THE THEATRES.
PLAYERS at the Patent Theatres were wont to style themselves "her Majesty's servants "; but the proceedings at Drury Lane on Monday, when the Queen went to hear The Syren, plainly prove that the motley audience is their master, whose behests they obey in preference if not in opposition to the wishes of their Royal Alistress. Though the Queen's visit was intended to be private, the town was advertised of it before- hand ; and the entrance of the Queen and Prince was the signal for a hubbub that disturbed the quiet and marred the enjoyment of all but the brawlers. The loyalty of the lieges in the gallery burst forth in discordant shouts of "God save the Queen 1" with an accompaniment ad libitum of catcalls, hisses, yells, and cries of " Off ! off!" that in- terrupted the performance for a quarter of an hour, and were only si- lenced by complying with the vociferous decrees of " the angry go&.." This rude indecorum, though assuming the guise of /at:04:y, forsooth, was nothing but a manifestation of mob tyranny and selfish wilfulness, that ought to have been promptly repress,,,i. the Manager might have appealed, and with effect, to the audience, against the invasion of com- mon rights in the Royal person—for, except the Queen, not an indi- vidual of the whole assembly could be dragged forth, as she was, no/ens volens, to be made an exhibition of. The idea of calling for the national anthem in the middle of an opera, reminds us of another barbarous custom that ought to be put down—the practice of encoring songs and even concerted pieces. It is really just as ridiculous as it would be to require the repetition of a soliloquy or piece of dialogue in tragedy or comedy ; only that the noisiest portion of an audience is too ignorant of the structure of operatic music to be sensible of the absurdity. If managers and per- formers would resolve to resist the demand for encores, the more en- lightened portion of the audience would support them against the false taste of the vulgar : but the vanity of vocalists and the misjudging
avidity of theatrical traders combine to encourage this violation of dramatic illusion, which is equally opposed to the principles of art and
to its true enjoyment. The second singing is always disappointing—it is inevitably an anticlimax, and often burlesques in most deliberate repetition what should pass off like lightning as the rapid burst of passion or frolic. Apropos of Royal playgoing: now that all the theatres in the Me- tropolis are under the Jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain' what is there to prevent the Queen from going to the Haymarket, the Lyceum, or-any other minor theatre where the performances may be attractive ? It is not unlikely that her Majesty might have liked to hear Mademoi- selle Neu in The Syren, bad she been free to choose. The Bohemian Girl was performed on Tuesday for the hundredth time ! Mr. BALFE conducted his lucky opera, and received the applanses of the house : a laurel wreath was flung from one of the boxes, but Mr. BALFE was not crowned therewith ; his gallantry afforded him a pretext for escaping that travestie, and he handed the wreath to Miss RAINFORTIL A new grand opera seria, by this composer, is announced to be in rehearsal at Drury Lane ; which is to outdo all former doings of the stage on this occasion. The Syren has departed from the Princess's, with her true re- presentative, Mademoiselle Neu ; and a comic opera by BALFE is announced to succeed it, with a Mademoiselle HELEN CON- DELL, from the Continent, as prima donna. Meanwhile, the Prin- cess's has the best version extant of Casar de Bazan to fall back upon • WALLACH'S dashing personation of the reckless Don, and Mrs. inannin's touching performance of the gipsy girl rendering that effective piece most exciting. This week, too, Mrs. STIRLING has ap- peared as a Widow Bewitched—and bewitching ; and a new ballet, entitled The Enchanted Bell, is worth seeing for the sake of the scenery alone. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the merits of the dancers—M. ROUSSET and his daughter Cenomna, Mr. GILBERT and Mademoiselle THERESINE, and Mr. and Miss Measnem.—there can be none as to the beauty of the scenes painted by Mr. BEVERLEY: since STANFIELD, we have seen nothing equal to them for graceful composition, masterly drawing, and vigorous painting. The "Garden of the Sultan," with its elegant kiosks and palm-groves, is a picture that only wants better lighting and a suitable foreground to be complete in itself : the distance is aerial, and it is full and harmonious in tone of colour. The "Grand Square," with its dome and minarets, is also a fine piece of painting, and the groups of figures are well relieved. Mr. BEVERLEY'S colouring has a tendency to be opaque, and he would do well to aim at the luminous brightness of STANFIELD : but better lighting would probably obviate this, the only apparent defect in his work. The light entertainments at the Lyceum have been reinforced by a lively and laughable farce called A Trip to Kissingen. KEELEY plays the hero—a newspaper scribe, who is induced to change places with a swindler and pass himself off as a foreign Count, and is apprehended on a charge of forgery ; and Mrs. KEELEY his wife—who, flying to Kissingen t.) nurse her supposed sick spouse, de- tects the faithless fool flirting with the pretended Countess. KEELEY'S acting, comical as it is, is surpassed in intensity by that of Mrs. KEELEY: she depicts the fondness and jealousy, the anger and pity of the doating woman, with ludicrous but not unnatural vehemence. Mr. and Mrs. 'WIGAN, as a pair of titled swindlers, look and speak the foreign adventurers very cleverly. The situations are telling ; the acting is capital throughout ; and the piece is well put on the stage. A divertissement follows, introducing some good dancing by Miss FAIRBROTHER and Mademoiselles ADELE and LOUISE, coryphees of the Italian Opera. The Olympic has been opened this week, for the performance of SHAKSPERE, under the management of Miss DAVENPORT, a lady who acquired provincial celebrity as an infant prodigy. The play was Romeo and Juliet; the lady manager personating Juliet in the conven- tional style of tragedy heroines ; and Mr. Hunson KIRBY, an American tragedian—who is what RICHARDSON the showman called "a bould speaker "—ranting through the part of Romeo with prodigious power of lungs. Such at least is the report of the performance ; which we did mot witness.
The New Strand has produced, in handsome style, a smart and amus- ing burlesque by Messrs. G. ATECKETT and NARK LESION, called 7 he Knight and the Sprite, or the Cold Water Cure; founded on the story of Ondine. Mrs. WALTER LACY is "the Knight," and Miss BROMLEY "the Sprite" Online: the ladies become their respective characters -well, and both look and sing very prettily. But H. HALL as the Gob- lin Kuhleborn, in a flaming red suit of amphibious cut, is the centre of drollery : his imitations and other spontaneous pleasantries keep up the game of fun throughout. Mrs. COLEMAN POPE as Bertelda, "a Bo- hemian Lady Macbeth, slightly compressed," delivers the rhyming dialogue very effectively, and preserves an air of stately gravity, that
contrasts ludicrously with her speech. The scenery and costumes are splendid, and of appropriate character ; and a "pas de l'Ombre," executed by a trio of danseuses under the rays of the Drummond light, is a striking scenic effect.
.Astley's is again in its glory. Mr. BATTY has evoked the aid of thc_Iteteran dramatist MONCRIEFF to furnish the dialogue for an eques- trian speafiele, in which the career of a horse is exhibited ; the " high- mettled racer" pain g through the successive stages of hunter, road- ster, and cab-hack, to the zEtastrophe of his death. The scenes of the race—showing the road thronged with pedestrians and vehicles of all sorts, the training-stable, and the betting-stand, with the thimble-rig- gers—the fox-hunt, and the death of the hack—are as effectively re- presented as it is possible for them to be on the stage. The moving ta- bleaux are picturesquely arranged ; and the horses and dogs perform their parts to admiration.
Covent Garden opened last night with Promenade Concerts, con- ducted by M. JULLIEN ; which are only to last until Christmas. The promenade is tastefully decorated ; the orchestra effective ; and last night's attendance is estimated at the prodigious number of five thousand people, TheHaymarket announces a new comedy, for Monday next, under the title of Old Heads and Young Hearts. Mr. Borametna is named as the author.
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