SOURCE: "Twelfth Night at the Lyceum," in Macmillan's Magazine, Vol. L, August, 1884, pp. 271-79.

I.

Towards the close of 1601, or perhaps a little earlier, a new play named Twelfe Night Or what you will, was announced on the placards of the Blackfriars Theatre. It was by the most popular playwright of the time, and was doubtless looked forward to with interest by the playgoing world. Eccentric titles were the order of the day, and this one promised an airy comedy, after the fashion of a fantasy by the same author, which had perhaps preceded it in the spring of the year—As You Like It, to wit. For the first performance the prices were no doubt doubled, and 10/. or 12/. may have come into the treasury. It was probably repeated some few times, but it clearly created no great sensation. No contemporary author alludes to it with praise or...