THE THEATRE S.
Tine Iiirals supplanted the .tiehea/ J;ei Seele/q/ at ('ox-emit Carden on Thursday. The cast of characters i t cire',..ti VC, tit costumes are as mnirect and elegant, and the seenie Ties as appropriate and com- plete, or nearly so, a; in the previous instance ; and the comedy 'vent off with spirit. 'flue audience leteelled hear ily al Mrs. Malaprop's " derangement of epitephs•' and Belt " valour : Sir Anthony's tile', too, was quite exhilarating. Fs une0 11,1Ver pleyed with greater geeto : he was the polished man iii the w mid ; the oi his good- humour infused itself int.) his elndliti•ms ef rage, and the paternal despot melted into the fund and d‘mting father when all went according Ii his wish. Mrs. C. Jinees as iles. 31,:laprvp exorcised bey parts of speech " with an emphatic complacency, cheracteristio of eonfident ignorance: instead of appearing conscious of the diedlery of the blundere, as some actresses do, she made them tell the more ludicrously by the unhesitating way in which she committed them. ANDEI1SON „lark Absolute a gentlenein--whieh in these limes is 410 little merit ; and if somewhat deficient ie enneation and gayety, he was 'easy and agreeable. VESTRIS is so clever in all she does, that mu c' tan only regret she looks too experienced for the silly romantic whoee head is full of nothing hut novels and elopements. Mrs NIellET, who played Julia very nicely, and with touching expression of emotion, would have better realized the sentimental Lydia Languish. while Miss TREE would have given more dignity to the grave anti tender Julia. MTS. HUMBY as Lucy wore the guise of simplicity with a sly and calculating cunning, which she exhibited with a !dive, quiet humour, equally characteristic and diverting. HARLEY caricatured Acres, but 'with an irresistible drollery that laughed critical objection out of coun- tenance. BROUGHAM essayed Sir Lucius O'Trigger for the first time, and laboured under a very un-Irish want of confidence in the earlier scenes; but when he had to wet, he showed spirit and energy, that his success in the part will enable him to develop earlier in his next per- formance. MEADows's David was the thorough liveried clown of the country squire's household : he seemed as if the clay of Clodhall clung to him, clogging his speech, gait, and intellect ; while GREEN, as Fay, was an ineffably foppish footman. COOPER played FaUtiand carefully ; but ewe doubt if the best actor on the stage could make this character real or tolerable. SHERIDAN is never in earnest -where passion is con- cerned: his love-speeches, when not mixed with levity or sordidness, are hollow and lifeless bombast.
The Rim's is played as a farce (in more senses than one) at the Haymarket ; where SHERIDAN'S wit is brought to the rescue of Ben- WER'S pathos. The Sea Captain has been on His Last Legs for some time, and not even this crutch can save him from falling. Of the per- formance we are unwilling to speak harshly, yet we cannot say any thing favourable of it as a whole. The characters are dressed in the proper fashion, as at Covent Garden ; and there is some good acting here and there ; but the en.sem6le is altogether inferior—a lower tone pervades it, and it has less finish. Mrs. Ot.ovEn's Hrs. .3Ldaprop would have been faultless perhaps had she appeared at seven o'clock instead of ten, when the audience must have needed their customary stimulus to merriment, that broad farce best supplies : as it was, the part appeared overdone. STRICKLAND also played Sir Auihrmy something too much in the Tom Noddy style ; while the Captain looked like a grenadier corporal. The Lylia Languish showed more airs than graces ; Lucy looked more lady-like than her young mistress ; and Julia's tragic tones, though in accordance with the sombre cavilling of her fretful Falkland, were as much out of harmony as an organ in the orchestra of an assize-ball—for which place of resort WEBSTER made Boh Acres a fitting ornament. PowER's Sir Lucius was a piece of pure and re- fined comedy : he was the perfect Irish gentleman—though hardly impulsive enough, strange to say. Previous to this misplaced entertainment, we had enjoyed another and more amusing incongruity, a melodrama worthy of being an after- piece at the Sorry, played as a first piece at Drury Lane ; and to crown the joke, it proved as droll as the funniest farce—though three hours long. Woman's Trials, albeit ending in condemnation, and disclosing horrible crimes, passed off amidst convulsions of laughter—" in which the court and the jury heartily joined," as the Old Bailey reports have it. The three long acts included as many long journies, more long faces, and a baby in long clothes—which though a mute and passive actor, most potently contributed to the general mirth. Poetical justice was executed on the two villains of the piece in a most ingenious man- ner ; for the one is killed by the other, unintentionally, and by a slight pinch of 47,,, throat that emito Levine have hurt afly; whilt• the other is shot by a pistol, (which, to heighten the comicality, flashed in the pan,) fired by a lady at random and hitting him through the wainscot moreover, the virtuous character, though shot through the body at two paces, comes in afterwards as well as ever. A compassionate con- temporary pities the manager and the author, whom he thinks hardly used : we felt for the actors. And not without reason, it seems ; for Mrs. STIRLING, who was the heroine, after passing through the ordeal of her "trials," was naturally indisposed to pass A el'ight in the Bash/c; and a new piece with this title, which had been announced for last night, is postponed till next week ; when we devoutly hope she will be able to bear a short imprisonment, and make it tolerable to her- self and a sympathizing public.
A new Romeo and a new Juliet too are advertised to Mai at Drury on Monday.
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