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    No. 409, January 2g L 18gg,J_ THE L. EAD...

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    MR. LEIGH HUNT'S NEW PLAY. All who have ...

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    THE DRAMA IN PARIS. " On Wednesday " wri...

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    V- The Festival Performances At Her Maje...

    Through organs which never pretend to origmal information on dramatic E The real truth is simply this , that Mr . Ivban , looking at his former Son with the Court , and the position he has long held with the Sic , declined to submit to the management of any person-declined in Ect in" common parlance , to * play second fiddle * — unless at the express wish of the ' Court This was a stipulation that Mr . Mitchell , the entrepreneur could not avail himself of , the fact being , not as was originally supposed , that Mr . Mitchell was a Master of the Hevels engaged by the Court to gather together the most eminent professional artistes for the amusement oi its foreign quests but simply a bold speculator who had had the luck to induce a certain number of Royal personages and Serene Highnesses to come and be gazed at by a high-price-paving mob , and who wished to provide for them , m their turn , some little amusement , in the shape of a well-acted play After Mr . ^ rt refusal Mr . Phelps was next applied to , and the tragedy of Macbeth , which was selected for the first representation on Tuesday night , was performed with the 01

    entirely by members of the Sadleks Wells company , exception the characters of Lady Macbeth vix & Macduff , which were respectively sustained by Miss Helen Faucit and Mr . Howe . The house , which was very prettily decorated was filled , hut not to excess , and the audience , apparently Irozen by the presence of Royalty , were apathetic and undemonstrative . The five long acts Were gone through solemnly and drearily m a silence broken only by the reception given to the two principal artists , and by tew and far between rounds of applause . Tlie Royal -visitors , arriving at the most inopportune moment , during Mr . Phblps ' s delivery of the Dagger soliloquy , were greeted with enthusiastic curiosity at its termination , settled themselves mto their places , and bore themselves with a patient resignation which should have been instructive to the many headed . At the conclusion of the play the National Anthem was sung ; and with the appearance of the Keeleys in ' Twice Killed commenced the only enjoyable portion of the evening .

    A very different scene was at the same time taking place at the Piuncess s , where a most numerous and brilliant audience had assembled , determined to show Mr Kean that his spirited conduct throughout this ailair had been properly appreciated , aud to countenance him by their presence and support . The stalls , dress circle , and private boxes were filled with well-known faces , Guardsmen , litterateurs , ' swells , ' and all those whom the regular playgoer meets with on the first night of a new piece and on all important theatrical occasions . At the conclusion of Hamlet , Mr . Kean was twice summoned before the curtain , and on the second occasion he delivered the following most felicitous and diplomatic address : —

    " Ladies and Gentlemen , it is not my custom ever to address an audience except on the concluding night of a season ; but I fear that on the present occasion , were I not to respond to so remarkable an ebullition of public feeling as that which you have exhibited towards me this evening , my silence might be wrongly interpreted . 1 am deeply sensible of your kindness , and beg you to accept my heartfelt thanks . It would be affectation in me to pretend not to understand the motives whjch have influenced this particular excitement , and it is another instance , in addition to the many I have already received , that when a public man acts in a conscientious and upright manner the public will always afford him their sympathy and support . Throughout my life I have coveted the verdict of public opinion , professionally and socially , and this evening impresses on me a most gratifying conviction that my wishes are realized . " The author of The Poor Strollers , the new drama at the Adelvhi , has shown himself an adept in the art of literary tailoring . Mr . Webster s part hts him like a coat , and the entire piece , with its copied characters , borrowed -effects , and forcibly feeble dialogue , smacks strongly of ' cabbage . lhe suc-*¦ + K- *™ A > nitr . n a « rl \ t was miftnuivocallv successtul—iurtner proves

    , , what we have long suspected , that the A Delphi audiences are as a whole , utterly incapable of judgment or appreciation ; they have themselves fixed a standard of excellence , and imagine that whatever is oflercd to them in their favourite temple must be good . Mr . Websteu ' s performance was , ol course , -careful and artistic , so was Mr . Selby ' s , so would have been Mr . Wright s liad he but reilected that he is not supposed to see any audience before him , and that therefore his winks , gag , ' grimaces had better be suppressed . JL .

    No. 409, January 2g L 18gg,J_ The L. Ead...

    No . 409 , January 2 g 18 gg , J _ THE L . EADEB , 91

    Mr. Leigh Hunt's New Play. All Who Have ...

    MR . LEIGH HUNT'S NEW PLAY . All who have observed , during the last few weeks , that a new play by Mr . Leigh Hunt has been announced at the bottom of the Lyceum playbills for speedy production , have known that , whenever the first night arrived , they would be gratified by seeing what is now but , seldom seen on our stage—an original play written by a genuine English author , and combining the gaiety of immortal youth with the kindly knowledge and meditation of more than half u century of service in all that can delight and ennoble humanity . They knew that wit and fancy , that humour aud poetry , would go together in a union of love ; and that tho sparkle of animal spirits which would brighten the whole would sointillate from the surface of underlying depths of thought and feeling . Many of them remembered tho production of tho Legend of Florence at Covent Garden in 1810 ; and took it for a happy augury that the success then achieved was just about the time of the Queen ' s marriage , while this , the second of tho poet ' s acted dramas , is produoud in tho sunshine of the nuptials of tho Queen ' s eldest daughter . If we cannot entirely get rid of superstition from our imperfect human clay , let us be glud that it sometimes assumes a —^ enialvas ~ woll . a 8-a , aullqiji . a 8 , UGfitji _ , , Wednesday night , then , was a groat nighTIat tho LycetjM , find -Hovers Amazements , or How will it End ? waa fairly started for a prosperous rim . Tho atory may bo brioily told . Tho Chevalier de Torsey , a soldier ol tho i arliamentary forces during tho ware of tho Fronde , is captured by Cnptam De la Mousse , of tho army of tho Fronde ; but , as ho is about to visit his mistress < tho Countess do MonteUns ) , De la Mousse allows him to depart , on his giving his word Ilmt he will return with his ransom , and in company with the lady , whom tho oaptain , in his airy gallantly , would fain sco . Ho duos sec hor , and

    finds that she is one of his former sweethearts , whom he had flirted with for a time , and soon forgotten . He gives De Torsey a packet of her letters to him . The lover fights with and wounds De la Mousse for his sarcastic bearing towards the lady , and resolves to break off with the lady herself on account of her first love—a sin in his estimation which is aggravated by her having given him a false impression on the subject . A friend of the Countess—one Louise de la Motte , a sister of charity—afterwards hands to the Countess another packet of letters , which in fact are none other than certain love letters addressed to herself in former years by De Torsey ; and these enable the lady to return the bitter reproofs of her estranged admirer with tenfold force , on the ground that he has arrogated to his own . sex a right which he passionately denies to hers . They part ; and the interest of the audience is now awakened on behalf of De la Mousse , who is attended , during the sickness consequent on his wound , by Louise . She is veiled , and therefore he does not detect in her an old flame of his who , like many another , has long ceased to be thou ght of . But , after a little charming coquetry on her part , pleasantly dashed with made sincere

    raillery she unveils ; and the ioppish soldier , thougntlul ana by suffering , feels for the first time a genuine passion . He learns from . Louise that Be Torsey and the Countess have quarrelled ; and he resolves , by means of ' some glorious , lovely lie , ' to bring them together again . This is effected ; and the piece concludes with the happy reuniting of the two pairs of lovers . ...... „ ,. , . ,, ,, Sucli is the outline of the story , and exquisitely is it filled up in the three acts of which the drama consists . The four characters are amply sufficient to sustain the interest at its full height throughout ; and the imbroglio is just complex enough to pique the spectators * curiosity , without , as in the plays of French origin , being so ingeniously overwrought as to fatigue the audience in the endeavour to follow it . The story moves on with a quick , elastic step , passing easily from situation to situation , and developing the characters of the lovers ° as they might be developed in real life , by the gradual influence of the

    events . The old , gay , ruffling , fighting , love-making days oi the true Chevaliers are brought back with the hand of a master , and of one who has a peculiar o-enius for apprehending the airy and volatile spirit of those vanished times . The sunshine of the south lies basking over the whole production , as over the broad plains where the grape ripens for the vintage of the bright and buoyant champagne . The very pathos is touched with golden glories of . poetry , as tearful eyes with light . The beautiful dialo" -ue between the two ladies on the divine unspoken language of music is one of the many exquisite bits of deep yet delicate feeling which are scattered through the drama , and which heighten while they relieve the rollicking Yetfrom remembrance of

    animal spirits of De la Mousse . , our Lovers Amazements as it was published some years ago in a periodical work , we are inclined to ask whether more of these tender aud thoughtful passages have not been omitted iu the representation . We feel sure that such is the case ; and we cannot but regret it , as the intention of the play is somewhat marred by the excisions . Notwithstanding the brilliant levity oi De la Mousse , Mr . Hunt has evidently written this play with a deep and humane purpose . As in the Legend of Florence , he seeks to bring about a more equal , just , and generous treatment of women by the rougher half of humanity . This is a feelin" - which at length—thank Heaven !—is being recognized by society , as we see by the legislation now just coming into force ; and no one has

    worked to that end longer or more constantly than Leigh Hunt . Mr . Dillon , who acted the part of De la Mousse , was seen to more advantage than in tragic parts . If he missed the delicate shades and subtleties of the character , he played with force , gaiety , and animal spirits . Mr . Shore creditably sustained the difficult part of De Torsey . Mrs . Dillon was painstaking as Louise de la Motle ; and Mrs . Mellon ( Miss Woolgab ) played the haughty yet forgiving Countess with point and pathos . We would suggest , however , to the last-named lady , that she is sometimes not sufficiently clear in her articulation . ,,, ,, •• ,. ¦* j On the fall of the curtain , the author was loudly called for , and appeared , led on by Mr . Dillon . It was a touchingly beautiful sight to behold the hero of a hundred fights for liberty and humanity when the century was but yOUn < r the friend of Shelley and Keats—the adorner of familiar things with glorious associations—the poet , essayist , wit , and politician—receiving tho Heartfelt acknowledgments of men , several of whom were not born till he was middle-aged , but who are all tho freer for his ^ t ' earless pen , and tUc richer for the inheritance of his genius . ll

    The Drama In Paris. " On Wednesday " Wri...

    THE DRAMA IN PARIS . " On Wednesday " writes a correspondent in Paris , " I was present at a general rehearsal of a new piece in three acts by Soiube , entitled Feu Lionel , at the TntiA'rnig lfnANCAis . Tho moat important character rs confided to Kegniep , who plavs a lawyer ' s clerk with a flnisu and entrain not to bo surpassed . Tho whole cast is excellent ; Dhxaunay , Monuobe , Got , Mademoiselle Dubois , Mademoiselle Bkokan . A female speculator mukes a most original churacter . There are some situations in the piece of a very novel and amusing design , and of wit , arising out of tho * e situations , more than the usual proportion . Tho piece is to be produced on Saturday ( to-day ) . AiKXAMDnis Dumas tho Younger ' s now pluy , Le Fih Nature ! , has achieved aii immense success at the Gymnabe . "Nevertheless , " says an accomplished critic , M . i >» Bki ^ loy , " moving , curious , real , excellent aa it la , it lias no more relation to tho dramatic art of Shaksphauhi and AloMifcun tluin photography , or mechanics ; and If this is the sort of dramatic art which the present and iho coming generations aro destined to enjoy , jo me console audment de n Otre j > tus J 6 U ae ' rmain « , a drama , taken from Ewhoud About ' s remarkable story , is shortly -to ,-bo , ~ praiVuqGa ajt thoGAMi nndwo hear with pleasure that tho brilliant uuXr o ° ? X iH'X boar tho curious and suggestive title of / S / mjuuse . By . the way , MM II a nitxftRn and Capienro ' s Fawsoa Bonnes Fommea , written us a sort ot peiula it to tho Faux Bonhommeo , has been a positive failure at tho Vaudkvii . li , a" »«>» 8 j » it etill holds its place in tho bills . The most eminent J » ri 8 i ,. n f ^ ™"" . , nou ly condemn it tor the laboured and w redrawn cynic bin oi tho writ ng , and the defective artifice of the plot , an . d tho audience * by . their »*« JJ « ' « # appear to resent the attompt to muko a second coup out ol the first palpable hit .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 23, 1858, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23011858/page/19/