15 NOVEMBER 1856, Page 8

The performance of the School for Scandal at the Haymarket

is one of those occurrences that can hardly fail to awaken regrets in the mind of every veteran playgoer. No piece on the stage is more capable of com- prising a large mass of histrionic talent. In old times every part has been filled to perfection, and the whole piece has sparkled with the com- bination of brilliancy. At the Haymarket-the comedy is now played in a very creditable and respectable manner; and the lament to which it gives rise, far from being reproachful with regard to the manager, is to

the r

e effect that the thing at the present day could not be better done. The secret that the modern critic of histrionic art, if he would not in- dulge in perpetual jeremiads, must lower his standard of excellence, was never more clearly revealed than on the occasion of this revival.