3 Review(s)

Never before collected, these forty-six reviews & articles by Richard Holt Hutton provide a fresh perspective on theatre by one of the most perceptive critics of the Victorian age. Originally published anonymously in the pages of the "Spectator", Hutton's criticisms of Fechter, Helen Faucit, Kate & Ellen Terry, E.A. Sothern, Henry Irving, & many others, deserve to be more widely known. His close familiarity with Shakespeare since childhood gave him a particular advantage in discussing performances of "Hamlet", "Othello", "As You Like It" & "The Merchant of Venice", & his high standards for plot & acting made him particularly demanding of melodrama. As literary editor of the "Spectator" he brought to bear on the plays of his time artistic criteria designed to substantially raise the quality of drama for the stage. As the "Times Literary Supplement" concluded in another connection, Hutton's reviews offer 'a valuable new point of vantage from within the busy centre' of the Victorian critic's world. The book includes an introduction which sketches Hutton's life, outlines his principles of drama, & discusses the evidence for attribution.At the end of the volume the reader will find a full set of notes.