Editing Macbeth (section)

===Nineteenth century===
{{quote box|width=23em|Everyone seems to think Mrs McB is a ''Monstrousness'' & ''I'' can only see she's a ''woman''&nbsp;– a mistaken woman&nbsp;– & ''weak''&nbsp;– not a Dove&nbsp;– of course not&nbsp;– ''but first of all a wife.''|—[[Ellen Terry]]{{sfn|Gay|2002|p=167}}}}

Performances outside the patent theatres were instrumental in bringing the monopoly to an end. [[Robert William Elliston|Robert Elliston]], for example, produced a popular adaptation of ''Macbeth'' in 1809 at the [[Surrey Theatre|Royal Circus]] described in its publicity as "this matchless piece of pantomimic and choral performance", which circumvented the illegality of speaking Shakespeare's words through mimed action, singing, and doggerel verse written by J. C. Cross.{{sfn|Holland|2007|pp=38–39}}{{sfn|Moody|2002|pp=38–39}}

[[File:Charles Kean as Macbeth 1858.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ellen Kean]] and [[Charles Kean]] as the Macbeths, in historically accurate costumes, for an 1858 production]]
[[File:Charles Macready as Macbeth.jpg|thumb|left|A print of [[William Charles Macready]] playing Macbeth, from a mid-19th century performance]]

In 1809, in an unsuccessful attempt to take [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] upmarket, [[John Philip Kemble|Kemble]] installed private boxes, increasing admission prices to pay for the improvements. The inaugural run at the newly renovated theatre was ''Macbeth'', which was disrupted for over two months with cries of "Old prices!" and "No private boxes!" until Kemble capitulated to the protestors' demands.{{sfn|Lanier|2002|p=37}}

[[Edmund Kean]] at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] gave a psychological portrayal of the central character, with a common touch, but was ultimately unsuccessful in the role. However he did pave the way for the most acclaimed performance of the nineteenth century, that of William Charles Macready. Macready played the role over a 30-year period, firstly at Covent Garden in 1820 and finally in his retirement performance. Although his playing evolved over the years, it was noted throughout for the tension between the idealistic aspects and the weaker, venal aspects of Macbeth's character. His staging was full of spectacle, including several elaborate royal processions.{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=126–127}}

In 1843 the [[Theatres Act 1843|Theatres Regulation Act]] finally brought the patent companies' monopoly to an end.{{sfn|Moody|2002|p=38}} From that time until the end of the [[Victorian era]], London theatre was dominated by the [[actor-manager]]s, and the style of presentation was "pictorial"&nbsp;– [[proscenium]] stages filled with spectacular stage-pictures, often featuring complex scenery, large casts in elaborate costumes, and frequent use of [[Tableau vivant|tableaux vivant]].{{sfn|Schoch|2002|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=128}} [[Charles Kean]] (son of Edmund), at London's [[Princess's Theatre, London|Princess's Theatre]] from 1850 to 1859, took an antiquarian view of Shakespeare performance, setting his ''Macbeth'' in a historically accurate eleventh-century Scotland.{{sfn|Schoch|2002|pp=61–62}} His leading lady, [[Ellen Kean|Ellen Tree]], created a sense of the character's inner life: ''[[The Times]]''{{'}} critic saying "The countenance which she assumed ... when luring on Macbeth in his course of crime, was actually appalling in intensity, as if it denoted a hunger after guilt."{{sfn|Gay|2002|pp=163–164}} At the same time, special effects were becoming popular: for example in [[Samuel Phelps]]' ''Macbeth'' the witches performed behind green [[gauze]], enabling them to appear and disappear using stage lighting.{{sfn|Schoch|2002|p=64}}

In 1849, rival performances of the play sparked the [[Astor Place riot]] in [[Manhattan]]. The popular American actor [[Edwin Forrest]], whose Macbeth was said to be like "the ferocious chief of a barbarous tribe"{{sfn|Morrison|2002|p=237}} played the central role at the Broadway Theatre to popular acclaim, while the "cerebral and patrician"{{sfn|Lanier|2002|p=37}} English actor [[William Macready|Macready]], playing the same role at the [[Astor Opera House|Astor Place Opera House]], suffered constant heckling. The existing enmity between the two men (Forrest had openly hissed Macready at a recent performance of ''[[Hamlet]]'' in Britain) was taken up by Forrest's supporters&nbsp;– formed from the working class and lower middle class and anti-British agitators, keen to attack the upper-class pro-British patrons of the Opera House and the colonially-minded Macready. Nevertheless, Macready performed the role again three days later to a packed house while an angry mob gathered outside. The militia tasked with controlling the situation fired into the mob. In total, 31 rioters were killed and over 100 injured.{{sfn|Lanier|2002|p=37}}{{sfn|Booth|2001|pp=311–312}}{{sfn|Holland|2002|p=202}}{{sfn|Morrison|2002|p=238}}<!-- Note that these sources are in disagreement about the number of casualties: Lanier says 21. --><!-- And, yes, you do need all four of these sources to get every point made in this paragraph! -->

[[Charlotte Cushman]] is unique among nineteenth century interpreters of Shakespeare in achieving stardom in roles of both genders. Her New York debut was as Lady Macbeth in 1836, and she would later be admired in London in the same role in the mid-1840s.{{sfn|Morrison|2002|p=239}}{{sfn|Gay|2002|p=162}} [[Helena Faucit|Helen Faucit]] was considered the embodiment of early-Victorian notions of femininity. But for this reason she largely failed when she eventually played Lady Macbeth in 1864: her serious attempt to embody the coarser aspects of Lady Macbeth's character jarred harshly with her public image.{{sfn|Gay|2002|pp=161–162}} [[Adelaide Ristori]], the great Italian actress, brought her Lady Macbeth to London in 1863 in Italian, and again in 1873 in an English translation cut in such a way as to be, in effect, Lady Macbeth's tragedy.{{sfn|Gay|2002|p=164}}

[[File:Ellen Terry plays Lady Macbeth.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of [[Ellen Terry]] as Lady Macbeth, an 1888 production]]

[[Henry Irving]] was the most successful of the late-Victorian [[actor-manager]]s, but his ''Macbeth'' failed to curry favour with audiences. His desire for psychological credibility reduced certain aspects of the role: He described Macbeth as a brave soldier but a moral coward, and played him untroubled by conscience&nbsp;– clearly already contemplating the murder of Duncan before his encounter with the witches.{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=129}}{{efn|Similar criticisms were made of {{ill|Friedrich Mitterwurzer|de}} in Germany, whose performances of ''Macbeth'' had many unintentional parallels with Irving's.{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=129–130}}}} Irving's leading lady was [[Ellen Terry]], but her Lady Macbeth was unsuccessful with the public, for whom a century of performances influenced by Sarah Siddons had created expectations at odds with Terry's conception of the role.{{sfn|Gay|2002|pp=166–167}}{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=130}}

Late nineteenth-century European Macbeths aimed for heroic stature, but at the expense of subtlety: [[Tommaso Salvini]] in Italy and Adalbert Matkowsky in Germany were said to inspire awe, but elicited little pity.{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=130}}