THE THEATRES.
Mits. KEELEY has shaken off the swagger and shackles of Jack sh
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pard, and resumed the plaintive looks and corduroys of poor Stnthe,ina sequel to the Adelphi paste-and.seissors version of" Nicholas Nickleby " entitled the Fortunes of &nib; but not even Mrs. KEELEY'S beautied and really touching performance can give dramatic interest to the mo. notony and mawkish pathos of the scenes she figures in. The latter portion of' the novel develops no new traits of character in the principal persons, and contains little of adventure suited to stage purposes : thus all the old dramatis persons° are brought on the scene again, under simi. lar circumstances, without any new attributes or action, but destitute of the one grand point of attraction in the first instance—namely, the curiosity to see the creations of Boz represented : the brothers Cheeryble—those Siamese impersonations of practical benevolence—de hut play double-dummy in broad-brimmed hats and drab shorts. To hash up a story, and serve it on the stage as is commonly done, is bad enough; but this is making mince-meat of it with a vengeance.. The principal parts are cast as before, Newman Noggs excepted, whist: is taken by BIICKSTONE in place of 0. SMITH. Bucitsrosin treats us with less of himself and more of the character than usual, and he " dresses his face" admirably ; but he does not embody the half-crazed human scarecrow, whose solace is gin and sympathy, with the grotesque drollery and pathos of his predecessor ; he hides his buffoonery under a mask of ferocious grimace, and parades those peculiarities of personal appearance that 0. Ssirrn seemed unconscious of. BUCKSTONE is a funny fellow cleverly disguised ; 0. SMITH was the real character. Wuars. SON'S dry quaint humour makes the sordid brutality of Squeers amusing; and BEVERLEY'S jovial good-nature and hearty laughter as John Brow. die are quite exhilarating. YATES as M«ntafini, moulted and at the mangle, under petticoat-government, is a ludicrous figure enough. Miss GOWER as Miss Squeers recalls her clever and characteristic per. sonation of last season. Miss GEORGE has but to look a bright-eyed, rosy, rustic beauty, to befit the bride of John Browdie ; and this costs her no effort. Miss M. LEE, as Kate Nichlehy, gives some signs of talent for acting, as well as of agreeable manners and person; but the character affords no scope for developing it. The methodistical hypocrite Snatchy is only a lugubrious caricature ; but Brooker, "the returned convict," is an admirable piece of grave acting by MAYNARD. The last scene where this man appears, and is recognized by Smike, is effective, solely from the exquisite acting of Mrs. KEELEY, which makes one lose sight of all improbabilities in the feeling of the moment : indeed, the pale- faced broken-spirited boy, haunted by terrors, and the victim both of his fears and his affections, is the link that connects the otherwise dis- jointed scenes ; and his image leaves an impression, which had it been stamped on the mind by the machinery of a powerful drama, would have been ineffaceable.
We have so often demonstrated the absurdity of' the stage tableaux, in forming which the actors suddenly become " putrified," as Mrs. Mala. prop would say, that we have only to observe that in embodying tht caricature etchings of Pun, the unnaturalness was no less apparent than in the more artful and elaborate groupings of WILKIE and M'Cusz.
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