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Lee, Sidney, Sir, 1859-1926

"Shakespeare and the Modern Stage with Other Essays"

(Parts 1 and 2)_, _Henry V._,
_Henry VI. (Parts 1, 2, and 3)_, _Henry VIII._, _Julius Caesar_, _King
John_, _King Lear_, _Macbeth_, _The Merchant of Venice_, _The Merry
Wives of Windsor_, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, _Much Ado About
Nothing_, _Othello_, _Pericles_, _Richard II._, _Richard III._, _Romeo
and Juliet_, _The Taming of the Shrew_, _The Tempest_, _Timon of
Athens_, _Twelfth Night_, and _A Winter's Tale_. Phelps's record only
exceeded Mr Benson's by one. He produced thirty-one of Shakespeare's
plays in all, but he omitted _Richard II._, and the three parts of
_Henry VI._, which Mr Benson has acted, while he included _Love's
Labour's Lost_, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, _All's Well that Ends
Well_, _Cymbeline_, and _Measure for Measure_, which Mr Benson, so
far, has eschewed. Mr Phelps and Mr Benson are at one in avoiding
_Titus Andronicus_ and _Troilus and Cressida_.]
Members of Mr Benson's company have made excellent use of their
opportunities. An actor, like the late Frank Rodney, who could on one
night competently portray Bolingbroke in _Richard II._ and on the
following night the clown Feste in _Twelfth Night_ with equal effect,
clearly realised something of the virtue of Shakespearean versatility.


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