Hamlet demands of Horatio concerning the ghost of "buried
Denmark:" "Stayed it long?" Horatio answers: "While one with moderate
haste might tell a hundred." Marcellus should add: "Longer, longer."
But the Marcellus of this special occasion was mute. "Longer, longer,"
whispered the prompter. Then out spoke Marcellus, to the consternation
of his associates: "Well, say two hundred!" So prosaic a Marcellus is
only to be matched by that literal Guildenstern who, when besought by
Hamlet to "Play upon this pipe," was so moved by the urgent manner of
the tragedian, that he actually made the attempt, seizing the
instrument, and evoking from it most eccentric sounds.
It is curious how many of the incidents and details of representation
escape the notice of the audience. And here we are referring less to
merits than to mischances. Good acting may not always obtain due
recognition; but then how often bad acting and accidental deficiencies
remain undetected! "We were all terribly out, but the audience did not
see it," actors will often candidly admit. Although we in front
sometimes see and hear things we should not, some peculiarity of our
position blinds and deafens us too much.
Pages:
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329