The Theatre: Howard's Hamlet

When English William MacReady and American Edwin Forrest presented rival interpretations of Macbeth in Manhattan in 1840, their partisans were lashed into such a frenzy of jealous adulation that they staged a riot in Astor Place which took 21 lives. Last week English Leslie Howard brought to Manhattan his version of Hamlet, set it up five blocks away from the theatre that had been housing English John Gielgud's Hamlet for a month (TIME, Oct 19). Not a life was lost. There was no riot. There was no rivalry. The two performances were not in...

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