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4 ON SEEING PLays ‘ONCE AGAIN To Tix Celebrated Writer Series a the Srtord ‘esi thi time in Jane 1990: Weare very pleted ob ale to Include the Theatre Diary enre for thts ofthe fou plays thet are dhe ubjct of this leeture. They are As You Like Love for ‘Loe, sad Macbeth. There it no entry for the production of The Mery Wives of Windsor. The mention of Weld of Weades i of ‘he play hat He Hayes adptd from Roberton Deve’ nove ‘ofthe same name, staged at Seed in June 1993, (Onyune ro, r9goDavies wrote: Vey nervous. Leta in Thi Stage at 10:30am, Sold on! Lectures goes ey well. nc with ‘lott Hayes ia Green Room: regzect Destand Heeley To ‘Matinée: As You Like It very finely dove to Canin sein (Chazspapne with foba and Joanne Hays: heir rat aniversary ‘To dimer atthe Old Prune with Eliot Hayes, David Willan, fend David Rose. Tak about the Alexter Tochaiqu, the ‘cca, and World of Wonders, about which they have very inte. ting ideas. Tone 6: Friday, Avon Theate: Love for Love produced by arid William. Lacked styl. Colm eove an under par Valeatne is mad sane went for nothing, Golie Semple good as Angelica ‘but in Congrve one player cannot lift ebad parser Avena a good Freight, but the peeling style was aponst him. Ben and ‘Prue Roger Honeywell ond Vickie Papas) couse and out of ey ‘be haaled her about the toe by ber legs ond she raved in low Canadien voice ~ t Fceighs daughter A weary production nd dolly spoken. Tune: Saturday, Festival Theatre: Macbeth the bert have ever seen of this twagedy. Ensemble dit, for Brian Bedford Bas ot the voice fo it though his depiction of apc decline was super, A truly Fang production: the Hero dominated by ‘is demonic Anime until he ion of er easp and wholly inthe ‘nip of his Unconscious (vary ise that Macbeth showed no ‘eres, only elf concern tthe end, ia tebe flash of Lh, [Macbeth sees al his victims ox he falls, Pennell a splendid ‘Bongo, noble anda ving rebuke to Macbeth: Scott Weatwarth ‘exatumine, implacable Macduf Atienza for once a real King (1 Duncan: Golde Semple a riliunt, tay endike Lady. The only bad performance was Wiliom Dunlop atthe Porter ~ a ‘posable pat, anyhow. Supernatural scenes splendid; tly archeypal figures in the Mangus of Kings. And a true regaicy bout the throne of Scotland - lt of splendid accoutrements, ‘Thing end ehiling as Ibave never koown Mocbeth ob, Pine smuuie by Lou Applebaum une so: Sunday: Festive Theatre: As You Like He Beant swity production by Richard Monette. Acion 1a New France, shoot 1760 coueur de ols, ndins, canoes, maple lars, abi tants and score by the esuallyvlainous Carize whic veed ‘rench Canadian flog simply and moringly. Lacy Peacock 4 splendid Rosalind, witty, boyish ond delghfol. And Maxie. ‘Baron made a witty charmer ofthat lump Gali Wiliara Dunlop ‘vey fanny, restrained Touchstone, played as a Scot in Mighland ‘res, David Willian fle Fcques, stressing the bitterness and On Seg Phy ° ‘misanthropy of the role: Seven Ages taneformed, the uliess and ftity stressed. The whole productcn a bilion joke and ‘warming Beste the Canadian approach hasbeen made tof so charmingly. The best Ax You Like tI have sea, hink, end 1 ‘have s8en some fine production. Wen tasted on you ‘his morning Iwas given no specific direction sbour the kindof talk itshould be; shat wat le to my discretion. This sounds coraplimen- tary anda if thigs had been made ear forme, bun fk, the con trary was the case tobe sked to alk, bu not told wat to lk aboxt, {rows the spake ito confision, particulary if ike mysely be has spent part of his if a2 peofsorProfeort You te, hve a sneak ing feling tha they ought to sy the la word about anything that presents itelf They know they won succeed, but they think they ‘ought try. IFT had obeyed the prompting of the profesor side of any nature I should now set to work to tll you everyting tha is Jnown, or might be essed, about the plas you have seen here Seatfor, and wrap i€ all ap so thet you would never fel doubt ce be obliged to think aboot thove ply, or see them, again But theres anothers o my nanie. Where the profesor eames and weighted down with knowleds, this other fellow i smply 2 delighted playgoe, who goes tothe dear t often athe can, becatse playgoing i the greatest pleasure he mows. Lond Byron roti a lemerto his rend Thomas Moore: “Iam aequsnted with ao imma- terial sensuality so delight a good acting" and {aplaud his lord- ship, loud and long. And 1 would add that {consider good plays to ‘be among the highest achievement af iterate and tose them per formed = no aways greatly bu often prey welt be among the highest pleasures posible So Tam goig to alk to you this morning shout sxng plas, rather than abou the ply therslves. have sen all the plays we ae attending this weekend many times and [ath going to tell you about what {saw If any of you came expecting 2 schol leone, now is the time for you to les, because this i jst sing tobe sendy elk, may even be boring, and you have been warned. We have all been bored almost to the point of paris by old playgoer who ‘want to tell us abou dhe actors far greater than any now living productions of plays tha have never been equalled in any memory bur their own. promise yo that wort do tht, Bt Isl ll you about some productions that [have greatly enjoyed, and which ate ‘now Tam srry ty, quite along time in dhe ps. Because Iam ~ it gives me no plese to say v0 ~ tater an Ol Paygoee. ‘When Iwas thinking about what Iam going to 87 [stood for quite awhile in ont of my bookshelves, which something often dbo when Iam trying to think. And ae Idd 1 my eye lt on book have not ead for years and 1am not going to read ic aguin— alled ‘The OU Plager. Iie rer a ae book ~ tht i why 1 bough it and icwaswriuen ia 1846 by a man clled Willam Robson. You will not have head of him, aad you need aot reget it Ii sid of im that hs criccsms are always schol nd is comments bay inter- esting. That is ee enough. But forall ofthat he ie thera bore, because in his book he ass thas nobody will ve see anything to ‘eqal what he has seen. Al the great actos are dead, and nobody tuderands Shakespeare. I dont want to take the cheap revenge of| making fon ofa dead man, oT shall imply sy hat I dnagree ave seen pleny affine actor who sze now dead, but I bare alo seen smany who are all Living, and vome of them I have seen here at Seatior. Robson says: “Although the plearure Ihave received fom this rerospectve review of by-gone excellence has been one of the reion for my thus ringing rogeher my dramatic ecolections, my principal motive has been to prove the vat superiority ofthe pe cof my day over the present, nd to endemour to show the cause of| the deteiontion” He wrote tat when he was only nty-one — a rete boy Iam older chan he was then, and 10 Ihave the senior right co contact him. And T do. dink the sage now ix beer — so far as Shakopee goes, at lest ~ than it used to be. Bue it wat ‘very fine aloag time ago, And T sal begin along tie ag. On Saag Pe * 1 shal begin, in fit, in the sping oF 1938, wen Ii saw a pay by Shakespeare profesionlly performed. Ih yen dread sadent ‘ssl on Shakespeare: I recall ne of my alder brother plying the role of ulus Cees’s Ghoe inthe scene atthe Bate of Pippin onder that there shouldbe no mistake about whose Ghost he was, he caored a white pater base of Caer ontop of bit head, and veiled ‘he res of imsel in a white sheet, so that when appeared onthe ‘tefl i looked aif Caesar had been seven fet tl fe was athe ‘eal rather than dramatically, impressive and my brosher had a headache fr two day aferwar | had sid Shakespeare a schoo, in the horrible Copp Cla ‘ediions, which were bound ina smelly green cihcoth. They had been edited to remove any pusages unsuitsble for the young, and you can imagine my surprise when, in ltr life, I ducoveed that Shakespeare was fll of dirty jokes, Thon schoo editions had copious notes~ mere notes than play, sometimes and they made Stakespeare seem avery great bo 1 was astonished, therefore, when iny parents took me from ‘Kingston wo Toronto to see The Mery Wve of Winds, performed by an allstar cas. And indeed they were ll ar. Flstatf was layed by Otis Skinner, Misuess Page by Mr. Minnie Maddern Fiske, and “Mistress Ford by Miss Hensets Crosman. Thete names may no be ‘mmedinely familiar to you, bt chey were gett ames for three ot ‘our decades on che American stage, which in those days was able to present the plas of Shakespeare splendidly ~an ability which i doesnot eem to have at the pretent time. I think chat even in hone ay it was a vomewhatold-shioned production, beeause scenery is going out of fishion then, and dis production had earoads of wonder cenery. [shall never forget dhe astonishment I fle when the curtain roe on a sueet in Winsor, marvellouty painted, with real doors am the houses for people to come out of a dixant earch ‘ower which seemed to give out 2 sound of bell, nd mos ssound- ing of al, a sight incline inthe cobblestone pavement, 10 dat ‘everybody semedto come dowailto the front ofthe tage Thee were splendid costumes; i was not one of thote starved produc ions where everybody has stone suit of clothes. Thete were even dog, who cae oa with Maer Sede, a go aught opin bine Bat ste agg tthe ey you mit ot ink mined a-wod of the pla Inde the wots wee be of al, bce tae ‘compote omy dad never bead Shakey poke Ie tt before donot meant hey motel and ke hele ‘words, like clocutionists (has anybody here under fifty ever heard an Cocoa) to beeen hogan i's thas here ml or sad ‘we bene bad ma hn os fier he a of perch an ty and ey ot ed lke cer watern the deere can remem now he cadece nda of Ske ice who he i Thad been downed Bt a the sore wt aly Tow. deh nt torr ter vel an what 1ing sho I hve ec, when des ele shld ae tes moun of many” (On Shiner pe Faas eeman dows on is ck ad sot clown, and al he be ak hve en ico ing the resto tem all Raph Richa, hve yen om ftps even Psi get, een hen he ow Soi Helio cae be meng wih ov sd beer sn sng So ove megs Nn, este kw et ties mann Goat a oes ox pin epg, ike ty wy ph hak wna wl po gh Synth isk pl i gh he mem Be gua in The Moy We sl aden so nd beaten Wit id not eae hi tc deep ino etait of young nce in ny 17 ot be mol ot have ben 0 aie and broke eared when, teen ofthe second par of ht plo Hees i Sennen ay he al et en ak on ok endl bt lent th ths pin wich he pens tht Hao King Henry V te ater Beco, ws ough apo tii and edt you don ik ich enc ao CU nds wo lve become eabersing rad fw Wg: Of gre ee on atm ad wht you tnd Delgo pet sn may bey a posal stone On Seng Pee a Tamspeatng coh shou the vie ofthe ar plage, ‘cave they wee a even co eI had noe though hat ees strc could beso mens cleat oimedilyundentand se Os Skinner. and Mex, File, an is Croman went jonas have sckoned hatin 1938 ther tel ap came tote ye Be {hey didnot ccm ol, or ound ld They tad very good eae ‘in te bonne rey, and | tomembet one, whe vita oe Host ofthe Garey, who tiled ne with hs iventivs agian Iriace: “sh ded my Ethiopia? she dead, my Frenne? ‘Whats ny Aesalpa, my Gale, ny het of le ne de, ‘nyt? he end” wted tha couleur {ad flea toaly under the spel of Stakes’ lange Of Stakepene' poe; tall o hit poetry eas intet wi Hanes Scholars ate apt 0 sneer at The Mary Wo, ms beneath Stukepee gen, but Idk they a wrong conte de oct tis true. Bait cones rh spend pie, sod ting Srifing mater. Is Shaeipene' only playin wich he devas msl tothe ondary, middle-clas he o hs tne snd there ane sch comedy by any of his contemporaries tht show ut onnary eople more convincing The glimpses gies of cones ie ae delgnlin thei spc Take tat lie vsne where Mion Page and her son Willa meet Sic Hugh Boas, the hoolecncs, snd Sir Hugh pus Wil tough abi ei Ltn Wills ‘spin tse, is wo schol But the sneha sweeney ache hich is india, and wheter t brings the Esbethan ae ito cnr ovn, oaks ou age bac othe Elmsbeth amor oy br ‘isan eaduring sep of rl ie, and we ae charmed when oe 2, Wiliam having shown hits to bes remonble chase ‘mother ss he isa beter schol than she had thought nde Hay ‘chooimater sends the boy away to pay Stakespete wa very pood inthesensin which he hows scien Alay eades be vr ‘cota Thave sen The Mey Wis many tines, and ven dete pro cin of it mye One ofthe very bat Fb | evr soa nated Roy Byford he wa ft enough ope the po wot ‘ding, Some Fatal ate too henry cuhione and they doa took so much fra fed they struggle and pul, which real ft 'men never da But Byford wat propedy ft, and he had besifily formed legs, upon which he could dance with delight ailing Falstaff surely sbould not look she were dangerous, malignant, ‘obscenely fit and in perpeaal danger of «heart atack Hei, quite simply a fat man, and that was what Byfonl was. He wat also ‘extremely shor-sghte, and on the stage his eyes ha gleaming. ‘moist, viglant look which gave him 2 pec ait of mental letne. He was ateactive; twas not out of the question thatthe metry wives might have been dawn to him, if chey bad not thooghe pyc ppesnance more important than inllect. Byford wis 2 genial ‘charming Falsaf, but he never lt you forget that Fabsal i rther| dangerous. Heis explotve an he onthe make, Iwas inthis pect of the chancter hat Ralph Richardson was supreme he was 20 pinly the ablest man on the sage, except fr Prince Hal: but he wat also an impeniten old crook. A Falsa who is nothing but charm it ‘ot the whole man, Fala is 2 gentleman,» courier mixing with middle cas al, and nobody cre forge i “My pasion far Shakespeare was whetedt keener edge not long after, when I saw Hale forthe Sst time, The player wae Walter lampden, who was ffy-rwo thea, ad a princely Hamlet he wat, sand he spoke splendidly Since then Ihave seen snany Hamlet and some of them were admired chiefly because they were young. Some of them dia look old enough to vote. Because they were young. it was sud that they were “contemporary” and had banished the ‘ler, more intdlectal Hames forever. But nt for me The young Hlamles never have looked a though, i they had been hckiee, they could hve raed a kingdom, Hamlec was the sn of 3 rest warrior ‘ing, and hough he is incellecta, he is noe therefore infect ‘What wat Hamlet studying at Witenbecg? It must have been Protesane theology. prince sda scholar. Give me princely schol arly Hamlet every time. 1 got anther one very shor afer Hampden had seed ny tte ‘nha direction, and e wat George Hayes, the granfither of Eliot Hiayes, whom you may have met in ths theaze. He war one of the leading actors in company tha ited Canada om the Shakespeare On Seri Pay 55 Memorial Theatre in Sttond-on-Avon aboot 1930, They brought Several plays wih them, and one of thers was Made, which iin ‘he repertoire here this year, and which you have een Ie wa ny int Math, aod the actor was Wild Walter, who bad che enormous ‘udrantge ofa warriors physique ~ atl, hndkome man, with com pling eyes and an admirable bas voice. I mention that becae 1 ‘have han Macbeth whose voices were too light forthe cole voces that suggested romance rather then rua. Not that a high voe ie ‘unsuitable fr tragedy Years ago I saw Matic Evan play Rhee IT and a Giend was with me who wis + musician with perfect pitch, ‘When Richard eied God, fo his Richard ath in heavenly pay A glorious angel tay fiend mudd me, and si “A ARerwan I asked hin what he $d meant. “That was tenor Abe id, “andi astonishing to heat anybody speak, and speak magpiticenly,on sachs high note” Evans had one of the eat voices ofthe tage in ou tne. But » tence Macbeth would hardly do, and Waker’ velvety bass was psfect for ‘An actor in Shakespeare needs big val ange Sit Johnaton Forber-Robertion, who wat one ofthe ery greet acon ofthe cody Pt of this century, and famous for ie splendid voice, sid tha 4 ‘ange of at lea two octves was needed, and he himself did exer aes every day atthe pian, to keep his woe in tne, Yes, din ‘ume for ove great actors of the pst, and the realy good ones of today, new the at of speaking ia ners which are a muse! and ss arf calculated a anything in Wagner, and whats more hey ould speak in minor aswell as major modulationt ~ ad that sche secret of many gresly poetic efor, ‘But to get back to Math,» fe-rate voce is eat became without i¢ the ator wil become tied ~ his voice wil show sun, and in the ln at of Mach you have no time to indalge fatigue, Sonne years ago I heard that Sine ator Frederick Valk play Othel, and his voice was tre bythe end of act three. He wat then an old ‘man. He barely made itt the euran, Members of an audience rely ss ronunrton 941 understand what a vasey and szengh of toca technique goes nto the acing of great Shakespearean roe. Pechps tome of you aw ‘Richard Burton 1 Hamlet A fne vic, tu he was atin pyri condition fora great role and the las wo acu wee ery dull No amount of peteding dat iis al cllogus, nd chat Shakespeare's four contemporary, sof any use whatever, You might 2 wel ey to be colloquial singing Mozart. The comparion is apt. A grea ator and a great singe are not fir apart in physical equipment. You lave al heard that Macitk hat the reputation of being an vnlucky play. and aeur lovee el tories of the mishaps tha have ‘ken place when itis pat on the stage. My wie wa tage manager at the Old Vie in 1937 doing fst-ate example ofthe Made i- foruine: To begin, the tenery which had been made forthe play proved, when fe was put on the stage, not of, akhoogh sich amit ‘aleulation is almost unheard of. Nex, the deny loved dog of the ‘eat manage, Lan Baylis ws killed in the suect ouside the ge oor. Tir, 2 avy iron br fl, inexplicably, Gom the area above the sage and very nearly killed some of the flower ofthe Fags ‘theatre, which would have heen a great misfreun indeed. What fl- lowed was thatthe production was not ready ~ noe sficiently ‘hearse ~ to be seen on the opening night, and forthe fs time inthe history ofthat gret theatre an opening bad to be posponed. ‘That wat too much for Lili Baylis, who wat in deste heals nd she tool to herbed and died. A succeion of misfrtnes, which the ‘thee fl, who ate inclined toward supentiio, laid atthe door of what was ofen elle “the Scorish pay" to avoid speaking tame Ireeall once, when I was young actor, quoting Machi the dresing-room atthe Old Vie, and being asked ro eave the room, and se-eter i, ward off il lack "That OldVic production wasilllack indeed can ell you snother ‘Mace le in which 1 was myself involved, and iti a 90 rch tragic as facial. Ichappened at Oxford, where che Oxford University Drninatic Society, which is «very good amateur group, I msy cl ‘you, wa presenting the tragedy in whats cilled The New These, aldhough iis realy the old theatre It wat he custom ofthe Sociey to retain the evices of profesional director, andthe man who wat (On Seg Pls ”