King Henry VIII (Revival)

Performed at His Majesty's Theatre.
A play by Shakespeare.
Opened 1st September, 1910 - ran for 252 performances.

Starring: Violet Vanbrugh.

Editorial and Photos all as published in The Playgoer and Society Illustrated, Vol. II, No. 12.

Major Cast Members		The principal players in this production.
Synopsis		Review of the play.
Scenes from the Play		A selection of scenes the play

MAJOR CAST MEMBERS

Principal performers in the play.

SYNOPSIS

It is no disrespect to the memory of the dramatist to consider the production of "King Henry VIII." at His Majesty's Theatre as a pageant as well as a play. As such it was obviously designed. It was to the use of cannon in the piece, when it was given at the Globe in Shakespeare's own time, that the fire by which that theatre was destroyed was directly due. How much, or how little there is of Shakespeare in "King Henry VIII." is a question which may be left to the pedants; for ourselves, we should be satIsfied to count it among the "doubtful" plays along with that "King Edward the Third" which Capell ascribed to Shakespeare for no other reason than that he thought it too good to be the work of any of his contemporaries. It would, be unjust to more of Shakespeare's contemporaries than one, who are supposed to have had a hand in it to say so much of King Henry VIII."

Certainly it affords opportunities for pictorial illustration such as may not be found in any other of the chronicle plays, and the illimitable resources of His Majesty's Theatre, Sir Herbert Tree's genius for management, the fine, artistic feeling revealed in the composition of the beautiful pictures presented in the spacious frame of the stage, and the nice discrimination exercised in the choice of the actors for the interpretation of the play; all these things together combined make the stupendous production of "King Henry VIII." a memorable achievement in the annals of the theatre. For the appeal is not merely to the eye, but to the imagination, and the historical sense is stirred by the animated scenes in which an eventful period of our national life is so vividly realised by the actors, scene painters, costumiers and the rest.

Magnificence of display characterised Irving's famous revival of "King Henry VIII." in the great days at the Lyceum, and Kean, before him, is reported to have made an extremely lavish production of it. If Sir Herbert Tree may be said to have improved in this respect upon the example of his illustrious predecessors, the interest of the play is not diminished - on the contrary, it is sustained and increased - by reducing the live acts to three, for this re-arrangement brings into prominence the two most important and significant dramatic issues, the fall of Cardinal Wolsey and the fate of Queen Katharine, and keeps these two principal personages on the stage until the last act, instead of banishing them for good and all from the play, the Cardinal in the third and the Queen in the fourth. To illustrate the rise and influence of Cardinal Wolsey and his sudden fall from the favour of the King into disgrace and ruin irredeemable that may be described as the main purpose of the play, and in the stage-version prepared for this occasion the story is a great deal less inconsecutive than in the printed play it must seem to the reader.

Queen Katharine and the Duke of Buckingham - after Wolsey, the most carefully delineated character in the play - are brought more closely into the scheme of the drama, and the episode of Buckingham's arrest for high treason, with the touching speech before he goes off to execution, is played at a greater length, if we may trust our memory, than it was given in Irving's revival of "King Henry VIII." The character of the King himself is not so much developed by the dramatist as it is elaborated by touches of detail in the present performance; he is the foremost figure in the play, yet not the centre of interest.

Fancy, invention and imagination are freely exercised by Sir Herbert Tree alike in his work as an actor and a theatrical manager, in his performance of the part of Cardinal Wolsey and in the disposition of the forces gathered on the stage in such animated scenes as the revels at Wolsey's Palace at the close of the first act, and in the gorgeous procession at the coronation with which the play now ends. These two great scenes, which it is surely no exaggeration to describe as "masterpieces" of the pictorial art of the theatre, come well within the purpose of the play, and it was a happy mischance, indeed, which induced Sir Herbert Tree to bring "King Henry VIII." to a conclusion with the full ceremony of the coronation of Anne Bullen instead of the christening of the Princess Elizabeth, for which there is no such reason in these days as there was for it in its appointed place when the play was first written.

As the play closes now, with the coronation, it rounds off more fittingly the story of Henry's infatuation for Anne Bullen, to say nothing of the fact - with which indeed, we need not trouble ourselves much - that it avoids, the anachronism of placing the death of Katharine before the birth of Elizabeth.

The meeting of Anne Bullen and the King in the great hall of Wolsey's Palace - a magnificent bit of stage architecture - is an opportunity for a great spectacular display, and the scene is prolonged with feasting, singing and dancing. Once the King has dlscarded the shepherd's costume, in which he enters along with the other maskers who claim the hospitality of the Cardinal, he is soon engaged in the pursuit of Anne, to which he addresses himself without any restraint, whilst Wolsey, silent and pensive, looks on frowningly. The boisterous spirits of the King and the grave countenance of the Cardinal prepare us for the impending mischief.

We have seen already at the opening of the play Buckingham vainly rebelling against "this Ipswich fellow's insolence". Wolsey's cunning and authority have been asserted again in the scene at the Council which immediately follows, and the ascendency of the Cardinal, the great state in which he lives and the impelling force of his policy are all very skilfully illustrated in the first act. The River Gate, upon which the second act opens, furnishes a very imposing background for the scene of Buckingham's farewell, and his fine, long speech is most affectingly delivered by Mr. Henry Ainley, who acts the part with a feeling of pride and dignity, and the ringing accents of his voice as he says, "All good people, Pray for me! I must now forsake ye: the last hour, of my life, long weary life, is come upon me," linger in the ears long after Buckingham and his train have moved off and the curtain has fallen.

The cross-currents in Wolsey's career are dramatically indicated, and while the abrupt removal of Buckingham from his path and the decline of Katharine favour his designs, we see how the gradual rise of Anne Bullen makes perilous his way. The scene in which the Lord Chamberlain comes to inform Anne that the King purposes to confer upon her the title of Marchioness of Pembroke - a scene in which Mrs. Charles Calvert, as the "old lady" in attendance, gives a performance in the ripest style of old comedy, though the poet's freedom of speech is properly moderated to our modern manners - affords a striking contrast to the scene of Katharine's trial, at which Wolsey asserts his influence for the last time over the King, and the unhappy Katharine goes, with a broken heart and an unbroken spirit, into the retirement in which her gentle nature finds expression in the beatific vision which is not the least wonderful of the purely mechanical achievements of the present production of the play.

With the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, which comes so suddenly, so unexpectedly - brought about as it is by a mere coup de theatre such as the least of dramatists in these days might disdain - the dramatic movement of the play is not exactly arrested, and the final scene of the Coronation not only brings the entertainment to an end with a blazing surprise, like the great set-piece at a display of fireworks, but serves, moreover, to lift the spirits of the audience and to send them happy away, leaving them to find in the play what moral they may - and that without pursuing their reflections any further than the end of this chapter of the history of "King Henry VIII."

The quality of subtlety which gives so much value and distinction to Sir Herbert Tree's acting in certain parts is peculiarly suited to the part of Wolsey, and the actor's interpretation of the great cardinal will rank with the most successful studies of character. His Cardinal Wolsey is a stern, a majestic figure, as dignified in the hour of his triumphs as he is in the moment of his fall, and the mind of the man or the soul of the prelate is never more plainly exhibited than in his touching scene with his secretary, whose devotion to the great man one can feel and understand. The part has evidently been studied with great care, and the composition of the part, using the word in the sense in which an actor composes his part, is, from first to last, always consistent. The proud, stately figure of the Cardinal, in his crimson robes, will leave an ineffaceable impression upon the mind, and Sir Herbert Tree's Wolsey will remain a treasured memory with the playgoer.

As the injured Queen Katharine, Miss Violet Vanbrugh has the reversion of a part which was a special favourite with Mrs. Siddons. The part is one which affords a better medium for variety of acting than any other in the play, and rises undoubtedly, in one scene at least, to heights within the reach only of a great actress. No queen of tragedy can ever have carried it off with a prouder bearing than Miss Vanbrugh in the earlier part of the play; and the sorrow and distress of the virtuous play are something more than adequately expressed.

Dr. Johnson, in writing of "King Henry VIII.," says, "the genius of Shakespeare comes in and goes out with Katharine," and even that is more than some critics may allow, although they may not share the Doctor's opinion that "every other part may be easily conceived and easily written." Easily conceived or easily written, at any rate is not always easily acted, and Mr. Arthur Bourchier, who plays the King, gives us a decidedly bluff King Hal, with much strength of will and a joyous disposition. His "make up" for the part is a triumph of personation; it is the living image of King Henry VIII. as the painters have pictured him. Miss Laura Cowie plays Anne Bullen with girlish freshnes! It is not only in the leading parts that the acting is studiously considered, for the auxiliary characters are played by accomplished actors, and Mr. S. A. Cookson, Mr. A. E. George, Mr. Edward O'Neill, Mr. Gerald Lawrence, Mr. Edward Sass, and Mr. Acton Bond contribute, one and all, to the success of a production which redounds so much to the honour and glory of the stage.

by "Mordred"

SCENES FROM THE PLAY

Click any image for a larger view
Beerbohm Tree as Wolsey	Opening Scene	Wolsey and Buckingham in the cloisters	Their Majesties in the council chamber	The evidence against Buckingham
The King speaks	The Morris dancers	Scenes in the banqueting hall	The King courts Anne Bullen	The trial scene
Buckingham bids farewell to the people	Buckingham goes to his execution	The Queen with her attendants	The Cardinals	Queen Katharine
The Coronation of Anne Bullen