Existing comment:
The Gilded Age of Stage and Screen
By the end of the 19th century, American theater had adopted new technologies – electric lighting and sophisticated stagecraft – to create opulent productions. At the same time, another new technology - silent film - was in its infancy. Both drew heavily on Shakespeare.
Theaters such as those of Augustin Daly in New York appealed to the public with elaborate sets and costumes, and star actors, such as Ada Rehan. Beginning in 1904, Julia Marlowe and E.H. Sothern, a leading stage couple, performed Shakespeare across the country. By this time, photography was used more widely to record theatrical performances.
At the same time, the film industry was just developing. During the silent film period between 1899 and 1927, close to 300 films were made based on Shakespeare. Film appealed to an even wider audience than theater because it was cheap and easily accessible in the new nickelodeon cinemas that charged 5 cents admission. Unfortunately, many of these films are now lost, but surviving footage includes Taming of the Shrew (1908), King Lear (1916), and Richard III (1912), "the first feature-length film based on" a Shakespearean play. |