DOCSLIB.ORG

Measure for Measure Cambridge University Press C

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Measure for Measure Cambridge University Press C QlorneU Ittiocrditg Cibrarg Stlfata, Sfejn ^ork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Library Cornell University A1 1922 443 3 1924 012 960 P^TE DUE DDNUU995 GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012960443 THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY SIR ARTHUR QUILLER-COUCH AND JOHN DOVER WILSON MEASURE FOR MEASURE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager LONDON ; FETTER LANE, E.C. 4 NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY CALCUTTA MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. MADRAS ) TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TOKYO : MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED x-lker-:jt^uru-'iHa'iit-ii"i -j S^^i j7o- MEASURE FOR MEASURE CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS I Q22 A^ ) \\^\\%\o% CONTENTS BEN JONSON FRONTISPIECE INTRODUCTION PAGE vii TO THE READER xliv MEASURE FOR MEASURE I THE COPY FOR THE TEXT OF 1623 97 NOTES 115 TIME-ANALYSIS 157 THE STAGE-HISTORY 160 GLOSSARY 166 THE FRONTISPIECE IS REPRODUCED FROM THE PORTRAIT, AFTER HONTHORST, IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. JONSOn's masque of blackness is referred TO IN THIS PLAY (see pp. 1 01-3) : MEASURE FOR MEASURE I We have no reason to suppose that Measure for Measure ever savs^ print until it appeared in the 1623 Folio which gives us our text. Most critics agree, how- ever, that in some form or other it dates from twenty years earlier, and accept the entry of the Revels Accounts (confirming a note among Malone's papers in the Bodleian Library) that it was performed at Court be- 604I. fore King James I on December 26, 1 In our note on the Copy (pp. 101-3) we oiFer some new evidence supporting this date. The source of the plot stands even less in dispute. It derives originally from Italy, where Giraldi Cinthio (d. 1573) had told the tale in a tragedy, Epitia, and repeated it in a collection of prose tales, Hecatommjthii, published inSicily in 1565. In 1 578 George Whetstone, working apparently on the prose version, Englished it into a double play, entitled^: The Right Excellent and Famous History of Promos | | and Cassandra; divided into two Comical Discourses. In | [ the first part is shown, the unsufFerable abuse of a lewd | Magistrate, I the virtuous behaviour of a chaste Lady: the | uncontrolled lewdness of a favoured Courtesan, and the | undeserved estimadon of a pernicious Parasite. In the | second part is discoursed the perfect magnanimity of a | noble King in checking Vice and favouring Virtue : | | ^ The entry runs St By his Ma'" \ On Sduens Night in the I „, , , ^'"^'>^'''*- plaiers \ Hall A Play cald Mefur for Mefur \ ^ The curious reader may consult Collier's and W. Carew Hazlitt's several reconstructions of Shakespeare's Library. Nichols reprinted Whetstone's play in 1779. So far as is known it was never acted. : ; viii MEASURE FOR MEASURE wherein is shown the Ruin and Overthrow of dishonest | practices, with the advancement of upright dealing. | To his play Whetstone prefixed a brief 'Argument of the Whole Historye'; and again, in 1582, he pub- lished in his Heptameron of Civil Discourses a prose version of the tale—in v^hich he must evidently have found a fund of enjoyment. We confess to inheriting a very small share in this: but holding as we do that the true difficulty of Measure for Measure is an aesthetic one—yet not excluding thereby the pleasure we all take in recognising right moral judgment—we shall give from Whetstone a bare sketch, of Promos and Cassandra, with an addition or two where his 'argument' omits a detail relevant to our play. We shall thus see what Shakespeare (and others ?) had, or chose, to work upon. In the Cyttie of Julio (sometimes vnder the dominion of Coruinus, King of Hungarie and Boemia) there was a law that what man so euer committed Adultery [sc. fornication] should lose his head, and the woman offender should weare some disguised Apparell during her life, to make her in- famouslye noted. This seuere law by the fauour of some mercifull magistrate became little regarded, vntil the time of Lord Promos auctority: who conuicting a young Gentle- man named Andrugio of incontinency, condemned both him and his minion to the execution of this statute. Andrugio had a very vertuous and beawtiful Gendewoman to his Sister, named Cassandra ; Cassandra to enlarge her brother's life, submitted an humble petition to the Lord Promos.... Here be it noted that Andrugio's offence, like Claudio's (cf. i. 2. 141-151), was committed in love, not in lechery. Cassandra can plead Way [weigh] his yong yeares, the force of loue which forced his amis, Way, way that marriage works amends for what committed is. He hath defilde no nuptiall bed, nor forced rape hath moued He fel through loue who neuer ment but wiue the wight he loued. INTRODUCTION ix To continue: Promos regarding her good behauiours, and fantasj^ing her great beawtie, was much delighted with the sweete order of her talke; and doing good, that euill might come thereof: for a time he repryued her brother; but wicked man, tourning his liking into vnlawfull lust, he set downe the spoile of her honour raunsome for her Brothers life : chaste Cassandra, abhorring both him and his sute, by no per- suasion would yeald to this raunsome. But in fine, wonne with the importunitye of hir Brother (pleading for life) vpon these conditions she agreede to Promos. First that he should pardon her brother, and after marry her. Promos, as fearless in promise as carelesse in performance, with solemne vowe sygned her conditions: but worse than any Infydel, his will satisfyed, he performed neither the one nor the other : for to keepe his aucthoritye vnspotted with fauour, and to preuent Cassandraes clamours, he commanded the Gayler secretly to present Cassandra with her brothers head^. The Gayler, with the outcryes of Andrugio, abhorry- ing Promos lewdenes, by the prouidence of God prouyded thus for his safety. He presented Cassandra with a Felons head newly executed, who (being mangled, knew it not from her brothers, by the Gayler who was set at libertie)^ was so agreeued at this trecherye that at the pointe to kyl her selfe she spared that stroke to be auenged of Promos. And devisying a way, she concluded, to make her fortunes knowne vnto the kinge. She (executinge this resolution) was so highly fauoured of the king that forthwith he hasted to do justice on Promos, whose judgment was to marrye Cassandra, to repaire her erased Honour: which donne, for his hainous offence he should lose his head. This marriage solempnized, Cassandra, tyed in the greatest bondes of affection to her husband, became an earnest sutor for his life: the Kinge (tendringe the general! benefit of the common weale before her speciall case, although he favoured her much) would not graunt her sute. Andrugio (disguised amonge the company) sorrowing the griefe of his sister, bewrayde his safetie, and craued pardon^. The Kinge, to 1 A barbarity softened in Measure for Measure. ^ The 'Gayler,' merciful as the Provost in Measure for Measure, looses Andrugio: who, hiding in a wood in out- X MEASURE FOR MEASURE renowne the vertues of Cassandra, pardoned both him and Promos. The circumstances of this rare Historye in action lyvelye foloweth. II Here, then, we have all—or almost all—of the plot of Measure for Measure: in what Pater calls 'one of that numerous class of Italian stories.like Boccaccio's Tancred of Salerno, in which the mere energy of southern passion has everything its own way, and which, though they may repel many a northern reader by a certain crudity in their colouring, seem to have been fuU of fascination for the Elizabethan age.' Now Pater had a superlative gift of sympathy with old and beautiful work in all the arts, and specially with old and beautiful Italianate work. It may have been most at home in Renaissance Italy: but it reached forward, and it reached back also—through Giotto and Cimabue, across the 'dark ages,' to the Pervigilium Veneris, and yet farther back to the primitive 'religion of Numa' which he pictures for us in Marius as still, in the age of the Antonines, keeping its rural ritual ' beating the bounds,' worshipping the Lar and breathing household laws in and around a quiet Etrurian manor. So when Pate^ talks of Whetstone's translation of Cinthio's story as 'a genuine piece, with touches of undesigned poetry, a quaint field-flower here and there of diction or senti- ment, the whole strung up to an effective brevity, and with the fragrance of that admirable age of literature all about it,' we accept this appreciation on the word of a critic who recognised the Italian spirit wherever, and in what guise soever, he met it. But we are concerned lawry, learns from a peasant that Promos having been married to his sister has been condemned to the further expia- tion of dying for his death, returns to the city, and risks declaring himself alive. In our play Claudio is given no such chance to rehabilitate his character by his courage. INTRODUCTION xi here with Shakespeare: and Shakespeare's feeling for Italy was not diffuse like Pater's and genially polite ; but sharply practical rather, and concentrated upon a phase, a period, a passing hour, the Renaissance: an interest infinitely less learned than Pater's yet infinitely livelier, Italy being for him and his contemporaries almost the breath of their nostrils.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Iv: the Allan Wilkie Shakespearean Company, 1920-1926
    IV: THE ALLAN WILKIE SHAKESPEAREAN COMPANY, 1920-1926 "Our True Intent is all for Your Delight." In September 1920, Allan Wilkie announced his plans to establish Australia's first permanent Shakespearean company, drawing a parallel to Frank Benson's Company in England. The inaugural production by the new Allan Wilkie Shakespearean Company was to be a "new arrangement" of Macbeth, and Wilkie gave it as his fixed intention to produce all thirty-seven of Shakespeare's plays, some of which had never previously been staged in Australia." Advance publicity emphasized the potentially historic nature of the occasion: When in future years this company will be counted one of the institutions of which Australia is proud, those who attend on the opening night will tell with satisfaction how they were present during the enthusiastic hours which saw the inception of the company [Argus, 9 September 1920]. Many cynics were quick to point out the unlikelihood of Wilkie's venture surviving for long, or even getting off the ground, in view of the history of Shakespeare production in Australia. His was by no means the first proposal to establish a permanent company, but lack of demand had ended all previous efforts. In order to arouse audience curiosity, Wilkie advertised, as mentioned above, a "new arrangement" of Macbeth. His presentation was to have two novel aspects, which were to form the basis of his production methods in the years to come. They were interdependent: first, a new method of scenic arrangement, and second, a new organisation of the play, made possible by simplified scenery.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION Xl Othello a 'Black Devil' and Desdemona's 'Most Filthy
    INTRODUCTION xl Othello a 'black devil' and Desdemona's 'most filthy bargain' ^ we cannot doubt that she speaks the mind of many an Englishwoman in the seventeenth-century audience. If anyone imagines that England at that date was unconscious of the 'colour-bar' they cannot have read Othello with any care? And only those who have not read the play at all could suppose that Shake­ speare shared the prejudice, inasmuch as Othello is his noblest soldier and he obviously exerted himself to represent him as a spirit of the rarest quality. How significant too is the entry he gives him! After listening for 180 lines of the opening scene to the obscene suggestions of Roderigo and lago and the cries of the outraged Brabantio we find ourselves in the presence of one, not only rich in honours won in the service of Venice, and fetching his 'life and being from men of royal siege',3 but personally a prince among men. Before such dignity, self-possession and serene sense of power, racial prejudice dwindles to a petty stupidity; and when Othello has told the lovely story of his courtshipj and Desdemona has in the Duke's Council- chamber, simply and without a moment's hesitation, preferred her black husband to her white father, we have to admit that the union of these two grand persons, * 5. 2.134, 160. The Devil, now for some reason become red, was black in the medieval and post-medievcil world. Thus 'Moors' had 'the complexion of a devil' {Merchant of Venice, i. 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 2-20 Praeclarum.Indd
    For Rolls-Royce and Bentley Enthusiasts PRÆCLARVM The National Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia No. 2-20 April 2020 AX201 finds a New Owner Quidvis recte factvm quamvis hvmile præclarvm Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble. Royce, 1924 PRÆCLARVM The National Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia No. 2-20 April 2020 Issue 307 Regular Items Features Events Calendar 7779 From the Editor 7780 From the Federal President 7781 News from the Registers 7802 Book Reviews 7807 Market Place 7809 Articles and Features From the Sir Henry Royce Foundation: Russell Rolls, Chairman of Trustees, 7782 SHRF, gives the details of the recent loan and refurbishment of a Rolls-Royce diesel 'Eagle' truck engine for display at to the SHRF's Coolum, Qld, Museum. Photo: Gil Fuqua (USA) Photo: Rolls-Royce’s most iconic car, AX201, fi nds an enthusiastic new owner: 7783 Præclarvm is pleased to advise that Sir Michael After a period of mistaken rumours, David Berthon (NSW) is able to let Kadoorie of Hong Kong is the mystery buyer of Præclarvm lead with the news that Sir Michael Kadoorie, of Hong Kong, is the Rolls-Royce AX201 "Silver Ghost". Read David excited to have purchased the iconic AX201, "Silver Ghost". Berthon's story of the sale on page 7783. Oscar Asche, the 1910 Silver Ghost, 1237, and Two Versions of Chu Chin 7786 Chow. Ian Irwin (ACT) has been searching the Country's various Archives to present a story that centres around early Rolls-Royce motoring history. 1975 Silver Shadow Saloon (SRH22160) Successfully Completes the 2019 7788 Peking to Paris Rally (Part 4): Brothers, Steve and Alan Maden (Vic) fulfi lled a long-term desire and completed the 2019 Rally.
    [Show full text]
  • Dd Shrewstudyguide.Pdf
    HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA AND DANCE THE TAMING OF THE SHREW William Shakespeare STUDY GUIDE Written and compiled by James J. Kolb, Professor of Drama HOFSTRA/DRAMA 1997 A Study Guide to Hofstra University’s Department of Drama and Dance Production of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare March 1997 Table of Contents The New Cambridge Shakespeare version of The Taming of the Shrew, edited by Ann Thompson, is the text used in the About Shakespeare 2 current production. It is published in paperback by Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, Title Page of the First Folio Edition New York 10011-4211 of Shakespeare’s Plays 2 ISBN # 0 521 29388 X ($10.95) Shakespeare’s Coat of Arms 3 Shakespeare’s Plays 3 Shakespeare’s Theatre 4 HOFSTRA/DRAMA Department of Drama and Dance Summary of the Story 5 Hofstra University (516) 463-5444 The Sources of the Story 5 The Date of Composition and Special Problems With the Text of The Taming of the Shrew As Related to The Taming of a Shrew 6 A Few Critical Comments 7 The cover engraving is taken from James Edmund Harting’s About the Play on Stage 10 The Birds of Shakespeare (1871). It depicts hawks in training being carried to the field in “the cadge,” carried by “the Notable Lines 15 cadger.” See page 8 of the Study Guide for some additional comments about falconry. About the Play in Other Forms 16 The idea and format of this study guide is by Peter Sander.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Convergence the Dublin Gate Theatre, 1928–1960
    Cultural Convergence The Dublin Gate Theatre, 1928–1960 Edited by Ondřej Pilný · Ruud van den Beuken · Ian R. Walsh Cultural Convergence “This well-organised volume makes a notable contribution to our understanding of Irish theatre studies and Irish modernist studies more broadly. The essays are written by a diverse range of leading scholars who outline the outstanding cultural importance of the Dublin Gate Theatre, both in terms of its national significance and in terms of its function as a hub of international engagement.” —Professor James Moran, University of Nottingham, UK “The consistently outstanding contributions to this illuminating and cohesive collection demonstrate that, for Gate Theatre founders Hilton Edwards and Micheál mac Liammóir and their collaborators, the limits of the imagination lay well beyond Ireland’s borders. Individually and collectively, the contribu- tors to this volume unravel the intricate connections, both personal and artistic, linking the theatre’s directors, designers, and practitioners to Britain, Europe, and beyond; they examine the development and staging of domestic plays written in either English or Irish; and they trace across national boundaries the complex textual and production history of foreign dramas performed in translation. In addition to examining a broad spectrum of intercultural and transnational influ- ences and perspectives, these frequently groundbreaking essays also reveal the extent to which the early Gate Theatre was a cosmopolitan, progressive, and inclusive space that recognized and valued women’s voices and queer forms of expression.” —Professor José Lanters, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, USA “Cultural Convergence is a book for which we have been waiting, not just in Irish theatre history, but in Irish cultural studies more widely.
    [Show full text]
  • Stratford-Upon-Avoh Festival
    A H A N D BOO K TO THE STRATFO RD - U PON - AVON FESTIVAL A Handb o o k to the St rat fo rd- u p o n- A V O H Fe st iv al WITH ART I C LE S BY N R . B N O F . E S ARTHUR HUTCHINSO N N R EG I A L D R . B UC K L EY CECI L SH RP J. A A ND [ LL USTRA TI ONS P UBLI SHED UNDER TH E A USPICES A ND WITH THE SPECIAL SANCTION OF TH E SHAKESPEARE M EMORIAL COUNCI L LONDON NY L GEO RGE ALLEN COM PA , T D. 44 45 RATH B ONE P LA CE I 9 1 3 [All rig hts reserved] P rinted b y A L L A NT Y NE A NSON ér' B , H Co . A t the Ballant ne P ress y , Edinb urg h P R E F A IC E “ T H E Shakespeare Revival , published two years ago , has familiarised many with the ideas inseparable from any national dramatic Festival . But in that book one necessarily Opened up vistas of future development beyond the requirements of those who desire a Hand a book rather than Herald of the Future . For them an abridgment and revision are effected here . Also there are considerable additions , and Mr . Cecil J . Sharp contributes a chapter explaining the Vacation School of Folk Song o f and Dance , which he became Director since the previous volume was issued . The present volume is intended at once to supplement and no t condense , to supersede , the library edition .
    [Show full text]
  • Have We Found
    ON STAGE The Summer 2005 newsletter of Vol.6 No.1 Have we found it? When offered the opportunity to be directly involved in the new musical production, Eureka, Darien Sticklen found himself asking with many others: Might this be the one? ow many of us over the years about five years—and list the creative team, have wanted to see a truly including Gale Edwards (directing and Horiginal Australian musical make co-authoring a new book with John it to hit status? Countless numbers have Senzcuk), Max Lambert and Michael Tyack tried. Here are selected extracts from (music), Peter England and Gabriella Darien Sticklen's Eureka Diary… Coslovich (set and costume design), Tony March 2004 Bartuccio (choreography) Trudy Dagleish (lighting design)…a talented team indeed. Seemingly out of the blue, I’m given a They’ve just had a workshop of the message that Simon Gallaher would like me new Act I script in Sydney and are to call him. After days of phone tag, we also planning a workshop of Act II finally speak. there in July, before rehearsals start. Simon wonders what my work schedule Their enthusiasm for the new is like in the later part of this year but is musical is infectious, of course. I very mysterious about the ‘acorn of an make it clear that I am not available idea’. Eventually he explains that on behalf during the Act II workshop period— of the producers of Eureka, he wants to this is not seen as a ‘deal- know if I’d be interested in taking the role breaker’.
    [Show full text]
  • Oscar Asche, 1871-1936
    AUSTRALIAN EPHEMERA COLLECTION FINDING AID OSCAR ASCHE, 1871-1936 PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAMS AND EPHEMERA (PROMPT) PRINTED AUSTRALIANA JANUARY 2015 John Stange(r) Heiss Oscar Asche, better known as Oscar Asche, was an Australian actor, director and writer, best known for having written, directed, and acted in the record-breaking musical Chu Chin Chow, both on stage and film, and for acting in, directing, or producing many Shakespeare plays and successful musicals. Asche was born in Geelong, Victoria on 26 January 1871 to a Norwegian father, Thomas Asche and an Australian mother, Harriet Emma (Lily) née Trear. He was educated at Laurel Lodge, Dandenong, and from 1884 at Melbourne Grammar School before leaving at the age of 16. From 1887 to 1890 Asche worked and travelled until he decided to enter the theatre/ He then trained in Christiana under Bjorn-Bjornson and London, making his London debut in March 1893 in Man and Woman, at the Opera Comique under the management of Arthur Dacre. In the same year he joined the Benson Repertory Company and for eight years acted in every kind of part, from Biondello in The Taming of the Shrew and Pistol in Henry V to the King in Hamlet. While with Benson he married Lily Brayton in 1898 or 1899. In 1902 they both worked for Herbert Beerbohn Tree, Asche playing Antinous in Phillips’s Ulysses. In 1904 when they joined up with Otho Stuart, an old Bensonian, in the management of the Adelphi Theatre, putting on productions such as The Prayer of the Sword, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and Rudolf Besier’s The Virgin Goddess.
    [Show full text]
  • London Musicals 1920-1924.Pub
    1920 1 MEDORAH London run: Alhambra, January 22 nd – March 13 th (60 performances) Music: Vada Ennem Book & Lyrics Denn Spranklin English adaptation: Rupert Hazell English lyrics : Adrian Ross Additional numbers : John Ansell Director: E. Dagnell Choreographer: Will Bishop Musical Director : John Anstell Cast: Leo Stormont ( Sultan), Ada Reeve (Medorah), W.S. Percy ( Dadoolah), Jamieson Dodds (Vernon Grant ), Leslie Stiles ( Ambassador Manston), Margaret Campbell ( Mrs Manston) Songs: Tomorrow’s Another Day, There’s Always a Drawback, Like a Dream. Wonderful Joy, Hope Again, Love and My Soul Alone Story: In Caravanistan beauty is measured in physical bulk, the heavier the better. The Sultan’s eldest daughter, Medorah, is thin, too thin to be an eligible bride. Chancellor Dadoolah suggests she is sent to America for the purposes of putting on weight – a suggestion that delights her because she has fallen in love with Vernon Grant, the man who accompanied the American ambassador and his wife to a reception in the Sultan’s palace. They meet again in Washington, and when she is summoned back to Caravanistan , Vernon secretly follows. Meantime, after various adventures, Vernon is captured and forced to work as a slave in the Sultan’s household. With no hope of marrying his underweight daughter to a prince, the Sultan condemns her to marry his new slave – and thus Medorah and Vernon are happily united. Notes: The original publicity declared that “Medorah” was jointly produced by Mr. Bernard J. Hishin and Sir Oswald Stoll, but within a week of opening, the show was subject to a legal dispute in the Court of Chancery, with Violet Melnotte claiming (and winning) half-ownership in the copyright of the English version of this Dutch original.
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching Hamlet Folger Bundle
    MASTER CLASS: TEACHING HAMLET Thursday, December 10, 2015 7:00-8:00 pm EST Folger Education Alabama Public Television Folger Shakespeare Library Washington, DC MASTER CLASS: TEACHING HAMLET Live from the Folger Shakespeare Library Thursday, December 10, 2015 7:00-8:00 pm AGENDA Part One: Expand Your Own Knowledge of Hamlet: Two scholars and many lenses —Dr. Gail Kern Paster, Director emerita, Folger Shakespeare Library —Dr. Michael Witmore, Director, Folger Shakespeare Library Part Two: Getting Students To Live Inside That Language —Mark Miazga, Teacher of English, City College High School, Baltimore Part Three: Hamlet With Your Students, In Your Classroom —Jill Burdick-Zupancic, Teacher of English, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Fairfax, VA —Amber Phelps, Teacher of English, City College High School, Baltimore **To submit questions before the live stream, please email [email protected] . On December 10th you will receive an email with a link to access the live stream from [email protected] . During the Master Class, if you are experiencing technical difficulties, please email [email protected] Master Class: Teaching Hamlet Faculty 1. Greta Brasgalla El Dorado High School, El Paso, TX: Greta Brasgalla is an English Instructional Coach at El Dorado High School in El Paso, Texas. She teaches Dual Credit English on her campus and teaches English online for El Paso Community College. In her 24 years of teaching, she has taught everything from 7th graders to AP English Literature. Greta is TSI 2012 alum. She is also a member of the Folger National Teacher Corps and will be a mentor teacher this summer at TSI 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Julius Knight, Australian Matinee Idol: Costume Drama As Historical Re-Presentation
    Julius Knight, Australian matinee idol: costume drama as historical re-presentation Veronica Kelly Australasian Victorian Studies Journal 9 (2003) 128-44. The Scottish actor Julius Knight, whose real name was reportedly McFarlane (‘Ladies’ Letter’) was never intended by his managers to become an idol of the Australasian theatre. But in four major tours for J. C. Williamson’s successive managerial organisations from 1897 to 1916, he became the best-known and respected actor in costume plays while also contributing to the establishment of contemporary realist drama in Australia. It is significant for his contemporary standing that, without acting in a single full-length Shakespeare, Knight secured sustained acclaim for artistry and excellence. Also, it soon became apparent that he had considerable talents and experience as a director and designer, not only of lavish costume spectacles, but of contemporary English and American problem dramas by Shaw, Charles Klein and later Brieux. As he could turn his hand with equal skill to many aspects of production and design, Knight’s tastes increasingly came to influence the Firm’s dramatic choices, including the Shavian repertoire which he introduced to Australian professional theatre (Arms and the Man in 1910 and Man and Superman in 1913). In all these capacities he performed sterling service for the Firm, and for an unvarying weekly salary of £50.1 Over this two-decade period, Knight incarnated both historical and fictional figures in dramas set in various past ages. Read in the light of Brecht, Nietzsche and Lukács, examples of Knight’s repertoire indicate the significant yet complex cultural role of the popular actor for colonial audiences in creating living images of the uncanny presence of the past.
    [Show full text]
  • Komisarjevsky, Shakespeare and Russophobia in the British Theatre
    ‘The Merry Wives of Moscow’ Komisarjevsky, Shakespeare and Russophobia in the British Theatre Philippa Burt Theodore Komisarjevsky was a prominent figure in the inter-war British theatre until his migration to North America in 1936. While recent studies have foregrounded the various artistic factors that influenced his work and his eventual departure, little attention has been placed on the sociopolitical issues. Most notably, there has been no serious consideration of the impact that his nationality had on the opportunities that were available to him. This article examines Komisarjevsky’s work in relation to the growing nationalistic and Russophobic attitudes in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s. It focuses particularly on his series of productions at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, and shows the subsequent critical outrage to be rooted in a desire to protect Shakespeare and, by extension, Britain as a whole from the ‘interference’ of a Russian director. Dr Philippa Burt is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has previously published articles on Harley Granville Barker and Joan Littlewood, and is the recent recipient of a Harry Ransom Research Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. Keywords: inter-war theatre, anti-alienism, xenophobia, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Antony and Cleopatra, cultural ownership, émigrés In the spring of 1946, Theodore Komisarjevsky attended a performance of Uncle Vanya staged by the Old Vic Theatre Company during its month-long season at the New Century Theatre in New York.1 Having lived and worked in Britain for seventeen years before his migration to North America in 1936, the Russian director saw it as a welcome opportunity to reconnect with old friends and colleagues and to see for himself the positive impact his work had had on the British theatre.
    [Show full text]