THE THEATRES.
THE comparison between French and English acting, which the per- formance at the Haymarket of Peter and Paul, a vulgar version of L'Oncle Baptiste, made inevitable to all who had seen the French vau- deville, is conclusive as to the inferiority of the English style ; and de- anonstrative of the distance as well as difference of FARREN from Boursi : not only is Bourrt the greater artist in respect of executive skill and finesse, but he develops a nicer perception of character, brings into play finer sensibilities, and expresses deeper and more varied emotions than FAURE& Peter and Paul are two brothers ; Peter a common mechanic, rough in his manners and addicted to the habits of " his order," but of a hearty and generous disposition, and .11 sturdy independence of cha- racter; Paul a mechanical genius, of more polished manners, and ambitious of making a figure in the world. Peter having a large legacy left him, proposes to join his fortunes with those of his brother, in whose talents and prosperity he exults; but Paul prefers a more imposing speculation in London, and decides on leaving his brother, to the deep mortification and disappointment of Peter. An interval elapses : Paul is living in grand style in London, at the head of an extensive manu- factory, and his daughter is on the eve of marriage with a sprig of nobility. Peter, at the entreaty of his niece, forgetting old grievances, comes up to share the wedding festivities ; but is coldly received by his brother, who avoids him : incensed at this treatment, he quits the house, but returns, after a while, intoxicated, and gives vent to his angry feel- ings it presence of the wedding-party. This brings about an eclair- cissement : Peter is the means of saving Paul from ruin, by advancing him a sum of money, and the brothers are reconciled. The sentiment of the drama is brotherly love, of which Peter is the exemplar: in him the interest centres, and the manner of his persona- tion stamps the character of the whole performance. Bourri made if impressive, but aunufing: the serious predominated, but there was no 'lack of the comic incidentally. He depicted a genuine, simple-minded, warm-hearted man, whose bonhommie redeemed his faults, and whose strong and disinterested brotherly affection 'elevated him to the point of dignity : the accident of his humble milling and homely aspect and manners did but exalt his moral worth. His first appearance, in apron and shirt-sleeves, was prepossessing ; and his devoted love and fond admiration of his brother gained all hearts : you shared his joy as he danced about with delight at the rich legacy he had got, and his grief when his feelings are wounded by Paul's determination to leave him. The quivering lip, the dimmed eye, the dilated nostril, and the tremulous agitation that pervaded Bourr•E's whole frame at this shock to his feelings, were touching in the extreme ; he seemed cut to the heart, and to have lost a part of his very being. How one loved him for coining to see his brother again and sympathized with his indignation at meeting with a repulse! and when he staggers in more drunk with sorrow and chagrin than liquor, his brain reeling with mental excitement, he was an object of pity, not of disgust. He reproached Paul with the bitterness of anguish, and you felt that but for the maddening influence of drink, he could not for love of him have unburdened his heart of its freight : even in this degraded con- dition he rose above the titled guests by the height of his passion and the greatness of his injured feeling; and when he gave Paul the lie, it seemed as if the words rose to his lips unconsciously, in the heat of his anger.
FARREN represents a rude, boisterous, knowing fellow, of coarse manners, whose hard nature seemed making efforts to be gay, and to show off an assumed cordiality : the disappointment at Paul's re- fusal to join his fortunes was expressed with a vice-like compres- sion of the features, as though pride and self-love were wounded rather than affection. His visit to Paul looked like an intrusion ; he resents his ungracious reception with the air of one who meditates revenge ; when he comes in holding by the door-post and sprawling about with drunkenness, he is an object of aversion ; his insults to the company and upbraidings of his brother appear hardly ex- cusable; and the prolonged vehemence with which he bestows the epithet " liar " is shocking. The hysterical laugh with which FARREN disguises his tears is a clever imitation of natural emo- tion; but it does not seem real and heartfelt : his acting is for- cible, but not affecting, for the mechanism of playing is too palpable throughout. The assumed character appears put on like the dress ; his face is a mask of harsh grimace instead of delicate expression ; his movements are angular, every gesture is prepared, every look studied, and he works like an histrionic automaton wound up to perform a cer- tain part : the wheels will move more glibly with usage, no doubt; but the absence of that spontaneous feeling and sympathy with the cha- racter which are the life and soul of personation, must ever give a hollow and heartless air to the performance. We are glad to remark that Mr. FARREN played less to the audience and indulged in fewer buffooneries than his wont, though he often moved them to laughter where a serious feeling would have more properly responded to the situation. The piece,went off heavily, and produced, a weak and un- favourable impression, as of something rather dull and disagreeable than otherwise.
Mrs. GLovnii plays the wife of Peter; who is converted into a Scotch- woman, with no other effect than to mar the personation 'by the bid- ness of Mrs. GLOVER'S imitation of Scottish dialect. It would be invi- dious to- pursue the contrast of the French and English companies': further, because the rest of the performers are involuntarily open to it-7- ' Mr. FARBER has in a manner challenged comparison.
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