The Little Review, April 1916 (Vol. 3, No. 2) — John Shaqi
The Little Review, April 1916 (Vol. 3, No. 2)Various
General
The Little Review, April 1916 (Vol. 3, No. 2)
Various
Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals
And what can be said of the lighting? There was one comic spotlight that
followed Sir Herbert (or ought I to say Wolsey? I hardly know; they were
never quite distinct) around the stage like a little motherless puppy.
Sometimes it went before, sometimes it frisked after, on the tail of his
magnificent scarlet gown. It had a grand time! But it never seemed to be
doing the thing it ought to be doing.
But let me not bore you as these things bored me. Pass we now to the
acting. In London the honors of the play were carried off by Arthur
Bouchier as Henry, and his wife, Violet Vanburgh, as Katherine. A
repetition was performed here. Lyn Harding as Henry, and Edith Wynne
Matheson as Katherine, carried every one before them. And Tree? Well, he
had his moments. There was his superb entrance with the look he flashed
at Buckingham: fine too was the acting in the scene of his downfall.
Between these two highlights such ordinary acting has seldom been seen
in a man of Tree’s reputation. In a cold classic way Miss Matheson was
splendid. I liked her much, and but for her some of the scenes in the
play would have been colourless. There was the usual mob of supers who
got caught in doorways and tripped over furniture, but on the whole they
behaved as well as an ordinary stage manager can make such people
behave.
_Yvette Guilbert_
Five years ago I saw Yvette Guilbert in London. I loved her all. Her red
hair; the skinny arms of her, clothed in long black gloves; and her
Gallic body with the low-necked white crinoline that gowned it. And how
she sang!! And her acting! For five years I have carried the memory of
her around with me, matching other people up with her but never finding
her equal. On Sunday, March nineteenth, I saw her again. The black
gloves and the white crinoline were gone, and she had grown a little
stouter. The red hair was there, and the smile. Her voice had changed a
bit and her personality had mellowed. She sang songs that were grave and
moving, like Fiona Macleod’s _Prayer of Women_, and others that were gay
and jocular, like _The Curé Servant_. But whatever she sang—and I didn’t
know a word of what she sang—carried me away completely. Not a mood did
I miss—not a suggestion of a mood. Perfect is her art. She has my
adoration.
“_The Merry Wives of Windsor_”
The latest addition to the Shakespeare Festival that is being thrust
upon the apathetic people of this place is the Hackett-Allen production
of _The Merry Wives of Windsor_. Three things can be said without any
further comment. Joseph Urban did the stage settings. Richard Ordynski
directed the production. Willy Pogany designed the costumes. Gordon
Craig says somewhere that any medium is easier to work in than human
beings. After seeing the work expended on _The Merry Wives of Windsor_
by three geniuses, and watching the actors in that play, we understand
completely.
_Soulless New York_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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