claudius – Shakespeare and the Players at Emory University Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:07:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 124205043 Claudius and Gertrude /claudius-and-gertrude/ Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:07:10 +0000 http://scholarblogs.emory.edu/shakespeare/?p=1763 Read more]]> Claudius and Gertrude are characters in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Laertes is also shown in these images.

Lilian Booth as Queen Gertrude in "Hamlet" E. Lyall Swete as Polonius, H. B. Irving as Hamlet, Oscar Asche as Claudius, and Maude Milton Gertrude in "Hamlet" Lily Brayton as Ophelia, Oscar Asche as Claudius, and Maud Milton as Gertrude in "Hamlet" Walter Hampden as Laertes, Oscar Asche as Claudius, Maud Milton as Gertrude, and H.B. Irving as Hamlet in "Hamlet" Oscar Asche as Claudius, Maud Milton as Gertrude, and H. B. Irving as Hamlet in "Hamlet" ]]>
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Oscar Asche /oscar-asche/ Fri, 31 Jul 2015 18:12:02 +0000 http://scholarblogs.emory.edu/shakespeare/?p=1651 Read more]]> (1871-1936)

John Oscar Asche was born in Australia and first appeared on stage in 1893; his resonant voice and his dignified, formal bearing are often mentioned in the reviews of his performances. For eight years he was a member of Sir Frank Benson’s company with whom he played at the summer Stratford festivals. He then he joined the company of Sir Beerbohm Tree in 1902. After leaving Tree’s company he began to manage his own theatre group, eventually touring Australia and South Africa. He published his autobiography, Oscar Asche: His Life, in 1929 and died in 1936. He was married to Lily Brayton, with whom he often played Shakespeare’s plays in repertory.

Asche and Brayton inscribed their names in the record book in 1916. Oscar Asche wrote a play entitled Chu-Chin-Chow in which he played the lead, Abu Hasan. The play broke all records when it ran for 2,238 performances. Brayton took the part of Zahrat-al-Kulub and performed it almost two thousand times during the run. Asche almost became a wealthy man because of this single play. I say “almost,” for he tells us in his autobiography that “I must have drawn well over £200,000 in royalties from Chu. And everyone who was connected with Chu made a fortune. Some kept it. I didn’t” (163).

Between 1932 and 1936 Asche appeared in seven films. His best-known part is probably his performance in Scrooge (1935) as “Christmas Present.” The film, with Seymour Hicks as Scrooge, was directed by Henry Edwards.

E. Lyall Swete as Polonius, H. B. Irving as Hamlet, Oscar Asche as Claudius, and Maude Milton Gertrude in "Hamlet" Lily Brayton as Katharina and Oscar Asche as Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew" Lily Brayton as Mistress Ford, Oscar Asche as Falstaff, and Constance Robertson as Mistress Page in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" Oscar Asche as Christopher Sly in "the Taming of the Shrew" Walter Hampden as Laertes, Oscar Asche as Claudius, Maud Milton as Gertrude, and H.B. Irving as Hamlet in "Hamlet" Lily Brayton as The Queen, Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Richard II, William Haviland as the Duke of Norfolk, and Oscar Asche as Henry Bolingbroke in "Richard II" Oscar Asche as Petruchio in "the Taming of the Shrew" Oscar Asche as Claudius, Maud Milton as Gertrude, and H. B. Irving as Hamlet in "Hamlet" Oscar Asche as Bolingbroke in "Richard II" Oscar Asche as Bolingbroke in "Richard II" Oscar Asche as Petruchio in "the Taming of the Shrew" Mr. Oscar Asche Lily Brayton as Ophelia, Oscar Asche as Claudius, and Maud Milton as Gertrude in "Hamlet" Bessie Major as Mistress Quickly and Oscar Asche as Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" ]]>
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