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 xi
... tradition but also to the spirit of artistic reinvention that permeated postwar culture . An issue central to this study bears explanation . At various times I refer to the " bravura " repertory . By this , I mean simply the body of ...
... tradition but also to the spirit of artistic reinvention that permeated postwar culture . An issue central to this study bears explanation . At various times I refer to the " bravura " repertory . By this , I mean simply the body of ...
Page xii
... tradition of dynamic , exciting Shakespearean performance . Barrymore's impersonations can in many ways be viewed as the final flourishing of a tradition that had prospered in America for more than a century , a tradition enriched by ...
... tradition of dynamic , exciting Shakespearean performance . Barrymore's impersonations can in many ways be viewed as the final flourishing of a tradition that had prospered in America for more than a century , a tradition enriched by ...
Page 3
... tradition ... casts it boldly aside and emerges into the rarified atmosphere of a new art , greater be- cause it is new , stronger because it is built upon an old foundation . - Brooklyn Times ( 9 March 1920 ) ON and spectators eager we ...
... tradition ... casts it boldly aside and emerges into the rarified atmosphere of a new art , greater be- cause it is new , stronger because it is built upon an old foundation . - Brooklyn Times ( 9 March 1920 ) ON and spectators eager we ...
Page 4
... tradition , along with the magnificent palaces , panoramic battlefields , and other tributes to the scene painter's art that had typified Shakespearean production during the Victori- an era and its aftermath . Barrymore , Hopkins , and ...
... tradition , along with the magnificent palaces , panoramic battlefields , and other tributes to the scene painter's art that had typified Shakespearean production during the Victori- an era and its aftermath . Barrymore , Hopkins , and ...
Page 5
... tradition in the late nineteenth century ; the rebellion against traditional Victorian staging in Eu- rope and Great Britain during the 1900s and early 1910s ; and the unsettled state of Shakespearean acting and production in America ...
... tradition in the late nineteenth century ; the rebellion against traditional Victorian staging in Eu- rope and Great Britain during the 1900s and early 1910s ; and the unsettled state of Shakespearean acting and production in America ...
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