Further, they were able to point to Shakespeare's stage
direction: "Enter the ghost of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place."
Surely there could be no mistake, they argued, as to what the
dramatist himself intended. In subsequent performances the old system
was restored, and in all modern representations of the tragedy the
phantom has not failed to be visible to the spectators. Nevertheless
Banquo's ghost remains the _crux_ of stage managers. How to get him
on? How to get him off? How to make him look anything like a
ghost--respectable, if not awful? How to avoid that distressing titter
generally audible among those of the spectators who cannot suppress
their sense of the ludicrous even in one of Shakespeare's grandest
scenes? Upon a darkened stage a ghost, skilfully attired in vaporous
draperies, may be made sufficiently impressive, as in "Hamlet," for
instance. The shade of the departed king, if tolerably treated, seldom
provokes a smile, even from the most hardened and jocose of
spectators. But in "Macbeth" the scene must be well lighted, for the
nobles, courtiers, and guests are at high banquet; and the ghost must
appear towards the front of the stage, otherwise Macbeth will be
compelled to turn his back upon the public, and his simulated horror
will be absolutely thrown away; if the actor's face cannot be seen,
his acting, of necessity, goes for little or nothing.
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