17 JANUARY 1920, Page 3

Mr. Martin Harvey is producing Hamlet at Covent Garden. Though

it is obviously a mistake to attempt to give a performance of a metaphysical play in so vast a theatre, Mr. Martin Harvey's production is by no means without Interest. Mr. Robert Gordon-Craig's name in the cast gives the clue to the most successful modern turn which Mr. Martin Harvey has given to his stage decor. Three sets of great curtains—one set blue, one set purple, and one set in tones of gold—are variously arranged for the indoor scenes, while the " graveyard " and the " platform " are two extremely successful formal outdoor scenes. The "starry firmament" against whose background the ghost speaks to Hamlet is most impressive. Unfortunately the range of the acting lay between the inoffensive and the intolerable.