3-003-930 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Scene from "Othello" at the Princess' Theatre: the town and harbour of Cyprus, 1861. London stage production: Charles Fechter 'blacked up' as Othello. The scene, '...Cyprus under...a gradually abating storm...places the spectator, as it were, on a platform before the town, looking upon the harbour. Never were Mr. Telbin's skill and taste more beautifully shown than in this well-disposed pictorial set. [The set design includes]...a large arcade at the back of the scene, a gate on the right, and a capstan at the left comer, surrounded with bales of merchandise. These adjuncts enable the actors to shift from place to place, from the level to the platform, and from a sitting to an erect position, according to the proprieties of the action...lago sometimes in front, sometimes on the platform, sometimes on the capstan, conversing familiarly with Desdemona and Emilia...every change produces a different picture...Such adjuncts as these make the scene a pictorial composition. Such scenes, too, have another advantage-they are moving pictures...the English public owe a debt of thankfulness to M. Fechter for the care and attention which he has displayed in the practical application of the speculative improvements in the acting of Shakspearean drama.... From "Illustrated London News", 1861.