11 APRIL 1835, Page 11

FP.ENCH AND ENGLISH THEATRICALS.

HAVING witnessed the representation of Lae, eta l'Amant pretil, at the French Theatre on Monday, we profited by the opportunity for a corn- imam-isms and attended the English translation of it, the Loan of a !.(sear', at the Olympic on Tuesday. The translator has performed his task with great fidelity. Not so the actors : Madame VESTRIS, with all her fascinations, was not the English of JENNY VERTPRE ; nor Kener:v the Pierre of Dtreoeneas. Before the appearance of engiirtl Gertrude, we are given to understand that she is a little simple- ton, whose only attractions are prettiness and good-nature. JENNY VERTPRE fulfils our expectations ; and when, provoked by the dulness tai her lover and time disappointment of her hopes, she has recourse to maaneruvering, it is clearly the consequence of her mortified affection, unmixed with any grosser motive. Such was not the Gertrude of Madame Ws-rats: she did not identify herself with the character, but, making it rather a spiteful coquette, she destroyed all sympathy; charming as she is, she lacks time delicacy and finish which are so pecu- liar to the French actress In a word, as a work loses in translation all thet raciness which is the result of its particular idioms and locali- ties, so the English performance of a foreign character must always lose where there is an opportunity for comparison. The remark will extend to time Pierre of DUROURJAL, and the Peter Spyk of KEF.LEY. The latter wee amusing, as he is ever, but far too obtrusive and vehe- ment. Dunouneer. is the quiet dolt throughout ; impervious to all the bright glerees and broad hints of the pretty lice; but his consternation when he discovers that after all he is really in love, and with her alone, is rich in humour. Probability is destroyed in the English version— we feel it to bcimpocsible for Gertrude to care for such a fool as Peter Spyk : the inclination of Zoe for Pierre is perfectly natural. It would be far from justice to pass in silence over the general merits of that very efficient performer Dueounrere He has taken nature for his model : his acting, therefore, though always vivacious, is never ex- aggerated ; and he has the talent of rendering even absurdity respect- able. In proof of this, we will only mention the part of the spend- thrift Guido, in Mademoiselle VERTPRE'S favourite Coate; which in common hands would be only that of a tiresome idiot,_ who deserves all the claws and caprices of his feline mistress: DUROURJAL shows that he has that within him which is worth the ruse so amusingly employed intercourse with lee hommes de commerce has led him so positively to re- to bring him back to the commerce des hommes, which his unfortunate nounce.