y form than not to see him at all, so that these performances
deserve every support, being in some ways not unlike the productions ...
which serve to keep alive the classics and old traditions of art." This
criticism, or rather statement, is popular--"extremely popular." People
seem to think that there is virtue in producing Shakespeare and in
acting Shakespeare and in reading Shakespeare. It would be pleasant to
feel confident that there is virtue in writing about him--I have written
so much--but probably nobody takes this extreme view. Now, some have a
different opinion.

A strenuous dramatist, namesake of a contemporary of the national
dramatist, ventures to call the "Swan of Avon" a "blackleg" instead of a
black swan, and ascribes his popularity with managers to the fact that
his name no longer spells bankruptcy, and that no royalties have to be
paid on performances of his plays, in consequence of which they are
often, or sometimes, produced where, otherwise, modern works would be
presented.

It is not necessary to go so far as this to reach a sane view on the
subject--a view which probably lies between the extremes. Certainly we
may well wonder whether and why it is a good thing to produce
Shakespeare plays unless the production is of fine quality. Everybody is
acquainted with Lamb's essay, with what one may call "Elia's" paradox,
on Shakespeare, the vigorous truth of which is partly counterbalanced by
the fact that few play readers have anything like his powers of
imagination, and that he probably underrated the knowledge of
Shakespeare possessed by playgoers, or at least by West End
first-nighters.

Indeed, one may go further and say that during any run of a
Shakespearean play it will be visited by some thousands of people well
acquainted with it and some hundreds who immediately detect any
alteration of the text. The enjoyment of these expert or semi-expert
playgoers of a performance of a Shakespeare play, when compared with
their pleasure in reading it, is probably much higher than Lamb
imagined. It is, however, hardly for them that these dramas are revived,
and clearly for quite a different audience that the Lyceum production is
given.

Is it a really good thing that _Hamlet_ should be offered to those who
have little or no acquaintance with the tragedy? A study of the audience
on the first night of _Hamlet_ at the Lyceum gave the idea that the
majority were far from appreciating the work, and did not, at