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

323
An engagement at the Lyceum, in ^eptembef 1882, shoved Benson
the extent of his ignore nee: he tic n >t know !«o to fi^ht or
die effectively and unobtrusively, he coo not understand v.hy
the make-up which he so mistrusted var; necessary on & str^e
brilli;ntly lit by ^as, ; nc' he did not have any inklinb of the
"focus anc balance" by which actors arranged themselves on
stage. In his autobiography F>enson describes the lee riling of
these lesions, reportin0 then as deliverec by Lo,;e and others
- the most memorable .;^ an in.iunctio., jf /.lion, the pior.iot^r:
V*e aoiiH i.Y.nt ;-ny bloody brains on the ot, ^ , r;i..<
b:y, v;e vrrnt ^uts, ^uts, ^.uts!
(p. 168)
After the run of Romeo.- and Juliet Benson joined kioo alleya in
fcanchuster, leaving behind him the fashionable success of the
Agamemnon company and the grandeurs of the Lyceum. The y«ars
t. c.t folloi.ea were an c.p>vront;icc;ohi;» of oorts, but the exertions
and economies of touring -./ere soon mitigatea by i.is being -
after so snort a time - his o, n rnaria^er and by the application
tj c standard .provincial re jertoire ol the ide^ lo he lub .:o ,;s later to
ow,come hi.s i.iie that the coraorny va* run u\: jn the I eini.^en
system, impl^iu., that ell t.-.e actors t --ok small pi-rt-, on
occasion**2 . He believed in the virtues of a repertory system,
as op. osec. t5 long ru-is ^ t; labors te ..rcducti .-;^, i policy
which wf>s as much e consequence of the natia-e of he compemy
he a, u taken over as of o;iy ./.eory of dr:::stic ?rt. benson's
con^ny haa to oifer its provincial auoijncea : v , riety oi
:)l;;y:,, economica .ly oti^c. This Gconomy cio. i: -t yet consist