"MY INTERVIEW WITH MR. SHAKESPEARE''- By Sylvania.
The topic of conversation which prevails in Blackpool this week is undoubtedly the presence of
Mr. Shakespeare and his talented Company in their new and thrilling drama, "Hamlet, Prince of
Denmark." This most exciting play will open here before receiving its premiere at the Globe
Theatre, London. This afternoon I was privileged to interview the great playwright himself and
found him on the stage of a well known Blackpool theatre rehearsing some at the duelling and
poisoning scenes, which form the new play's chief attraction, together with a particularly
terrifying churchyard scene.
Mr. Shakespeare crossed the corpse-bestrewn stage and, kicking away a couple of skulls,
invited me to sit down on a nearby gravestone.
''Tell me. Mr. Shakespeare-'' I began.
"I know," he said, "you want to know what I think about Blackpool. Well-'the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.' (Macbeth, act one, scene six).
That's not including the part round the gasworks. Ha ! Ha !"
"Ha! Ha! Thank you Mr. Shakespeare. And why-?"
"I know, you want to know why I chose Blackpool to put on my play. Well-
'We, do not come as minding to content you.
...All for your delight
We are not here." (Midsummer Night's Dream, act one, scene one).
No fear. I figured it out that a West End audience is just as dumb as a Blackpool audience and
if Hamlet went at Blackpool, well I guessed it would go in London."
"You flatter us Mr. Shakespeare. And what do you-?"
"I know, you want to know what I think of the modern stage. Well-
'All the worlds a stage
And all the men and women merely players.' (As You Like It, act two, scene seven) Ha ! Ha ! But
speaking seriously, there's not much drama in England apart from me, you know. Couple of fellows
called Beaumont and F]etcher put on a piece called "The Knight of the Burning Pestle" a year
or two ago, but what could you expect from a lot of schoolboys? And then there's that fellow
Marlowe and his Dr. Faustus. Do you know? on the second night of Faustus the Chorus-fellow in a
yellow nightshirt, forgot his second line and stood for three whole minutes looking at a blank
piece of paper I told him he should have had his lines written on it but he wouldn't listen.
'That's interesting, Mr. Shakespeare."
'Well, I can't stay here talking all day, so good-bye!'
The last I heard of Mr. Shakespeare was his voice rebuking his players-
"You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!'' (Julius Caesar, act one, scene one). J.S.G. VI.ms.iii, P
J.S.G. an old boy of The Blackpool Grammar School returned as Mr Joseph S Grindrod and spent his teaching career at Blackpool Grammar School
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