The Revival of a Taste for Shakespeare.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue XVII, 24 October 1903, Page 15

The Revival of a Taste for Shakespeare.

The winter season just ended, or, to speak more correctly, the season of winter entertainments, has been remarkable in several of our large centres, for a sudden revival of interest for Shakespeare in the more cultivated sections of society. In almost every important town in the colony Shakespeare Clubs, dead or moribund, were revived, and the readings became a recognised and popular feature of the past four or five months. Whatever may have been the cause, the effect must undoubtedly be for good, and the enthusiasts who have helped to work up a lukewarm liking into a warm regard, are to be warmly congratulated and commended. At the same time, it appears to the writer that the taste for Shakespeare readings, having shown itself alive this year, some effort should be made next season not merely to still further stimulate the popular appreciation of these readings, but to vastly improve the readings themselves, and to make them far more complete. Having belonged to societies for the study of Shakespeare in various localities in the colonies and in the Old Country, the writer has found in the most of them a set of weaknesses which do much to prevent a wider appreciation of our great national playwright and poet, and which might be very easily overcome. It may be said almost without fear—or rather hope—of a single contradiction, that every society in this colony, and most at Home, are absurdly haphazard in the way they read. They rush on the execution of a work in a manner which would raise contemptuous laughter if attempted in any other direction. For example: What would be the popular appreciation of our various musical societies if the band parts or part songs were just forwarded to performers at home, and they were left to study, “glance over,’ or leave them alone, just as they willed, and were then called upon to give their concert, very likely without ever having met in a body once before, and never having tried over the items once together. What chaos would result. Yet this is what is done in even the most ambitious of the Shakespeare societies I know of on this side. The casting is often exceedingly uneven, and little or no attempt is made at a rehearsal even for principals. Now, this is altogether wrong. Why should a man or woman of a society thereof imagine they could attack a masterpiece of Shakespeare sans rehearsal, any more than they would be guilty of the impertinence of setting out to go through “The Messiah” or “Elijah” without preparation. “We are familiar with Shakespeare,” say you. I take leave to doubt it, and certainly you are probably more slightly acquainted than are the members of your pet local musical society are with “Handel.” Yet they rehearse to some extent at all events—though, alas, often to little enough purpose. But certain it is that any Shakespeare society that hopes to deserve large public patronage must take far more pains than has been tlic cus-

tom. Take a play, cast it and read it over. Then commences the weeding out and the transplanting of parts where exchanges are made. Then go on reading till you judge you have got as near public form as you are likely to get, and then, and not till then, get at the public. The improved estimation in which readings would then be held would, I am convinced, be amazing, and would open hundreds of eyes to the delights of private study of Shakespeare. There are some half-dozen other suggestions which might be made, but this article is already of excessive length, and I must return to the subject on some future occasion. ♦ * ♦