Theatre Design & Technology - May 1969 - 20

Young, Stark, "Hamiel," New Republic 3, December 6, 1922, 45-6. In his review of the Barrymore Hamlet, Young lauds Jones' setting and his
staging_ "Jones' architectural setting, although less
acceptable than a similar kind of scenic solution for
the earlier Hopkins, Jones, Barrymore proeuction of
Richard III, was at once princely and austere_ Mr.
R_ E_ Jones has created a visual form that is for the
most part
inseparable from the play_ He forces the
idea to become the sculptor of itself." Several years
years later, reporting to the New York Times on the
London reception to the production in "The Robert
Edmond Jones Hamlet" (March 29, 1925, VII, 1.),
Young pointed out that English audiences long accustomed to the traditional methods of staging
Shakespeare, were no! the least bit perturbed by
Jones' architectural setting or the untraditional staging.

Henry VIII: The King's Apartment (111-2)

Ranken, Towse J_ "Hamlet Spectacle and Little Else,"
New York Evening Post December 14, 1922_ Ranken's review was the most negative of all_ Although
Ranken thought the proeuction as a whole was "interesting but without tragic power," he did not like
Barrymore's performance_ He accused Hopkins, as
director, of becoming infected with "the pernicious
theories of Gordon Craig and what is called by utter
misnomer, the "new art of the theatre_" Although he
called Jones' setting majestic, Ranken thought that
the architectural form confused rather than expedited
the action of the play_ "The acting which ought to be
the prime consideration of the play
.on this occasion .. seems to have been regarded as a matter
entirely subordinate to the scenery _

Krempel, Daniel, and James H_ Clay, "New Stagecraft Forty Years After: The Hopkins-Jones Hamlet_"
Western Speech Fall, 1965, 201-10_ An interesting
evaluation of the Hopkins, Jones, Barrymore production of Hamlet as an expression of the new stagecraft. Depending entirely upon the critical reviews for
their evaluation, Krempel and Clay conclude that the
proeuction was a failure, that Jones' setting failed to
suggest the 'transparency' that Krempel and Clay seem
to insist is the criteria of success of the new stagecraft, although they fail to explain just what they
mean by 'transparency.' The most interesting conclusion of the Krempel-Clay reassessment of Hamlet is
the conclusion that the new stagecraft was the 'final
sophistication of the pictorial tradition introduced to
the stage by the Italian court painters during the
Renaissance." In slightly moeified form, this evaluation is reprinted in the authors' THE TH EATRICAL
IMAGE_ New York: McGraw Hill Book Publishing Company, 1967, entitled "The Hopkins-Jones Hamlet:
A Production Concept and Critical Reactions, 1922,"
(pages 166-B 1). Lengthly excerpts of the 1922 reviews make up appendix D (pages 267-80)_
Corbin, John, "Muted Juliet," New York Times,
December 2B, 1922, 20_ Corbin's evaluation of the
last of the Hopkins, Jones, Barrymore proeuctions;
this, the production of Romeo and Juliet with Ethel
Barrymore as Juliet. Barrymore's characterization of
Juliet, Corbin complains, "lacked fire and was quite
lackadasical." He called the performance' 'three muted
hours, as dark as the hanging in which Mr. Jones enshrouded it, as crudely formal as the three carpentered arches he erected in the very center and
focus of his stage."

B_ The Critical Discussions
Inasmuch as Robert Jones was the very center
of the development of the new stagecraft in
America, critical discussions of the movement
could not ignore his work on Broadway_ This
section, therefore, contains the pertinent writings on the movement during its fruition.
Coclissey, Royal, "The New Idea in Stagecraft," New
Yo~k Tribune, February 22,1915,7_ In reviewing

an
exhibition
of
stage designs used in the
Granville-Barker productions of Androcles and the
Lion and The Man Who Married A Dumb Wife,
Coclissey questions the validitY of the whole new
movement in stage decor. "It is a large question, but
we get a little light on it at Wallacks: Jones' setting
for Dumb Wife perfect. Here the idea of a pictorial
treatment of stage things might easily enough be regarded as conclusive. It is legitimate for us to be
shown the scene 'in the flat,' so to speak. Jones'
setting for Dumb Wife gives the effect of a French
miniature painting
." pleasing and appropriate."

Henry VII: Before Blackfriars: A Curtain

Barney, Charles Gorham, "The New Staging," The
Colonade IX, April, 1915, 122-26. Barney criticizes
Granville-Barker and Reinhardt for using Gordon Craig's
ideas of the "new stagecraft." Barney criticizes Jones'
use of the "almost overpowering effect of the strong
reds, yellows, orange, and gold in the costumes for
The Man Who Married A Dumb Wife_ It is interesting to note that Jones received almost the same
criticism for the strong colors he used in his costumes for Lute Song, one of the last sheM's of his
career.
Hamilton, Clayton, -'The New Scenic Art in America,"
Bookman 43, March, 1916, 20-9_ Hamilton complains that the American theatre is ten years behind
the European theatre in matters of scenic art. He
states that the best art in the theatre is to be seen
currently in the art theatres. He comments on the
work of Jones and Lee Simonson and describes in
detail Jones' settings for The Devil's Garden, Jones'
second Broadway production_
Buckland, Wilfred, "The Coming Revolution in Scenic
Art," Harper's Weekly, 62, March25, 1916,306-7.
Buckland says of the 1916 settings that "the photographic method of mechanical representation has gone
as far as it can go. The Designer (artist). must now
go back and start over With the new and independent
art of suggestive illusion
.paint with light _ .and
consider the psychological requirements of state setings." The settings of Robert Edmond Jones, Buckland says, "are contributions to this development."
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - May 1969
