THE THEATRES.
THE public curiosity to see Mr. CHARLES KEAN and Miss ELLEN i TREE acting together in Macbeth was not so great as to draw a full audience to the Haymarket on Monday, though there was nothing to divide the attention of playgoers, for RACHEL did not appear that night : it was not till the half-price that the little theatre - was crowded,—an evidence of the altered state of opinion as to the merits of Mr. C. KEAN'S performances. Neither of the two principal actors produced any great impression until the last scene, when the fight between Macbeth and Macduff gave the melodramatic tragedian a legitimate opportunity of displaying his skill and activity in the broad-sword combat : this was worthy of Astley's ; and when Mac- beth, after being twice thrust through the body, falls prone on the ground and grovels like a wounded snake, the applause was uproari- ous. We are bound to do Mr. C. KEAN the justice of saying toat he was on this occasion more than commonly sparing of his attitu- dinizing gesticulation, false emphases, and guttural accents ; but this praiseworthy diminution of ultra-vehemence was not accompanied by en answerable increase of internal emotion : his face is a grim mask, blank of expression, and "there is no speculation in those eyes"; and thus his performance was weakened in effect by the softening down of had points, without being improved by the- substitution of better qualities. Miss ELLEN TREE is too innocent and gentle for Lady Macbeth; her looks belie every word she utters : indicates ndicates neither the subtle cruelty nor the ambitious daring of the character ; and the sleep-walking scene was unimpressive. Mr. PHELPS deservedly gained more applause than either. The Witches played their parts effectively ; and the choral music was pretty well performed— though the new Hecate is no very great acquisition to the vocal corps.
On Tuesday, a petite comedy, called The Philosophers of Berlin, was produced, with more success than the performance merited, and much less than the piece itself would have warranted had it been played as it ought to be. It is a translation of one of those clever versions of historical incidents that the French dramatists are so adroit in contriv- ing and the Parisian actors represent with such tact and address ; the subject, Voltaire's squabbles with the Academy of Berlin and Frede- :Tick the Great. There is but one comedian on the English stage who could personate Voltaire with an approximation to the original, and that is FARBER ; who, moreover, is the only one competent to give effect to Frederick. Mr. WALLACE made the wit and philosopher a vulgar brawler : iilmeasm became coarse abuse, vanity overweening self-complacency, and kzitability ridiculous rage; he grinned like a hymns, danced about IMP; bear on hot plates, and stormed like a Bil- lingsgate virago. Mr. WEBSTER, as Frederick, was a respectable grenadier ; and Messrs. STRICKLAND and REES, as Hebrew merchants, deported themselves like a couple of Jew clothesmen in a farce. Mrs. STIRLING and Miss P. HORTON as the two heroines, and Messrs. PHELPS and HOWE as their lovers, had unimportant parts to play ; the love- story being subordinate to the main purpose of bringing Voltaire and his royal patron on the stage.
A new three-act piece by Mr. BERNARD, one of the most amusing and successful of modern dramatists, is announced for Tuesday next.
The English Opera season came to an untimely end on Saturday last. One by one, Mr. HALFE'S company deserted him ; and at length being " left alone in his glory," be announced to his audience the closing of the theatre and the termination of his managerial career. We suspect fault on both sides in this enterprise—the want of a well-digested plan of operations, the want of a proper understanding among the parties concerned, the want of discretion and good taste in selecting operas for performance, and the want of an efficient prima donna. We warned Mr. BALFE at the very outset, that an opera in every thing but its lan- guage Italian would not succeed. The counterfeit will not pass while the original is in the market. The experiment has been tried at va- rious times, for a century past, and there is but a solitary instance of its success. He has taken his own course, and behold the result. This speedy close of the Lyceum Theatre, therefore, indicates no indispo- sition of the public towards the English opera: rather the reverse, since from that theatre it has been wholly excluded. The real English opera —by which we mean that of PURCELL, ARNE, SHIELD, STORACE, and Bisnor—may have lost its hold of public sympathy, but whether this is the fact or not remains to be proved.
Madame Wallas is content to play London Assurance for her benefit on Monday, after all ; and as Covent Garden will close on Saturday week, Mrs. INcREALD's comedy cannot be revived this season. The manage- ment have been prudently husbanding their resources against next season, in order to compete with the formidable rivalry of MACREADit at Drury Lane. The present season, we believe, has been most pros- perous; with few new pieces, but with great care in their preparation and extreme magnificence in their outfit.
RACHEL has added two fresh characters to her performances, with which she has stormed the admiration of the town,—Camille, in CORNEILLE'S tragedy Les Boraces, and Roxane in RACINE'S Bajazet. The German company at Drury Lane have twice played the German _ yersion of MOZART'S Marriage of Figaro, witlt much success.
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