"In the first quarter of the 20th century, Pounds appeared regularly in London in a range of roles ranging from Shakespeare to variety.He established himself as a popular Shakespearean character actor with Tree's company, as the clown Feste in "Twelfth Night" (1901), the preposterous Sir Hugh Evans in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", and Touchstone in "As You Like It" (1907), of which "The Times" said he "acts even better than he sings, which is, of course, saying a good deal."