James E. Murdoch set many precedents during his time performing Hamlet. He broke away from the somber Hamlet that had been performed in the past, deciding not to wear dark clothing. Instead he chose to focus on Hamlet's "antic-disposition" (Murdoch 24). Those who saw him perform stated that he was "a graceful and dignified Prince" citing his calculated and distinguished diction aiding him in this effect (Brown 92).
Murdoch portrays Hamlet in a way that reminds the audience that these events are happening to royalty and strife between the political figures becomes apparent. Murdoch played the Prince as something we sometimes forget that he is among all the madness that occurs within the play, a Prince and heir to the throne.
Hamlet, James E. Murdoch (1845)
James E. Murdoch as Hamlet circa 1845.
Reviews
“The pervading quality of the performance was grace and propriety of conception and delivery: relieved by electric flashes on passages of a more elevated character. All our contemporaries concur in acknowledgement of his manly bearing, the beauty of his voice, and his admireable reading...A performance freer from rant , more entirely with good discretion throughout was never presented."
Spirit of the Times, New York, Oct. 25, 1845. Quaoted in Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, V, 169. (Wilson 11).
"No longer able to look the Prince of Denmark, he yet contrived to convey his bearing much grace and courtliness, and his reading was a delight. In watching his Hamlet from the wings, I found myself shutting my eyes... leaving my ear to drink in the clarity and music of his elocution."
Skinner, op. crit. 121. (Wilson 11).