Dramatic and Musical — Sherlock Holmes (article 26 may 1902)
This article was published in the Liverpool Daily Post on 26 may 1902.
About the play Sherlock Holmes at the Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool, UK.
Article
DRAMATIC AND MUSICAL
It does not often fall to the lot of an actor to have his play unanimously condemned by the London critics, and have his performance booed on the first night, and then to see his performance and his play bound immediately into success, and become the greatest success of the season. Yet this is what happened to William Gillette with "Sherlock Holmes" in London. Last September, it will be remembered, he opened his season in England at the Shakespeare Theatre, and then went to London. The critics condemned his play, the gallery booed it, and many announced that his engagement, which at that time was intended for three months, would, if fulfilled, be played to heavy loss. Yet, in spite of all of this, Mr. Gillette played "Sherlock Holmes" in London for eight months, and played it to the capacity of the Lyceum Theatre at every performance. This success is without a parallel in recent times. There is something particularly fitting that Liverpool should be chosen for his only return visit, and the place where William Gillette is to be seen for the last time in England. It in understood that this arrangement was made at Mr. Gillette's own express desire, as he is said not to have forgotten the cordial reception which was given him when he first walked on the stage of the Shakespeare Theatre last September. Immediately after the cloning in Liverpool the company returns to America, and next season Mr. Gillette will continue to play for another year his intensely interesting play, and then it is understood that he will appear "Hamlet." Apropos of the return visit of "Sherlock Holmes," it is interesting to know that not only in Great Britain is the play a success. Besides Mr. Gillette's company there are four companies playing his piece in the United Kingdom; there is one at Cape Town, two in Australia, ono in America, one in Vienna, one in Russia, one in Sweden, one in Norway, one in Belgium, one in Holland, and one in Denmark. It was Mr. Gillette's intention to play in Berlin and Paris himself, but the strain upon him from his long season determined him to close his European engagement at the Shakespeare. It is not generally known that the Emperor William invited Mr. Gillette and his company to appear on the 23rd of June at the Schauspielhaus, in Berlin. This theatre is the Emperor's own private property, and Mr. Gillette is the first foreign artist, with the exception of Coquelin, who has ever been honoured by the German Emperor with such an invitation. This invitation, which came in the shape of a command from Graf von Hochberg, the Emperor's private Minister, caused some little embarrassment, as Royal commands are not easily set aside; but when it was explained that Mr. Gillette's health would not permit him undertaking the engagement, he was allowed to refuse. Mr. Gillette and company arrived by special train as Lime-street Station yesterday afternoon, and they open, as already stated, at the Shakespeare Theatre this evening.
