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

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tor j\i.gh& accusations of pandering to the mistaken tacte for
spectacle, and the acting was attacked ac inadequate and
"modern", In The Daily Telegraph Scott v/roto:
Never before in tho memory of the oldest
playgoer has As You Like It been performed
with greater cure or less charm,
(26 Jcuiuary 1885)
In The Dramatic ..Review, Harry Quilter, sometime art-critic of
The Time a, complain that nan^fi^ld had stifled the pi; y's
light-heart edne L,G v.ltii "the introduction of archaeology and
realism" (1 February 1885), and the Captious Critic of The
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic news found those cos tunes
which .vorc archr-eolo^ically correct to be n irritatirv~;ly ugly",
whilst otlicr, more attractive crcsooo .vorc- "more pleasing to
the eye, but lens satisfactory to the purist" (7 February 1885).
The coctume-djsigner'a intentions were published in '.'ho Pall
Mall ftasot :.e on the morning of the first performance: the play
was cet in the reign of Charles VII of Prance and wno presented
"on that magnificent scale and with the t sumptioua elaboration
v.-hich modern plpygoerc d< inand". An "attendant" of the trench
King was .-; licked to have deviccd the customary designs for
King, Queen and Knave on playing cards, and the court would
be dresacd .ccordingly. The scenery v/no v .anted cs attaining
new heights of realion - in the first act:
The Duke's >alace becomes a feuaal castle after
the C/^'.tcau d f 'utboic-o, . .Orlando and Le Beau (bic3
v;rcstle between lictc. The ccene bocomeo a ^reat
pageant, a Coj.rt spectacle, v/it.i til the ;oonp of
heralds and flourishing truiiiostc, and ceases to
be a co-mon-nlace wrestling natch v ith a paltry bit
ox garden for the field of cor fort.
The foreat cot V/G.B "sure to be a triUi-pn of art",
with real vegetation, and sunli:-;iit efiocts
nrof'luced by electricity from above. Str r'o
f-rrac is not rcnorally artistic. Mr -iii;;fiold
who --rl'.c not in trodden i>aths, has had hie -;rasa
manufactured from feather o dyed and then a owed
into riots in the ordinary v;c?y, the whole rivm L-
a noct rcalii "^ic eiTect,
A red brook would run on stage, the guard of the u:;ur ;ing
du-o would be iT.ro cr^onatcd by "real guardcaon", and new settin;
s by Alfred Cellier .vould replace the traditional mucde of
Arnc and Biahop,