Page 94 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

S T A G E - H I S T O R Y kxxvii
ing December, at Bath in 1778, at Bristol in 1781 (in a
version adapted by Lee from Garrick's), and at Dublin
so late as 1802; but she played the Queen only three
times, of which only one was in London, at Drury Lane
in April, 1796, to the Hamlet of Wroughton, for King's
benefit, and Ophelia only twice, at Drury Lane, for her
own benefit, in April, 1786, and at Liverpool in June of
the same year.
In 1785 at Covent Garden Holman first appeared in
London as Hamlet (the elder Macready said that
Kemble was the Prince, Holman was Hamlet, and
Henderson was Hamlet Prince of Denmark); and ten
years later it was he who was acting the part, to the
Ophelia of Miss Poole, at that theatre when Hamlet was
once more dressed in the 'Vandyke' style, and 'has ever
since been fixed in costume of black satin and bugles.'
In 1796 Mrs Powell was added to the large number of
female Hamlets (yet another about this time was the
Miss Edmead whom Parson Woodforde saw at Norwich
m 1792). In 1802 Cooke failed in the part. In 1803
Charles Kemble gave his first performance of a Hamlet
which differed from all others in being completely mad,
'an image,' wrote his daughter Fanny, 'of a distracted
intellect and a broken heart.' In 1805 Master Betty
entertained the town with his Hamlet; and in 1807
C. M. Young, not unworthy substitute and successor to
J. P. Kemble, took up the part, which he played in his
fine 'classical' manner until his farewell benefit in 1832,
when Macready came to play the Ghost and old Charles
Mathews, who had been his Polonius at his first ap-
pearance, came back to play it again at his last. None of
these (not even Elliston, who acted Hamlet first in
London in i 804 and, with a strong cast to support him,
made the tragedy the opening performance of the rebuilt
Drury Lane on October 10, 1812) need detain us long
from the great event of March 12, 1814, when Edmund
Kean first played Hamlet at Drury Lane.
The supposition of the romantic genius type of actor