Pictorial Shakespeare, 1880-1890 - eTheses Repository - University ...

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in the flcah the customs of t:ie classical ..oriel. This did not,
of course, ap ;ly to Ae You Like It in the same degree as to
Junii.s, Claudian or The Faithfull Shepherdei.se, but the intention
and the appeal were similar, v;hat might "be partii-lly achieved
in the public theatres, with the co-o aeration of an enlightened
manager such as Barrett, would be allowed to flourish in the
woods of Coombe and Cannizaro, v/ith tickets at bne guinea and
carriages drawn up in the shade in a neighbouring field. Finance
still dogged the manager in these pastoral surroundings, as
the account sheets reveal. In 1884, Vezin was -oriel ninety pounds
- but a note by Godwin reads:
under the circumstances I think he may take -5
instead of £10 for each performance perhaps until
there is a b. lance in our iYvour,, „
Lady Coni.oboll's aid notwithstanding, the Players found some
difficulty in keeping their books balanced. The success of the
,j^,ys wc.s undoubted, and it seomed that, despite financial
difficulties, Godwin had achieved the working arrangements he
required: one of the -ilayoro wrote, anonymously, in The Graphic
on August 2, IC'84; that "no-one, not even r Kermann Vezin,
ventured to interfere with the lines loid down by Ur Go v/in",
He had now control, over not only the dressec end surroundings,
but the text and acting of the pla^s.
The final important production by Godwin wae tint of John
Todhuntor's Helena in 'Irons at Hengler's Giro is on I lay 17»1'°36.
For this he constructed "strv e surroundings" which, a rogranm
note explained, "a play on such a subject npy have received at
Athens or Corint'i in the dayo of oonhoclor:". The reviewer sent
by The Morning; Post observed thr.t the theatre, './ith its rrcna
covered in linoleum painted to resmble marble n vinr;, its
r.ltar ancl its sl:ene t resembled "one of i'r Al.aL' 'x'adena's pictures
magnified and turned into ctone" (18 Mry 1; 06). i!iio acting of
a largely amateur conr,-)- ny, i f^Luding Constance .ilde, v;;-s
uneven in quo,lity, but the ensemble was i;:ri^e: sive. According
to The Pall Mall Gazette t
fifteen ladies in v;IiiuO robec, ; inr.ln^ to, ;otiior,
and executing 'X7:ioir gracoful -lovencntc om .juiij?or.;:
postures v:it:i TJI accur; cy v.liicli choivccl the r.ost
careful training,