However our dramatists may fail in originating, they are very
success- ful in translating ; and with such teeming resources as the repertories of half a score Parisian theatres at their disposal, the English stage might be supplied with a constant succession of new pieces without an effort of native genius. French farces are now as regularly imported as French fashions ; and playwrights, like rival modistes, run a race of competition in the production of novelties. There is this difference, however, that the purveyors of apparel loudly boast the Parisian style of their wares ; while those who furnish actors with character-suits modestly leave it to others to discover the foreign origin of their com- modities. But the caterers for the stage have to adopt their appro- priations to English tastes; and there is a very great difference in the way that this is done. The Little Devil and Louison, at the Hay- market, and The Devil's In It and the Angel of the Attic, at the Princess's, are different versions of the same pieces ; the Hay- market's being by far the best, both as regards translation and perform- ance; indeed, coarseness and vulgarity too often characterize the doings at the Princess's. Louison, as adapted by Mr. BERNARD at the Haymarket, is a very effective melodrame of one act, full of movement, claptrap sentiment, and telling situations ; and it is cleverly per- formed. The subject is the hackneyed one of a jealous lover, and there is no attempt at character in it ; but the French dramatist has adroitly contrived to give a new interest to the old story : Louisan affords shelter to a wounded Royalist officer flying from the fury of a Revolutionary mob, though he had just before made dishonourable proposals to her ; and her betrothed, a humble hero of the Barricades, who had been on the look-out for his aristocratic rival, finds him in the chamber of his bride. An eclaircissement ensues, and all ends happily : the three parties have had an opportunity of displaying their generosity, and in- terchanging virtuous sentiments. This is but a meagre outline of the plot, which involves other incidents : an English dramatist would have expanded it into three acts at least—perhaps made it into a five-act play. Madame CELESTE, in Louison, is dressed as for the ballet, and acts so pantomimically that we really think her performance would have been improved by omitting her share of the dialogue. WznicrEit, as the lover, takes great pains to produce a strong effect ; which he dld when reading a letter that his rival had written in anticipation of death.
Previous page
