The Shakespeare Season in New York 1958-1959

Abstract

HE I958-i959 Shakespeare season in New York was indebted to visitors from abroad for its quantity and most of its quality. England's Old Vic presented good productions of three plays, Sir John Gielgud gave a brilliant anthology of Shakespearian characters, scenes and passages in Ages of Man and a superb production of Much Ado About Nothing, and Russia's Galina Ulanova contributed an unforgettable heroine in the Bolshoi Ballet version of Romeo and Juliet. Of the home-grown offerings, the New York Shakespeare Festival's Julius Caesar was a special triumph not only as a first-rate production but as a victory over city officials who attempted to block these free-admission outdoor presentations of Shakespeare. The Old Vic opened its New York season December 9 at the Broadway Theatre with a production of Twelfth Night especially well suited to a caste that lacked star names but had an understanding of style, voices for verse, and a sense of the ensemble in their playing. Desmond Heeley's Cavalier period setting for the play-an elegant arch standing at mid-stage, decaying among rosesreflected the strain of melancholy in this play, but director Michael Benthall chose to stress the comedy. Although Viola (Barbara Jefford) lacked the poignancy often brought out in the romantic scenes, her moments of comedy were sheer delight. Malvolio's (Richard Wordsworth) letter-reading scene (II. v) should be and was a high spot. So was the cakes and ale scene (II. iii), each actor creating an individual and richly comic character, yet all acting together in the same style in perfect harmony. John Neville was Aguecheek, Joss Ackland Sir Toby, Dudley Jones Feste and Judy Dench Maria. Hamlet, which opened December i6, offered a Prince of Denmark in the romantic tradition and a virtually uncut (three and one-half hours) performance which as a production was one of the best this reporter has seen of the play. Director Michael Benthall set the action on a flat stage (none of the usual ramps or stairs) against black strip-drapes, creating stunning scenic effects by the grouping of characters in Audrey Cruddas' rich costumes and by the imaginative use of lighting. John Neville's thin, blond, pale, handsome and sensitive Hamlet was in the Gielgud tradition (except that he lacks Gielgud's genius) rather than a virile Stoll-Olivier hero. In a way this intelligent if not inspired Hamlet put the play in perspective; one was aware of the tragedy played out against a background that included the corrupt court, the voluptuous rulers, the decent Polonius family. One general complaint about the last two North American Hamlets (Christopher Plummer and Fritz Weaver) was that they lacked music. Vocally, Mr. Neville gave us a full score.