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    No.-448, OcioBEB 23, 1858. j 1P. P_L B -...

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    Theatres And Public Enter' Tainments. Pr...

    the following sound critical remarks , with which ^ we have the more pleasure in . enriching bur pages , that the conception of the principal characters they indicate is entirely carried out by the members of the company to whom those parts have been committed : : ., ¦ Shakspeare , with the inspiration of genius , has converted the histories of several of our English kings into a series of grand dramatic poems , thereby impressing the imagination with living pictures of the royal race who , in ' eavlier days , swayed the sceptre and ruled tUe destinies of this island . x With a single exception , the canvas reflects portraus of the Plantagenet line , commencing with the crafty and remorseless John , and ending almost on the threshold of the author ' s own period , with the voluptuous and haughty TudorHenry VIII .

    , The political motives and public events of the times depicted are chiefly supplied from the C hronicles of Holinshed ; but while Shakspeare has drawn amply from these , his favourite pages , as authority for his living record of the crimes and errors , the weaknesses and misfortunes of princes , it is to his own consummate knowledge of human nature that we are indebted for the thoughts which find utterance in the person of each individual character . Shakspeare has set history to the strains of poetic music . The wonderful creation of the sorrow-stricken Lady Constance would appear but as a faint shadow through the vista of time , had not her name been immortalised by England ' s greatest bard in the eloquent language of grief .

    ' A lone woman stands in the midst of chivalry , encircled by the din of battle , the emblem of despair and ruined majesty . Her bursts of agony as she cries aloud for " her hoy , " her joy , her life , her widow ' s comfort , and her sorrow ' s cure , " combine the most soul-thrilling picture of maternal suffering ever adorned and enhanced by poetic imagery . The youthful Arthur is painted ' tender and innocent child-r— not as the leader of an army , and the affianced husband of a princess—that he may twine more closely round the heart , and win both sympathvand love . He is the centre from which every irit of retributive

    scene radiates ; and in the sp justice , the misfortunes of England appear as the consequent result of the wrongs inflicted by its unscrupulous monarch on his helpless nephew . The injured and unhappy boy becomes the source of every current of action throughout the play ; and the lineaments of his faithless uncle are rendered palpable to the eye in air the hideousness of guilt . The character of John is presented with strict fidelity throughout , and is especially displayed when he pours forth his wicked design into the ear of Hubert , and afterwards when he upbraids his chosen tool for supposed obedience to his commands .

    The play was cast as follows : — King John Mr . Charles Kean . Prince Henry Miss Chapman . Arthur Miss Ellen Terry . Hubert de Burgh Mr . Ityder . PitHip Faulconbridge Mr ; Walter Lacy . Cardinal Pandulph ... Mr . Graham . Elinor Mrs . Winstanley . Constance Mrs . Charles Kean . Blanch Miss Kate Terry . It would obviously bo next to impossibility for the above company to produce anything short of an extremely satisfactory ensemble , but we are bound not to rest here . We can hardly recal a previous

    occasion on which we have received any very deep impression of Mrs . Charles Koan ' s gonius , but on Monday this lady reflected into us , in the part of the widowed mother , so many and various shades of character , that it was useless to resist participation in her noblo enthusiasm . The poet ' s conception of insulted pride , of the fondest maternal love , the most abject misery , and the deepest scorn , were iu turn by her , now wildly , now delicately , yet withal so truthfully , illustrated , that a numerous audience were literally enchained by the actress . In the first scone ot Act III . Constance does but bewail her fallen fortunes ; the full seasou for the ferocity of maternal love has not arrived , and , appreciating this , Mrs . Kuan docs

    not , as somo would expect , dovclop her whole dramatic force . In tho defiant address to-Limoges and Austria , which begins , ?' War ! war ! no peace ! peace is to mo a war !" and ends , " Thou wear a lion ' s hide ! doff it for shamo , And hang a calf ' 8-skin on those rocroant limbs , " she was superbly intense . But her great effort and her great success with a most appreciative audience she reserves for tho fourth scene of Act HI ., whon she

    rends her liuir for the losaof her child , unO , on tho verge of madness , invokes its fulnoss for oblivion ' s sake . Tho character of John is no instance of Shakspoaro ' a power . Although tho dramatist has by no moans intendod tho King for n nonentity , his main characteristic , erufty but pusillanimous villuny , pnlo besido tho grandly illuminated figure of Constance , the charming ingenuousness of Arthur ^ tho bluff and ovor-populnr Bastard Fanlconbrklgo , and the gentle j / u oert . In his well-judged acceptance of the comparative ehado imposed upon him by his author , Mr . Koan does well . But though a greater amount of

    prominence than he assumes for the part of the King would painfully dislocate tlio arrangement of the interest , the actor loses no ground that he is called upon to occupy . In his insidious exposition of his plot to Hubert he - displays much refinement and shading , and more } if possible ; in the cunning scheme for disavowing the murder of Arthur . A \ hen he says to Hubert :- — ¦ ¦ " Why seek ' st thou to possess me with these fears ? Whv urgest tliou so oft young Arthur ' s death ? Thyhand hath murdered him : I had a mighty cause To wish him dead , but thou hadst none to kill him . " Noticing , en passant , the King ' s death , as a finely old

    conceived and successful improvement upon the scenic traditions , wo must conclude by warm acknowledgment of the merits of Mr . Walter Lacy , Mr . Kyder , and Miss Ellen Terry , in their several parts . Mr . Lacy , qualified by his commanding figure for the personation of Philip Faulconbrige , throws himself so well into the bluff humour cind self-assertion of that English-like character as to leave little to be desired , and is entitled to all praise . The calm , grim , gentle Hubert is in Mr . Ryder ' s hands at once touching and imposing , and the Arthur of Miss Ellen . Terry , a very young lady , who won warm applause from the audience , demands , we think , special notice , as an example of rare and real 3 ; outhful talent , and , let us add , successful

    training . HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE . —There is no present probability that tlu 3 theatre will be opened this winter for operatic or dramatic performances . It is stated , upon the usual authority , that a very large " sum of money is demanded by the outgoing tenant , we presume for improvements ; and we were quite right in our recent observations that the speculative market looks altogether with a coLl eye upon any proposition connected with the ill-starred establishment .

    PYNE AND HARRISON OPERA COMPANY . —We are glad to announce that arrangements have been concluded between the proprietor of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden and Mr . William Harrison , for a three months ' -occupation of that theatre by the latter gentleman . Mr . Balfe ' s new opera is nearly if not quite completed , and is spoken of by competent authorities as far exceeding most of his former works in beauties of melody and musical construction . Mr . Gye having wisely , as we understand , conceded what we should call "live and let

    live terms" to his tenant , the prices of admission , to the Royal Italian Opera House during Mr . Harrison's management will be such as to attract the * public while enabling the management to provide the same high-class entertainments as have distinguished the season at Drury Lane . A pantomime ( by whom has , we believe , not transpired ) is to be produced on boxing-night , with the renowned elasticiau Flexmore as clown ; and the lessee , with his indefatigable aides Messrs . Edward Murray and William Bro ' ugh , is already busy upon other arrangements connected

    with the enterprise . CRYSTAL PALACE . —For Monday next ( the anniversary of tho battle of Balaklnvu ) Mr . I Jo w Icy lias arranged a very grand military yt-Ze , and the last display , for the season , of the great fountains . lie promises his visitors the attractive company of the Grenadier , Coldstrciim , Foot , and Fusilier Guards ' corps , mid of all the decorated Crimean heroes , to whom he has liberally issued n gratuitous invitation . Thedclight experienced by the multitude' whoattended Mr . Diatin's military band festival will , we doubt not , have its effect in collecting a goodly-company , and in stimulating tho musical directors of tho various bands to more than ordinary exertion and enru in selection of pieces to be performed . Looking at the talent at tlieir disposal , wo fancy nothing but success can attend thu / V / e if the weather only be

    pro-Grecian Saloon is now a theatre pur sang , and as sue ! comes under our notice . Some fortnight ago , we were present at the performance there of a spirited and occasionally ' pathetic piece in four acts , dramatised by Mr . George Conquest , from Mr . Charles Reade ' s popular novel , It ' s Never too Late to Mend . The farmer heroes of the play , George and William Fielding well acted by Messrs . Langhani and Gillett , after quarrelling during prosperity , are bound together by the persecution of their -landlord , a rich villain , Meadows ( Mr . Ilenry Sinclair ) , who is the rival of George in the pursuit of Susan Merton ( Miss Jane Coveney ) . George is driven to emigration and the diggings , while the rascal follows up his suit to

    Susan . But Isaac Levi ( Mr . 1 . Mead ) , a moneylending Jew of eminently charitable feelings , has a vendetta of his own against Meadows , and aided by a sneaking lawyer ' s clerk , Peter Crawley ( Mr . George Conquest ) , counteracts his plots , and , as the good genius of the play , brings vice and virtue to their just reward . A long and harrowing episode from prison life is introduced by the ears , his nam j > lebecula gaudet , and , for the same reason , though it little adds to the beauty of the piece , we ought not much to complain of it . A long connexion with the refinements of the Lord Chamberlain ' s department may be necessary before the theatres of the banlieue may dispense with the administration of such full-flavoured

    excitements as the murder of innocent prisoners bycruel gaolers , & c . & c . The principal parts , however , we are bound to say were ably filled . The passionate , well-founded resentment of Isaac was no less admirably rendered by Mr . Mead than the cringing , crawling sycophancy of Crawley by Mr . Conquest . Mr . Lingham was hearty and manly as the hero , and his fine bearing and excellent costume told admirably in the scenes at the diggings . With a word of praise for the exertions of Miss Coveney in the slight part of Susan , we must pass on to the three-act drama of A Life ' s lievenge , or Two Loves Jbr one Heartperformed elsewhere , we believe , as Two Loves and a £ ffe—now in full swinsf at this theatre . We

    have here a higher flight , and the manager has successfully directed his attention to the elegant and appropriate . mounting of a Zouis-XiV . drama . The principal characters are the Marquis da St . Geofrey ( Mr . Henry Sinclair ) and FournicUet , Minister of Finance to LouisXIV . ( Mr . T . Mead ) . The latter , we presume , is intended to represent the gay and romantically lavish surinteudantFouquQt , \ rho , daring to rival the King in love and extravagance , and the grand-Colbert in finance , was brought to grief and the custody of the famous Cinq Mars in the castle of PigneroL The author has neatly arranged a few ideas suggested by the stirring events which agitated French society at the period , and the artists we have

    named , upon whom mainly devolves their illustration , are successful in jjiving the proper colour and action to his words . The comic element is largely supplied by Mr . John Manning , as Tiruloo , the prison barber of 1 'ignerol , of which fortress there - vengeful intrigues of Gcofrei / have made himself the governor , and his hated rival and seducer of his sister , FournichU , an inmate . We have here , again , a ferocious gaoler , and a dungeon scene of considerable power between the f ' ovs . We were quite in expectation of the great thunderstorm which shattered the veritable Fouquet ' s dungeon in Pignerol ,

    and might effectively have been introduced ; or of his death , which took place , it is more than supposed , in that fortress ; but we were not bo gratified , for his sacred Majesty Louis XiV . arrived in person , demanded the prisoner , ami made a happy man of him again by restoring him to liberty and his mistress . Wo have only room here to repeat our thorough commendation of tho mise en seine in , general at this theatre , the beautiful white and gold decorations of which , relieved by crimson paper audl white muslin drapery , would surprise many who imagine that elegance and luxury are confined to tho western theatres .

    pitious . ROYAL GRECIAN THEATRE . —A wise discretion has induced his high and mighty censorship the Lord Chamberlain to extend the glorious privilege of liconso to tho long popular Grecian S . doon ; and Mi " . 13 . O Conquest , tho " actual and responsible manager" of tho bills , and we also fancy the proprietor of tho place , has now tho sati . st ' aulion of doing with tho Lord Chamberlain ' s permission what ho did very well without it , namely , " what he likos with his own . " But in addition to his civic duties to tho law , which we think wo nro right in snying are not abrogated in favour of thoso avIio como under Court favour and jurisdiction , lie lina now certain duties in virtuo of a covenant entered Into between

    THE ADELPIII TI 1 EATUE . —Sinister rumours have for a week or two been afloat with regard to tho progress of this edifice , anil our prospects of seeing its completion . Wo have reason to think that public opinion on this head fluctuates with the number of men and curt-horses employed upon the excavations and foundations ; and we may therefore inform our readers that we yesterday observed two iron columns in position , a cart of rubbish coming dowa the stage into the Strand , and a number of earthwork era in the enclosure under the direction of ft foreman or surveyor . From these facts , which wo are prepared to vouuh for , they may draw as sound conclusions us we can about the fortunes and prospects of the Adelphi ' .

    himself and her Mnjosly ' s O . hivmberliun , certain responsibilities towards that functionary , certain fees to pay , and a certain llcousu to forl'uit . It is clear that we should run to length were we to lecture our roader upon tho policy of permitting managers of character and means to lay on tho mains of the druina for tho benefit of outlying London , whose inhabitants can no longer in justice be expected to pay tho penalty of fabulous walks or rides for tho pleasure of seeing A play . Suffice it that tho Royal

    EASTEHN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION . —A great wanlj which has been loiigfolt is now being supplied tothodonsepopuhuloiiof ' tliooiistomiuf tlijshugo metropolis , as the descriptive name of the " Eastern Polytecjmio Institution" will readily suggost to our readers . The object is to s lve-to the cast end tho advantages of an institution combining at the sumo time scientific instruction with intellectual enter

    No.-448, Ociobeb 23, 1858. J 1p. P_L B -...

    No .-448 , OcioBEB 23 , 1858 . j 1 P . P _ L -41 . _ % . ll 27

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101858/page/15/