ABSTRACT
It is a little unfair to go to the "Old Vic" only when a curiosity is to be seen there. For this, apparently the only theatre in London which can afford to produce an occasional curiosity, does far more than that, and proves its ability to do so even when a curiosity is in action. The production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, is little but an interesting freak. The play has not been seen on the English stage for nearly seventy years, and there is small reason why it should be seen again for another seventy. It is an inexcusably bad play. But the "Old Vic" producer, Mr. Robert Atkins, a genius, does enough with it to convince any observer that he understands the Elizabethan drama almost to the last detail. The Shakespearean pieces commonly produced in London are much better pieces than this. But it is more interesting and less painful to see a bad piece adequately staged than a good piece pawed, mauled and disfigured by a West End management. If we were to compare Mr. Atkins's Pericles with, say, Miss Viola Tree's Tempest, we should say that he started under a very severe handicap; but he gains steadily over the whole course and wins at last with plenty in hand. It is matter for thought that the best Shakespearean production I have seen for many years should be one of the worst plays that Shakespeare ever had anything to do with.
