OPENING OF THE WINTER THEATRES.
THE town begins to exhibit signs of returning animation. The Theatres axeopen ; the newspapers are looking lively and intelligent; and the stagnation of the Stock Exchange has been agree ably broken by a succession of alarming reports. Mr. COLBURN has issued his first new novel for the season; and the play-bills are big with the promise of new actors and new pieces. The Theatrical Observer is compelled to publish a second edition. September is past.
The first week of the dramatic season is prescriptively a sort of brief honey-moon, which passes in the reciprocation of respect and good-will between the performers and the audiences; and little is left to the critic but to register the bows and curtsies of the one, and the plaudits of the other. This year the obeisances were of the standard depth ; the applause of the usual loudness ; the sincerity of both as indisputable as ever. The only interruption that threatened to disturb this harmony occurred at the Adelphi; but a little more indulgence on the part of the public, and the abandonment of some detestable jokes on the part of the manager, speedily reconciled matters ; and they now spend their evenings together in all the enjoyment of confidential intercourse and mutual affection. The strength of the company at this theatre is great ; to enumerate the stars would make our notice shine like a playbill. If Messrs. MArrHaws and YATES employ half the talent to write dramas that they have mustered to perform them, their partnership will prove a flourishing concern. The piece with which they opened—" Wanted a Partner ; or a Bill due September 20th, a pire de eirconstance, or in play-bill English " a local burletta" —is a pleasant adaptation of' real persons and circumstances to the use of the stage. It was followed by another novelty "My Absent Son, or Brown Studies " —W e remark by the way, that it is the rule now for every piece to have a double title ; a device warranted, like the separate counts of an indictment at law, by the uncertainty of modern dramatic authors as to where the point of their productions may ultimately be found to lie. My Absent Sun is a failure ; dull in its jokes, unnatural in its characters, improbable in its incidents. That Mr. MArrnaws has carried it through even with partial success, is a tribute paid to his excellent acting—which he should beware of exacting too often. The interior of the house has been considerably improved since last year in the taste of its decorations. Everything about it looks comfortable, and every body in it is at home—as well as Messrs. MATTHEWS and YATES.
The interior of Drury Lane has undergone no alterations but such as the washerwoman could produce. A wise economy ; for Mr. PRICE continues to have the handsomest theatre in London. The opening drama was Handel, and the leading tragedian Mr. YOUNG. Taeny played Poionie-.Y, and Peter Simpson; but he laboured under a partial eclipse, the effect, apparently, of extreme ill health. Mr. LISTON leads time comic strength of this house, and on the following evening made his bow as Old Rapid.
The decorations of' Covent Garden theatre continue likewise the same—but with a difference; they have been re-painted and regilded. A new drop-scene has been added, which has undergone
the learned criticism of the Morning Herald. It is, however, despite that ant hority, a splendid drop-scene, designed with elegance and admirably painted. Mr. C. KEMBLE made his appearance the -first night as Orlando, with 'MISS JARMAN for his Rosalind. Three new performers have since appeared at this theatre—Miss FORDE, a singer, whom we remember to have seen applauded at the Haymarket ; Mr. GREEN, a comic actor ; and Mrs. PINDAR, a tragedian. We shall take a proper opportunity of estimating their several merits.
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