ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on dramatic literature and theatrical performance of Shakespearian play. In spite of the Hamlet in plus fours headlines, it was in general taken seriously by the Press and intelligently received. The incongruity of blank verse and modern dress was felt by some, but the verse was quickly and naturally delivered, and most of the audience, already accustomed to the speedy modern tempo of the Old Vic productions under Robert Atkins, took it in their stride. After the work of Granville-Barker, therefore, Barry Jackson's Hamlet may be regarded as the most important single contribution to the history of modern Shakespearian production, which it has influenced in a similar and equally vital fashion. The incongruity of blank verse and modern dress was felt by some, but the verse was quickly and naturally delivered, and most of the audience, already accustomed to the speedy modern tempo of the Old Vic productions under Robert Atkins, took it in their stride.
