THE THEATRES.
" MANAGERS are right." Such, in effect, is the judgment of the Court of Appeal instituted by Mr. GEORGE STEPHENS for the stage-trial of his tragedy, Martinuzzi, or the Patriot; which had a most patient hear- ing at the English Operahouse on Thursday ; and the public, it will be seen, will confirm this decision of a friendly tribunal. Friendly it must have been ; for no audience not favourably inclined would have endured to the end a play which has no interest, simply because it cannot be understood, except perhaps by the few who have studied it beforehand; and which is ridiculous from its absurdities of situation and language. Despite the best efforts of the performers—and there was some fine acting—the tragedy excited derision ; manifested at first in smiles and suppressed titterings, but at last breaking forth in peals of inextin- guishable laughter. The dialogue is overlaid with preposterous meta- phors that obscure the sense, but ill conceal the poverty of thought. When the author descends from his three-piled hyperboles to plain speech, the contrast between the spangled fustian and the bare homespun is most ludicrous ; and he is equally remote from the sublime in both modes of expression. To extricate a clear and con- nected story from the confused jumble of unaccountable incidents we find impossible ; and as Martinuzzi is now to be regarded as an act- ing play, its merits should be determined by the effect of the represen- tation. All the characters appear to be very miserable, from the opera- tion of some mysterious causes ; but though they are very confidential in soliloquy, and letters and papers in abundance are handed about, the whole business is inexplicable ; and they are killed off in succession without the audience either knowing or caring why or wherefore. The dresses were splendid, the scenery beautiful ; and all that the talents of Mrs. WARNER, Mr. PHELPS, and Mr. ELTON could contribute to pro- duce an impression, was accomplished. The only disadvantage was the introduction of songs ; and this was contrived, apparently, on purpose, so as to make the unfitness evident : the music might have been grace- fully if not appropriately introduced. It was not this that originated the merriment, though it certainly increased the fun. The performers were applauded, deservedly ; and every sonorous piece of rant or far- fetched simile was marked with approbation by the predisposed clique. To crown the whole, Mr. STEPHENS was called for, and appeared in front of a private box, bowing his thanks. The farce of The Cloak and Bonnet was far less entertaining than the tragedy, and almost as wearisome : there being nothing to laugh at but indecent doable meanings, some malecontents hissed, and were not silenced by threats of being turned out,—a significant indication of the spirit of the audience. Captain MARRYAT is not likely to increase his reputation by writing for the stage, judging of his capabilities from this effort at farce-writing. Mr. MAYWoon, as Jemmy Laidlaw, is a genuine Scotchman, of the daft sort.
A solitary performance of the Rivals at the Haymarket, on Tuesday, gave Mr. PLACIDE an opportunity of essaying the part of Acres; but with no sort of success : his performance fell flat. Mrs. GLOVER'S Mrs. Mala- prop is genuine comedy of the highest order ; and she played her best on this occasion : the force and refinement of her acting made that of Messrs. STRICKLAND and WALLACE, the Sir Anthony and Captain Absolute, ap- pear farcical in comparison. Mrs. STIRLING, as Lydia Languish, was deficient in buoyancy and impulse ; and Miss HELEN Fencer gave too tragic a tone to the distresses of Julia; but both were otherwise excel- lent. Mr. H. WALLecat's Sir Lucius 0' Trigger, made us feel the loss of POWER'S graceful and genial hilarity ; and Mr. G. BENNETT was not only a funereal but an undertaker-like Falkland. The cast was at any rate the best the company afforded. This is more than can be said for that of William Tell; in which Mrs. CLIFFORD plays the part of Emma, Tell's wife!
" Tableaux vivans " is a misnomer for the absurd and offensive exhibition introduced this week at the Concerts d'Ete. Women, clad in scanty white drapery imitating the appearance of marble, per- sonate groups of sculpture, such as " Venus attired by the Graces "; and as natural forms, especially when distorted by stay-lacing, are not comparable with the antique ideal, the substitution of flesh and blood for plaster is a loss of all that constitutes the beauty of the statue. Such displays can only gratify depraved tastes ; it is prostituting a fine art to the grossest purposes. There was considerable hissing, but the plaudits, we regret to say, predominated.
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