Mr. Stead as Cromwell.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 13, 28 March 1908, Page 13

Mr. Stead as Cromwell.

Mr. W. T. Stead has announced that if the London Pageant Committee "do him the honour” of asking him to appear in the part of Oliver Cromwell —whom he regards as "the greatest man in English history”—he will consent. The heroism of this resolution lies in the fact that, as Oliver Cromwell, he will be compelled to shave off the fine grey beard and moustache, which, in varying shades, have adorned his face, since his youth. Mr. Stead protested against an evident intention to exclude the Protector from the pageant, and Mr. Laseelles, the master of the pageant, has definitely decided to issue the invitation to Mr. Stead, regardless of the personal sacrifice it must entail. “If I were asked to play Othello I should do the thing properly, and blaek myself all over,” said Mr. Stead to a newspaper interviewer, but while he spoke he stroked his beard almost affectionately. “I have never owned or used a razor in my life,” he continued, meditatively. "My beard was never trimmed until I was past forty. I am now fifty-eight. But I am willing not only to shave my face, but even my head, if I am honoured with an invitation to- play the part of the greatest man in English history.”