Mass Appeal.

William Shakespeare, predicted one critic in 1882, "is destined to become the Shakespeare of the college and university, and even more the Shakespeare of private and select culture. Nor will he ever be perfectly himself and perfectly at home anywhere else." Throughout much of the nineteenth century Shakespeare had belonged to every man, woman, and child—regardless of social class. Some theater companies presented "traditional" interpretations of the bard; others adapted his work to comic, even bawdy purposes. Richard III might be performed as Bad Dicky, Romeo and Juliet as Roamy-E-Owe and Julie-Ate. By the 1880s "high" and "low" drama began to diverge. "Why, I've played an act from Hamlet, one from Black-Eyed Susan, and sung 'A Yankee Ship and a Yankee Crew' and danced a hornpipe . . . all in one night. Is there any one you know of today who can do that...