THE THEATRES.
NOTWITHSTANDING the homely proverb of the silk purse and the sow's ear, we went to Covent Garden on Tuesday to see the effect of Mr BULWER'S endeavours to patch up his unfortunate play. Inasmuch as the play is shortened, it is less tiresome : in this particular, how- ever, we were reminded of the old story of the parson, who being praised for the shortness of his sermon, simpered, " I prefer it to being tedious," and was mortified by the rejoinder, " But you were tedious." Beyond the omission of several scenes, the substitution of a new one for MACREADY, and the suppression of that absurd caricature the Marquis de Montespan, there is no amelioration of the insipid and paw-paw character of the Dutchess de laValliire. Let Mr.BULWER for once distrust his toadies and claqueurs, whether of the coterie, the theatre, or the press, and read his sentence in the yawns and titters of an impartial audience. The public—to whom Mr. Mosul' pointedly appealed in the prologue—are the best judges of what pleases them ; and neither adulatory eulogies on the one hand, nor ill-natured cen- sures on the other, will influence their liking. The badness of the performance, in the case of all the characters but Bragelone, has been alleged as a chief cause of the ill-success of this play. The acting could not well be worse, certainly : the two best actors next to MACREADY, FARREN and VANDENHOFF are out of their element. But we will riot do Mr. EULWER the injustice of say- ing that it is to MACREADY'S personation only that the character of Bragelone owes its value: the effect might have been less powerful and impressive in other hands, but the sentiment and the language of that character would have been no less admirable; while had ELLEN TREE played La Valliire in place of HELEN FAUCIT, and CHARLES KEMBLE Louis instead of VANDENHOFI', we should have felt no more interest in the fate of the lady, and little less disgust at the scenes between them. Indeed, the solemn preaching tones, and lumbering lugubriousness of VANDENHOFF'S love-making and lamenta- tions, make what would be otherwise more revolting, ludicrous : in the last scene laughter mingled with the hisses. FARItEN'S quick and pointed manner of delivering the sarcasms put into the mouth of Lauzun, and his unblushing allusions to his want of money and of prin- ciple, told well ; but the character itself lacks pith and individuality. It is an abstract impersonation of a clever, profligate, and polished scoundrel, but no more a portrait of the accomplished Lauzun, than the other is of Grammont. Fine acting has often saved an indifferent drama; but we doubt whether bad acting ever caused the failure of a really good one. We hear of a ludicrous expression bringing about the damnation of a tragedy : it only proves that the audience were pre- viously in a state of apathy or disgust which made any thing that called forth their merriment a welcome relief; had it been otherwise, they might have laughed, but they would soon have forgotten their ill-timed mirth.
Previous page
