because I am convinced that at the first he denounced his part as
a rotten one; thought the ghost's speech ridiculously long; and
wanted to play the king. Anyhow, whether he had the wit to utter
it or not, the boast would have been a valid one. The best
conclusion is that every actor should say, "If I create the hero
in myself, God will send an author to write his part." For in the
long run the actors will get the authors, and the authors the
actors, they deserve.

Great Catherine was performed for the first time at the
Vaudeville Theatre in London on the 18th November 1913,
with Gertrude Kingston as Catherine, Miriam Lewes as
Yarinka, Dorothy Massingham as Claire, Norman McKinnell as
Patiomkin, Edmond Breon as Edstaston, Annie Hill as the
Princess Dashkoff, and Eugene Mayeur and F. Cooke Beresford
as Naryshkin and the Sergeant.




GREAT CATHERINE

THE FIRST SCENE

1776. Patiomkin in his bureau in the Winter Palace, St.
Petersburgh. Huge palatial apartment: style, Russia in the
eighteenth century imitating the Versailles du Roi Soleil.
Extravagant luxury. Also dirt and disorder.

Patiomkin, gigantic in stature and build, his face marred by the