Donnellan 316 [1992], Peter Holland on Richard III directed by Barrie Rutter for Northern Broadsides 318 [1996], Robert Smallwood on The Comedy of Errors, directed by Tim Supple 320 FURTHER READING 326 INDEX 331 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 338 XI