Shakespeare and William Poel

On May 2, 1881, Othello was magnificently revived in London. Irving had invited Edwin Booth, who was playing with a weak company elsewhere, to visit him at the Lyceum, and the two great actors alternated in the parts of Iago and the Moor; with Ellen Terry as Desdemona. One hears of the “tumultuous applause” which they received, of the hard-shoving throng at the pit door, the many artists and authors who were present, the factions of “Boothites,” “Irvingites,” and “Terryites.” It was a production which could be cited with pride as evidence “that this nineteenth century of ours ... is not wholly unworthy to enjoy the heritage of Shakespeare”.