18 NOVEMBER 1848, Page 11

THEATRES AND MUSIC.

Characters which are preiiminently feminine, and stand as types of that deep tenderness which forms the essential virtue of woman's nature, are suited above all others to Mrs. Charles Kean. She can express so much with a look, she can give such a sustained air of solicitude to her countenance, there is BO much delicacy of manner combined with such intensity of feel- lag, that in a character like Viola she leaves nothing to desire. There is no actress on the stage who so happily unites artistical finish with a perfect appearance of nature: indeed, in Viola she may be said actually to become the person she professes to represent; while she is totally free from that Vulgar "naturalness" which is so destructive to real art. Her voice, not always pleasant when strained, is exquisitely sweet when employed for the more tranquil expressions of feeling, and can be modulated to snit those delicacies of light and shade which Mrs. Kean so readily finds in any =Portant passage she has to utter. Twelfth Night promises to be the turning-point in the fortunes of the Haymarket, which were not excessively brilliant before its production. Not only is there the admirable Viola of Mrs. Kean as a focus to the Whole, but the members of the company generally have put forth their strength, and the play is represented in every part fairly, and in some ad- mirably. Such an unctuous representation as that of Sir Andrew Ague- cheek was to be expected from so profound a comedian as Mr. Keeley; but one was hardly prepared to see Mr. Tilbury rise into so hearty an im- personation of Sir Toby. The new vein of grotesque hilarity which Mr. Wigan gives to the Clown, and which distinguishes his version from the dry traditions of former times, shows a mind actively at work, and a law!- able ambition to carve out an original path. The Olivia of Miss Rey- nolds proves that the company contains an actress well qualified to fill in an adequate manner the secondary parts in poetical drama.

The Gamester was revived on Monday; but, notwithstanding the merited success of Mr. and Mrs. Kean, it has not been repeated. It is, to be sure, a wretched play.