THE THEATRES.
THE wintry blasts that ushered in Easter made the atmosphere of the theatre and the blaze of the lamps more congenial than the faint gleams of sunshine that scarcely tempered the piercing cold out of doors. No fewer than a dozen places of amusement, in various quar- ters of the town, invited the pleasure.seckers ; and the crowds that filled them all, attested the force of their attractions.
The snug little Haymarket, reinstated in public favour, is now re- stored to gayety and cleaulinese. The embellisltelents are somewhat less" costly and elegant " than the magnificence • the edvertisement led us to expect ; but the comfortable lining of the boxes makes up for any lack of taste in the decorations of their fronts. The array of chandeliers with wax candles, though rather scant, sheds a sufficient light, far more agreeable in a stunmer theatre than the oppressive glare of gas—besides being, as the lessee gallantly Lints, "conducive to the better appearance of the audience."
The entrance of Mrs. GLOVER to speak the opening address awak- ened all the old enthusiasm. She bore no traces of her lute accident, and seemed as if the temporary secession had given her fresh life and spirits ; which, indeed, her performance of the Widow Green in the Love Chase confirmed. This delightful comedy, on its eighty-fifth represen- tation, relished as well as ever—bating the loss of Mrs. NISBET, who had made the hoyden Constance her own. Miss ELPHINSTONE, who played the part, is a tragic actress: it is only surprising, therefore, that after the volatile sprightliness of the original Constance, the compa- ratively forced gayety and rude wantonness of Miss ELPHINSIONE.S comedy should have been so successful. It would be unfair to form an opinion of the lady's powers, from a performance of this character : her personal attractions, however, are advanteges that need not a second display to be appreciated. She is announced to appear as Julia, with KNOWLES in his old part of Master Walter, on Tuesday: this will be the proper test of her merits. Another young debutante, Miss COOPER, raised the hitherto subordinate character of Lydia to its due importance, by the touching earnestness of her performance. The intelligence and feeling she evinced, and above all, a reliance on the sincerity of her spontaneous emotions, combined with painstaking efforts at distinctness of enunciation, lead us to anticipate that the maturity of her talents will produce a rare acquisition to the stage. A son of Mrs. GLOVEll—who would be recognized by his likeness to Iris mother anywhere—walked through the part of Master hailer dis- creetly; and bore the blushing honours of his costume very meekly. Of BUCESTONE, WRENCH, HEMMING, 1111d WEBSTER (who, we are glad. to find, has softened the bard outline and mellowed the humour of his Wildralre,) and of Mrs. HIIMDY, Miss Tevr.on, and Mrs. FITZ- WILLIAM, we shall have abundant occasion to speak.
At the Adelpbi, POWER is at home among the Groves el Blarney ;
and bodies forth the characteristics of the Irishman in three different aspects, with that racy humour for which he is inimitable. The drama, by Mrs. S. C. HALL, contains some picturesque and striking scenes, that, besides having a strong stage interest, graphically illustrate Irish life and character. The hero is Connor O'Gorman, a gallant and a layer, who becomes the leader of a party of peasants to reinstate a poor Widow in her cabin, and beat off the process-server ; and then, disguised la) a hoorotting gossonn," rescues a child from a gang of lawless raffiarts,—this last act making his peace with the bereaved mother, who had discarded him for the former. POWER becomes the frieze coat of the comer and the rags of the wild Irish boy as well as the velvet suit of the gentleman. The mixture of humour and pathos, of purpose and. idleness, as he tells the story of the ewe and the lamb, and the ex- quisite strokes of character and feeling that he throws into the whole arette, belong as, much r,, the native spirit of the man as to the erre the huished actor. Yeres's personation of " the Griffin," an old hag with an equally strong relish for mischief-making and dram-drinking- -it genuine Irish witch. whose very venom has a smack of cordiality, mid who threatens awl abuses with French politesse—is the richest piece of acting since Interne's MofiFlagyon, or REF:VE.8 Roman scold. Airs. HOOPER played at part designed for Mrs. YATES, and Miss Stiew, one intended for Alos. NISBETT, in a way that made us feel the loss of their prototype.: as little as possible. G. SMITH was out of his element; but WiLitiesoe, as a cockney tourist, made some good fun. Dew/11:s villain is too melodramatic for the Adelphi. The scenery, by PITT, is beautiful. The Drama's Levee, at the Olympic, will be attended by all play- go re so long as VESTRIS in mistress of the ceremonies. By way of making the " sweet sorrow of parting" as gratifying to her friends and proritable to herself as possible, VESTRIS adumbrates a dream of the past, wherein the Drama, in the stately person of Mrs. ORM', re- views the principal preductions of the present season,—Praise and Censure commenting on their character and tendency. The " Magic Flute" and " Atnilie " iii turn give a taste of their quality : the two " Joins of Arc" light for eupremacy,—Covent Garden coming off victorious ; and "the Lads' ii Lyuns,"and " Rory O'More," "the Am.. ba-sedress," and " Satn Weller," are presented among others; while the whole hot of theatres lay claim to the "Black Domino," and are seen running after the" Gnome Fly ;" the Haymarket only following" The Love Chase." Vesrais then, in a" Dream of the Future," receives a pressing invitation from the American Sea Serpent, to embark in the packet just about to sail from Liverpool to New York ; and the dei- ties of Olympus rise to bid their sovereign lady good speed. This is a very pleasant trifle of the kind; the hits at theatrical follies are smart and yet good-natured ; Praise being as lavish with her rosy wreath as Cen-
sure with his scourge. The parodies are very happily introduced; and Vesrers sings " Jim Crow" in a way to reconcile us to the vulgar burden for the sake of a pretty air.
Sindbad the Sailor, at Covent Garden, is the only legitimate Easter spectacle ; and it is as gorgeous and wondrous a one as ever ravished the senses of school children. The whale on which Sindbad and his companions land and kindle a fire, sinks down with them, after putting out the fire with a jet from his nostrils; and the party are washed ashore on an island peopled by a ewe of cannibals. They are dwarfs of the Cyclops race ; but their King is a giant, whose huge one eye glitters with delight as he surveys the plump person of the cook. Sindbad is put up to fatten ; but the cook is carefully conveyed in a man-coop to the ogre's palace, and begged to compose his mind, that his juices may be in a wholesome state of succulence, previous to his being put down to roast. The poor cook's horror at discovering be is to be served up, is soon changed to merriment, however, as the canni- bal crew, made drunk by the agency of the sprite who protects Sindbad, reel and stagger about, rolling their huge eyeballs and winking drow- sily till they close in sleep ; when be gives them the spit intended for himself. This is a scene of glorious fun. The Valley of Diamonds, with the roc's egg and the serpents, showing the descent of the enormous bird, whose wings stretch out beyond those of the stage, and his flight upwards bearing Sindbad in his claws, realizes the description in the Arabian tale. The sea ports, too, are truly Oriental; and the vessels are loaded and set sail in right earnest fashion : in short, all that the seenint and machinist and pantomimist do, is done capitally. The drama itself is not so successful: and it is an unpardonable heresy to make the Old Man of the Mountain bestride the fat cook instead of Sindbad.
PAYNE RS the Giant, C. J. SMITH as the APMOR, ANDERSON RS Sindbad, and BARTLEY as the Cook, keep up the humour with great spirit throughout.
The Ilfetionians at Drury Lane we have not seen ; but all accounts agree that it is an extravaganza of too fleeting a popularity to outlive the holyday time. A " lark" at a turnpike-gate, where these practical jokers wittily paint a house red, and facetiously frighten some cocks and hens—and a street-row with watchmen, in which the " noble " rio- ters come off victorious—are represented with pantomimic exaggera- tion ; and, by way of a beighti Ding touch of folly, the incident of a pony being made to leap over a five-barred gate in a drawing-room is introduced.
The St. James's shall have our attention next week; meanwhile, we may say that the classical burlesque of Hero and Leander is spoken of as being very splendid and amusing.
The Colosseum also provided some theatrical entertainments; and the New Strand opened with Sam Weller and the Piehicielrians.
Astley's, the Victoria, the hurry. and the Pavilion, are too far dis- tant to come within our ken : their merits may be safely left to the critics of their several localities, who, we dare say, are better able to appreciate them than we should be.
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