Sothern and Miss Marlowe have shown the
whole extent of their powers, and have read us the lesson we most
needed. The mission of these two guests has been to show us what we have
lost on our stage and what we have forgotten in our Shakespeare. And
first of all I would note the extraordinary novelty and life which they
give to each play as a whole by their way of setting it in action. I
have always felt that a play of Shakespeare, seen on the stage, should
give one the same kind of impression as when one is assisting at "a
solemn music." The rhythm of Shakespeare's art is not fundamentally
different from that of Beethoven, and "Romeo and Juliet" is a suite,
"Hamlet" a symphony. To act either of these plays with whatever
qualities of another kind, and to fail in producing this musical rhythm
from beginning to end, is to fail in the very foundation. Here the music
was unflawed; there were no digressions, no eccentricities, no sacrifice
to the actor. This astonishing thing occurred: that a play was presented
for its own sake, with reverence, not with ostentation; for
Shakespeare's sake, not for the actor-manager's.
And from this intelligent, unostentatious way of giving Shakespeare
there come to us, naturally, many lessons.
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