Castlist

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

-- iv --

[Keeper] [Attendant 1] [Attendant 2] [Officer] [Servant]

Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Satyrs for a Dance; Shepherds, Shepherdesses, Guards, &c.

Leontes, (King of Sicilia)	Mr. CHARLES KEAN
Mamillius, (his Son)	Miss ELLEN TERRY
Camillo, (Sicilian Lord)	Mr. GRAHAM
Antigonus, (Sicilian Lord)	Mr. COOPER
Cleomenes, (Sicilian Lord)	Mr. J. F. CATHCART
Dion, (Sicilian Lord)	Mr. G. EVERETT
Two Sicilian Lords [Lord 1] [Lord 2],	Mr. BARSBY Mr. RAYMOND
Elder of the Council,	Mr. ROLLESTON
An Attendant on the young Prince Mamillius,	Mr. BRAZIER
Officer of a Court of Judicature [Court Officer],	Mr. TERRY
Polixenes, King of Bithynia,	Mr. RYDER
Florizel, (his Son)	Miss HEATH
Archidamus, (a Bithynian Lord)	Mr. H. MELLON
A Mariner,	Mr. PAULO
Gaoler,	Mr. COLLETT
An Old Shepherd, (reputed Father of Perdita)	Mr. MEADOWS
Clown, (his Son)	Mr. H. SAKER
Servant to the Old Shepherd,	Miss KATE TERRY
Autolycus, (a Rogue)	Mr. HARLEY
Time, as Chorus,	Mr. F. COOKE
Hermione, (Queen to Leontes)	Mrs. CHARLES KEAN
Perdita, (Daughter to Leontes & Hermione)	Miss C. LECLERCQ
Paulina, (Wife to Antigonus)	Mrs. TERNAN
Emilia, (a Lady) (Attending the Queen)	Miss CLIFFORD
Two Other Ladies [Lady 1] [Lady 2] (Attending the Queen),	Miss EGLINTON Miss M. TERNAN
Mopsa, (Shepherdess)	Miss I. BROUGHAM
Dorcas, (Shepherdess)	Miss E. BROUGHAM

Scene.—SOMETIMES IN SICILIA, SOMETIMES IN BITHYNIA. The Scenery under the Direction of Mr. GRIEVE, and Painted by Mr. GRIEVE, Mr. TELBIN, Mr. W. GORDON, Mr. F. LLOYDS, Mr. CUTHBERT, Mr. DAYES, Mr. MORRIS, and numerous Assistants. The Overture and Music, composed for the occasion by Mr. J. L. HATTON. The Dances and Action by Mr. OSCAR BYRN. The Decorations & Appointments by Mr. E. W. BRADWELL. The Dresses by Mrs. and Miss HOGGINS. The Machinery by Mr. G. HODSDON. Perruquier, Mr. ASPLIN, of No. 13, New Bond Street. ^note

PREFACE.

Shakespeare has constructed the charming drama of The Winter's Tale from Robert Green's “History of Dorastus and Fawnia,” and while he has sought to heighten and vary the interest of the story by the introduction of new characters, he has left the incidents of the play (as in the novel) alternating between Sicily and Bohemia, without assigning any specific date to the time of action. Chronological contradictions abound throughout the five acts; inasmuch as reference is made to the Delphic oracle, Christian burial, an Emperor of Russia, and an Italian painter of the sixteenth century.

It is evident that when an attempt is made to combine truth with history, conflicting epochs cannot all be illustrated; and I have therefore thought it permissible to select a period which, while it accords with the spirit of the play, may be considered the most interesting, as well as the most instructive.

The pivot on which the story revolves, is in fact the decision pronounced by the oracle of Delphi; and taking this incident as the corner-stone of the whole fabric, I have adopted a period when Syracuse, according to Thucydides, had, from a mere Doric colony, increased in magnificence to a position in no

way inferior to that of Athens herself, when at the summit of her political prosperity. An opportunity is thus afforded of reproducing a classical era, and placing before the eyes of the spectator, tableaux vivants of the private and public life of the ancient Greeks, at a time when the arts flourished to a perfection, the scattered vestiges of which still delight and instruct the world. Assuming that the civilization of Athens was reflected by Syracuse, I feel that no period could have been selected more interesting and suggestive, or more likely to give additional zest to those who wish to contemplate the manners and habits of a country once “the centre of ancient civilization, and the fruitful mother of so many illustrious sons,” but which can now, alas! boast of nothing beyond its history and its ruins.

To connect the country known as “Bohemia” with an age so remote, would be impossible: I have therefore followed the suggestion of Sir Thomas Hanmer, in his annotations on Shakespeare, by the substitution of Bithynia. The difference of name in no way affects the incident or metre of the play, while it enables me to represent the costume of the inhabitants of Asia Minor at a corresponding period, associated so intimately with Greece, and acquiring additional interest from close proximity to the Homeric kingdom of Troy.

The Phrygian dress presents a marked distinction between the two races that constitute the chief

actors in the drama, while at the same time scope is afforded for the introduction of customs common to both. A leading instance is furnished in the pastoral scene of the fourth act, where the festivities applicable to the season of sheep-shearing take place, and in which Shakespeare brings in, for the purpose of a dance, twelve rustics, “who have made themselves all men of hair, and call themselves Satyrs.” I have here ventured to introduce one of those festivals in honour of Bacchus, known under the title of “Dionysia,” wherein similar disguises were used, while the actors indulged in mad enthusiasm and extravagant merriment.

For the purpose of presenting with closer accuracy the domestic manners of the period, Leontes and his Queen Hermione, together with their Kingly guest, are first discovered towards the termination of a Feast, on the evening before the intended departure of Polixenes. As dancing and music invariably formed a portion of such entertainments, a representation of the celebrated Pyrrhic Dance, so popular throughout the principal states of Greece for its martial character, has been attempted.

Later in the play, “Time, as Chorus,” has been restored, in accordance with the poet's conception. By this restoration, the lapse of sixteen years, supposed to have taken place from the birth of Perdita until she is seen as the shepherdess in the fourth act, is rendered more intelligible. To carry out the idea,

a classical figure, more in accordance with the character of the play as now represented, has been preferred to the ordinary old man with his scythe and hour glass, who was unknown in classic ages. Cronos, the ancient representative of Time, has been chosen, and I have ventured to associate him with an allegorical tableau of Luna and the Stars (personified), sinking before the Car of Phœbus, which rises with all its attributes of splendour. Each figure is taken from an antique, or from the works of Flaxman.

The Theatre at Syracuse has been selected for the ceremony of the trial of Queen Hermione, as it is known that in Greece such edifices were frequently used!used for legislative or judicial proceedings, and an opportunity is thus afforded for the introduction of a scenic display, equally novel and interesting.

To give completeness to the whole, an endeavour has been made to assimilate the music to the action. As all writers on the subject afford but meagre information, the difficulty here becomes very great; nevertheless, using such authorities as we possess, including the “Hymn to Apollo,” which many consider genuine Greek, and the descriptions given by Dr. Burney, and other eminent Professors, Mr. J. L. Hatton has composed the overture, entre-actes, and incidental airs, with the exception of the “Hymn” which is played at the opening of the second scene of the first act, during the progress of the Banquet.

I should not omit to state that the text of Shakespeare has been carefully preserved throughout; the omission of an occasional sentence or line sufficing to remove all prominent incongruities, without interfering with the natural course of the action.

The architectural portions of the play have, as on many former occasions, been kindly superintended by George Godwin, Esq., F.R.S., who has taken an ardent interest in my work, for which I feel most grateful; and my thanks are peculiarly due to George Scharf, Esq., Jun., F.S.A. (author of the Handbook to the Greek and Pompeian Courts at the Crystal Palace), from whom I have received the greatest possible assistance and information, and whose pictorial mind has suggested many important details. The vegetation peculiar to Bithynia is adopted from his private drawings, taken on the spot.

I also owe my acknowledgements to James A. Davies, Esq., Lecturer on Ancient Music, for his valuable aid in the department which he has made his particular study.

Thus, one of Shakespeare's finest productions is now submitted to the judgment of the public, with many new accompaniments, which I trust will not be considered inappropriate.

The favour extended by the public to my former Shakespearian revivals, encourages me to hope that my present attempt will be equally fortunate; and I may, perhaps, be here permitted to remark, that although

spectacular effects have been introduced, it has only been where such are in accordance with the subject and incidents of the play.

I have endeavoured, and I hope not altogether in vain, by the united accessories of painting, music, and architecture, in conjunction with the rapid movements and multiplied life which belong to the stage alone, to re-embody the past, trusting that the combination may be considered less an exhibition of pageantry appealing to the eye, than an illustration of history addressed to the understanding.

THE WINTER'S TALE.

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