John Barrymore, Shakespearean ActorJohn Barrymore's Richard III and Hamlet, first seen in New York during the 1919-20 and 1922-23 seasons, stand as high-water marks of twentieth-century Shakespearean interpretation. Michael Morrison reconstructs these historic performances through analysis of the production preparation, audience response, reviews, and memoirs. Tracing the Victorian and Edwardian antecedents of Shakespearean performance, this book situates Barrymore's distinctive contribution in light of past and ensuing tradition. As well, it provides a biographical sketch of one of the most revered and tragic actors of the twentieth century. "This young artist, profiting by the lessons of tradition...casts it boldly aside and emerges into the rarefied atmosphere of a new art, greater because it is new, stronger because it is built upon an old foundation." Brooklyn Times, March 9, 1920 |
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Page 4
... role in restoring the tradition of dynamic Shakespearean production to Broadway and the West End , but their most significant contribution - often overlooked by biographers and historians - was to introduce innovative methods of act ...
... role in restoring the tradition of dynamic Shakespearean production to Broadway and the West End , but their most significant contribution - often overlooked by biographers and historians - was to introduce innovative methods of act ...
Page 7
... role in shaping his art , and their portrayals were cited frequently by contemporary reviewers attempting to ... role , in cities large and small , for more than thirty years . He played other roles , of course , in Shakespeare and in ...
... role in shaping his art , and their portrayals were cited frequently by contemporary reviewers attempting to ... role , in cities large and small , for more than thirty years . He played other roles , of course , in Shakespeare and in ...
Page 9
... roles in costume melodrama for two decades to come , both in London at the Lyceum and on his frequent American tours , the last of which had come during the 1903-4 season . Irving had a magnetic personality and a distin- guished ...
... roles in costume melodrama for two decades to come , both in London at the Lyceum and on his frequent American tours , the last of which had come during the 1903-4 season . Irving had a magnetic personality and a distin- guished ...
Page 12
... role “ on the line and to the line , with the utterance and acting simultaneous , inseparable and in fact identical . " An apprenticeship with the eminent Shakespearean actor - manager Samuel Phelps and extensive experi- ence in modern ...
... role “ on the line and to the line , with the utterance and acting simultaneous , inseparable and in fact identical . " An apprenticeship with the eminent Shakespearean actor - manager Samuel Phelps and extensive experi- ence in modern ...
Page 30
... roles . In- deed , few contemporary observers would have considered " the young vaga- bond of the Drew - Barrymore clan " a ... role in Du Maurier's Peter Ibbetson , Fedya in Tol- stoy's Redemption , and Giannetto in Benelli's The Jest ...
... roles . In- deed , few contemporary observers would have considered " the young vaga- bond of the Drew - Barrymore clan " a ... role in Du Maurier's Peter Ibbetson , Fedya in Tol- stoy's Redemption , and Giannetto in Benelli's The Jest ...
Contents
The Education of an Actor 18821919 | 32 |
The Productions | 67 |
Richard III 1920 | 69 |
Hamlet 19221924 | 122 |
The London Hamlet 1925 | 242 |
Aftermath | 261 |
Shakespeare in Hollywood 19251942 | 263 |
Epilogue | 299 |
Appendixes | 307 |
The Casts | 309 |
The Texts | 323 |
Notes | 331 |
385 | |
393 | |
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Common terms and phrases
17 November acting actor Adams Alexander Woollcott American appeared April Arthur Hopkins artistic audience Barry Barrymore's Barrymore's performance Blanche Yurka Broadway cast chair character Clown comedy costumes critics debut decade December drama Edwin Booth exit Fay Compton February film Forbes-Robertson Fowler Gene Fowler Ghost Guildenstern Hamlet Hampden Henry Hollywood Hopkins's Horatio house curtain Irving January John Barrymore Jones's King Laertes left center letter to Michael lights Lincoln Center lines London lord Macbeth mainstage mance Marcellus March Margaret Carrington Michael Strange noted Ophelia Osric platform play Player Polonius production promptbook Queen radio rehearsals repertory replies revival Richard Richard III right center Robert Edmond Jones role Rosencrantz scene second season Shakespeare Shakespearean Sheldon soliloquy Soon afterward Sothern and Marlowe speak speech steps Studybook Sweet Prince Taylor tells Theatre Collection theatrical throne tion tour tradition turns UCB/SC upstage voice weeks William Woollcott wrote York