SOURCE: "Foreign Visitors and the New Realism," in Shakespeare on the American Stage,: From Booth and Barrett to Sothern and Marlowe, Vol. 2, Associated University Presses, 1987, pp. 142-209.

Irving's Twelfth Night was unfortunately short-lived. At the end of the first London performance (July 8, 1884), the unbelievable happened: when Irving stepped forward to deliver his customary opening night address to the audience, he was interrupted by a scattering of boos and hisses. Startled and angered, he treated the audience to a scolding, which of course helped not at all. Some of the critics, attempting to account for the audience's displeasure, blamed Irving's Malvolio as "too tragical." Irving himself, speaking to friends, blamed the "failure" on the lack of great comedians to play Sir Toby and his circle—indeed, he replaced half a dozen of the company before bringing Twelfth Night to America. Secretly, though, he seems to have doubted his own...