"HAMLET."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1349, 29 January 1912, Page 6

"HAMLET."

H. B. IRVING AND COMPANY." "Hamlet," a tragedy by Wni. Shakespeare. Cast:— Claudius Mr. l-'rnuk'Tyars Hamlet •" lr - ir - "• Irving Polonius Mr. Arthur Whitfoy Loorles '.Mr. Kric Mason Horatin Mr. fitauley llowlvt Otic Mr. W. lloaumoni. Ruscncrniiti! Mr. Arthur Curtis finiliicnstern -Mr. C. Trevor Itoper llarccllns Mr. \V. nonstock Hernnrdo Mr. .1. Cass Vir.it. Player Mr. liouland I'crtius Francisco* Mr. llonnld Hyram .Srrond.Player ......... -Mr.' Olaudo llcCThohiii First (iravedißger Mr. Tom Hcynokis Socoti'i Gravcdigper Mr. C. Arthur (ibost of Hamlet's Father Mr. Henry Vibart Certrmlc Miss Helen Rous Ophelia Mips Dorothea Baird Player Qiiccn Miss Irene Jlrown Saturday evening was a notable one for loral playgoers— notable in two rnsprots, as it: hiw*flic first ;i))penrance in Wellington of Mr. H. B. Irving, the English actor, and son of the ornnmonl of the Kiiti>h s-laae of thn )a,t century, aud brought us back to the realisation of the serious truth of Shakespeare's sublime pre-eminence as the master playwright of all times. It was fitting that the son of the laic Sir Henry Irving should elect to appeal iu these* outposts of the Empire in a play that has been associated so frequently with his father's name during the lattei halt of tho last century in England and America, and in selecting "Hamlet"' as the vehicle of his theatrical introduction he chose what is probably the most profoundly beautiful and poignant of all tra'Redie'!-. Our "Hamlets" have been few and far between. The last was Mr. Walter BenUey. and long before that there was .Mr. Charles Warner, Mr. Alfred Dampier, Mr Geo. C. Miln, aiid in the dawn of things theatrical Sheridan and Herr Bandmann, G. V. Brookes, and possibly Vym. Hoskius, essayed the arduous role with varying success. Mr. H.' B. Irving, who was given an enthusiastic welcome, breaks away from convention and tradition, to give us a "Hamlet" of a , singularly ingratiating character. He is intensely modern in his reading and ripples off the dialogue in a conversational manner which . charms and shocks by turns. ••" From the outset he leaves no" doubt that to his mind "Hamlet" was au intensely saue young man, whose mind has been tuned to a fino degree of subtlety by the.outrage done to his royal father, and the intrigue which follows. Iu his sceaes with Rosencrantz and Guildeustern, aud with Polonius he makes that abundantly clear. His "antic disposition" is but a cloak to hide the ways and means by which ho will presently sweep to his revenge. Havins established his disposition, he shakes oft hismoodinessi and save for the big dramatic moments, such as the play scene and that in the Queen's closet, Mr. Irvine; illuminates his study with a delicate ironic ' comedy entirely acceptable, and not Mn the least illogical :' He is a spare, eager, alert weil-balanced Hamlet, of firm and graceful poise, who makes no attempt to declaim—not even in.the famous soliloquies one has for ages associated with the art of declamation. To Irving s Hanilet thev are the sane musings of a mind sorely distressed, and are delivered in a mood and. manner which may to described as. contemplatively conversational. So far does Mr. Irving go in the adoption of this attitude that many of tho conventional points are missed, which should not be missed. On tins account, and because of his at times somewhat monotonous delivery-a drawling ot one word into another—and certain eccentric tricks'of speech, that electric sympathy which-Hamlet invariably establishes with the audience was slower iu arrival than usual There wero occasions when ho (lashed-notably in the play scene where, from his half-kneeling attitude by the side of Ophelia, he srmirius and wriggles across the stage to and finally tears down the cloak which the King holds before-his guilty face. Hero the actor realised with vivid' intensity Hamlet's vengeful delight at the triumphant endorsement of the ghost's confession. For this and one other scene, H. B. Irving's Hamlet will be remembered. Tho other is tho scene beginning with the soliloquy, "To be, or not to be!" Though this long speech was not declaimed or acted, it was effectively spoken in soft undertones, which led harmoniously to the end, beautifully delivered—

"Soft you, now. The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thine orisons be all my sins remembered!"

Then ensues the scene between Hamlet and Ophelia, in which Mr. Irving charmed the audience by his quick-changing moods —infinitely sweet and tender in his love for Polonius's daughter, and flaming with scorn* and contumely when the shaking arras fires in him tho suspicion that Ophelia, like (he Test, is a tool of tho King's, to bait and cajole him into a confession of the just suspicions of his mind. In this scene the actor exerted the full range of his powers, and his final cry—"To a nunnery, go!" was the signal for a storm of applause. In contradistinction to these two finely-acted scenes, Mr. Irving's Hamlet of the first act would have been dull, but for his eccentricities of intonation aud pronunciation. One fault in elocution is his habit of dropping tho last syllable altogether, and he has of certain .words a trick of pronouncing the letter "s" as "z," With peculiar effect. He was happy in his seeno with the gravedigger, and there was a fine measure of pathos in his soliloquy over the skull of Ydrick. It was rather in the graveside encounter with Laertes that he failed to strike the ■fire that exists in the dramatic situation. The duel in the last act was fairly effective, and the curtain was "rung down finally amidst full-handed applause, which ended in Mr. Irving delivering a short speech, in which he expressed his thanks fcj' thf kind welcome vouchsafed him aud his company, and for the appreciation of the performance. If they had given pleasure, it was a source of gratification to him.

Ha'zlitt held that of all Shakespeare's characters Huinlct was for the player the most difficult, while George Henry Lowes asserted that no actor had been* known utterly lo fail , in the part. It is wellnigh impossible (o give a wholly, satisfying performance of the Dane, still the role is so maiiy-.-idcd, so richly endowed, physically, mentally, spiritually, that any artist worthy of tho name cannot fail to give life to some facet of the character. Mi;. Irving succeeded in giving a most interesting, and fairly consistent, performance, (hat could be soon again and again with pleasure find profit. As Ophelia, Hiss Dorothea Baird was not , wholly satisfactory. In the earlier scenes, where tho daughter of Polonius is a fresh, clean-hearted, innocent girl, Miss Baird was rather inclined to strain for a certain picturesquennss that was not natural. She seldom looked .comfortable, in her attitudinising, and was inclined to over-gesticulate. She read Ihe part with intelligence, hut her mad scene was enacted without imparting any thrill to the audience. Mr. Arthur AVhitby was a remarkably fine Polonius, acting with ripe judgment and speaking the lines and interpreting their seme with case and intelligence. Many iielnrs love to exaggerate the fussy humour uf this character, but with Mr. AVhitby it gained dignity and finality, without losing a point in tho humour. One subtlety noticed ill this able performance was in the sceno where Hamlet refers to the shapes of the clouds. The old man readily agrees with Hainlot Unit tho cloud is'at first like a camel and then a weasel, but when Hamlet suggests thnt it is like a whale, the new Polonius, conscious that he is being fooled, instead of fooling, does not look up at all, but says in doubtiug voice, "Very like a whale."* The advice to Laertes was excellently spoken, and in the letter scene with the Kin? and (Jueen, Mr. Wltitby was quite in the picture. Another line performance was that of the Ghost, by Mr. Henry Vibart. His glorious voice is as sonorous as a church organ, anil his elocution is snperb. Mr. Frank Tyars, as King Claudius, was inclined to be colourless, and Miss Helen Rous was nothing distinctive as Queen Gertrude. The chance, of this character is in the closet scene, but as it is acted in a half-light, the play of expression was almost wholly lost. Mr. Eric Maxon was a blight, vigorous, ami manly Laertes, and Mr. Stanley Hewlett was a satisfactory Horatio. The First Player was well done by Mr. Rowland Per'tius, ;ind Miss Irene Brown figured to advantage as tho Player Queen. The humours of that merry clod the FirSt Gravedigger, were admirably represented by Mj\ Tutu Reynolds. The play wns adequately, but not lnvishlv, mounted. Mr. SlappofMd led an efficient-or-chestra.

"Hamlet" wiil be ployed Ihroughout the week.