The Mentor: Shakespeare's Country 5
Stratford-upon-Avon]
THE COUNTRY ROUND ABOUT
Indeed, there is scarce an end to the variety of pleasant walks
feasible in the Shakespeare Country, and I have found it specially
suggestive of agreeable thoughts and feelings to stroll in many
directions and for many miles around Stratford, and to fancy the
presence of Shakespeare himself rambling, as probably his custom was,
over all the countryside. How else could he have gained the minute
knowledge that is manifested in his plays of Warwickshire names,
localities, characters, customs, and the many peculiarities of foliage
and flower that distinguish the Warwickshire clime? The “palm” that
_Orlando_ finds in the Forest of Arden in “As You Like It” is not
an oriental palm, but a tree so named that grows now and has always
grown on the banks of the Avon. “Christopher Sly, of Burton Heath” and
“Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot” are types of Warwickshire
peasantry, which no doubt Shakespeare saw. Barton Heath and Wincot are
places not distant from his home.
To trace the course of Shakespeare from his birth to his death, is to
gain knowledge and wisdom. It is wisely written by the poet Tennyson
that “Things seen are mightier than things heard.”
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND _By William Winter_
A most interesting and beautifully illustrated book.
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS IN SHAKESPEARE’S COUNTRY _By W. H. Hutton_
With numerous illustrations by Edmund H. New.
THE WARWICKSHIRE AVON _By A. T. Quiller-Couch_
Illustrated by Alfred Parsons.
SHAKESPEARE’S TOWN AND TIME _By H. S. Ward and C. W. B. Ward_
SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON _By T. F. Ordish_
SHAKESPEARE’S LOVE STORY _By A. B. McMahon_
RELIQUES OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON _Compiled by A. E. Way_
SEEN AND UNSEEN AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON _By W. D. Howells_
SHAKESPEARE AND STRATFORD _By H. C. Shelley_
⁂ Information concerning the above books may be had on application to
the Editor of the Mentor.
THE OPEN LETTER
[Illustration: STRATFORD ON AVON
Reproduced from W. H. Hutton’s “Highways and Byways in
Shakespeare’s Country.” Published by The MacMillan Co.]
The saying goes in theatrical circles that Shakespeare “doesn’t pay.”
And yet the editions of Shakespeare outnumber those of any other book
except the Bible, and many new editions appear each season. It seems
then that though we read Shakespeare we do not go to see his plays
performed. Apparently it pays a publisher to place Shakespeare on the
shelf, but it does not pay a producer to place him on the stage.
* * * * *
I cannot accept this statement without qualification, for I have known
years--not far back--when Shakespeare was a regular and profitable
feature of the stage. My knowledge of Shakespeare on the stage began
with Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Henry Irving, John McCullough,
Salvini and the famous women, Modjeska, Ellen Terry, and others who
were their associates in dramatic art. In recent years I have listened
to Mantell, Mansfield, Sothern and Marlowe. I have seen some of these
players many times in their favorite roles. I am sure that there are
few modern plays compelling enough in interest to draw one to see them
more than a half dozen times. But it was a common thing a few years ago
to hear people say that they had seen Booth or Irving a dozen times in
a single role.
In those days Shakespeare was played not only with profit by the great
stars, but by stock-companies as well. Augustin Daly, during several
successive, and successful, years produced the Comedies with his strong
company. And these were not gala performances. They were steady going
attractions. In reckoning stage successes today, we consider a run of
100 nights a matter for celebration. In his time, Edwin Booth played
“Hamlet” for 100 nights in succession in one New York theater, and
Irving played “The Merchant of Venice” for the greater part of a whole
season. Runs of a single play of Shakespeare for several weeks were not
uncommon.
But still they say today that Shakespeare on the stage does not pay.
That means, of course, that we folks of today do not go to hear
Shakespeare. Why don’t we go? We did when Booth, Barrett, Irving and
Salvini played. And if Henry Irving should bring us today a production
of The Merchant of Venice such as he made familiar to the theater-goers
of his time, Shakespeare would pay again. If we do not go to hear
Shakespeare played it is because we want Shakespeare only when it is
produced and played _as well as Shakespeare reads_. When a man of
genius and imagination gives us Shakespeare as “big as we find him in
his plays,” we will surely go to hear him on the stage today--as our
parents did in former days, and as we did yesterday.
[Illustration: W. D. Moffat
EDITOR]
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