TIIE THEATRES.
Aniswongn and Boz are again in conjunction at the Adelphi; Bleody 3Iary and the Tower heving succeeded Jack Sheppard and. Newgate, as Quilp and little Nell have Fagan and little Noll. In the production of Queen Maele, or the Tower qf London, recourse has been had to the , Marie Tudor of DCMAS ; the French dramatist furnishing some striking situations that heighten the horrors of Mr. A tsswongst's description, and GEORGE CR I:I ESUANK'S etchings suggesting the costumes and . groupings of the tableaux. Such a combination of resources in the !, bands • of a master of stage-effect like YATES, aided by picturesque scenery and powerful acting, could scarcely fail of producing a suc- cessful result; and therefore we are disposed to attribute certain sup- pressed tittering,s at critical points of the drama—as, for instance, where the executioner starts from behind the Queen's throne to receive the ' royal gift of her false lover's head, which as yet rests on his shoulders— to an hysterical sensation at the startling nature of the incident : indeed the occurrences are equally- surprising and terrible, and the coups de theare so frequent and forcible, that they are apt to propel the -Miley beyond the boundary of the sublime. Treachery, murder, intrigues amorous and political, constitute the main business of the plot 1 and an atmosphere of mystery envelops the characters, so dense that their motives and purposes are no less inexplicable than their proceedines. thew speeches being EIS laconic as their exits and entrances arc abrupt : axe and dagger gleam in every scene, and each has its victim. To tell how the Earl of Devonshire, the Queen's favourite, is sent to the block, through the machinations of the black Spanish Ambassador Simon Renard, though his royal mistress would fails have saved his life notwithstanding he had played ber falset—and how the pretty found- hug Jane, who had been reared up by Gilbert the chaser, whom she is going to 'starry, tums out to be the Countess of Shrewsbury to her own right—is snore than we can do: such, however, are the lending in- cidents in this " strange eventful history"; to relieve the intensity ot, which, the ponderous pleasantries of " the three Giant I'Varders;': 0g, Gog, and 'Magog, and the comical contortions of Xit, " the I. owes Dwarf," intervene.
Mrs. YATES personates Queen Mary with so much of regal impe- riousness and womanly sensibility. and depicts the struggle between fondness for her lover and indignation at his perfidy with such pathetic earnestness, that had the occurrences been less sudden and fortuitous, the drama would have been made impressive by her powerful acting. he adapter of the piece has not borne in miud the principle, that in proportion to the stress of emotion required, should be the solidity of the fulcrum of eiremnstance on which he rests the lever of dramatic action. YATES, OS the Earl If Devonshire, well becomes the profligate and un- principled courtier ; and II. Dame as Simon Renard, the gloomy In- quisitorial diplomatist. Miss Vowel:sem: is a charming unsophisticated little coquette, and looks like a countess, who would marry a stern chaser whom she had looked up to as a father, out of pure gratitude; and LYON, as the noble-minded artisan, burns with love like his own furnace. His by-play in the scene where the Queen makes hits enact the part of an assassin attempting her life, is admirable: his look from behind his guards bespeaks the mingled alarm, amazement, and indig- nation of an innocent man entrapped so strangely that he is bewildered. Mr. MAVNAR1), a very deserving actor, plays the little part of a Jew, who is murdered by the Earl, with good diseretion : his unassuming excellence in many subordinate characters mgits recognition, the more because he never steps bte ond his pet to challenge attention. The three gigantic Beef-eaters very potentially persintify the brawn of their reputed finher, bluff King I lal ; and Bit:gent) found lungs for the trio: hut, truth to sly, their pantomimic hm;•eness is the best part of the joke, their sayings ;1114 doings lining 01 it yery commonplace kind. \Vim- LaND's person:elms of the dwarf Xli is a petulant to Yasres's the squeakinet gibbering, diminutive imp of' deformity, mischief; and conceit, is represented with a fidelity that would be painful but for Isis diverting antics and ludicrous complacency : be looks little in spirit as well as body —an abortion in intellvct as iu stature.
The scenic effects are extraordinary for the union of the real and the romantic. The White Tower, seen through the arelted gateway—the view of Old l motion I lridge, whit its too lone perspective of houses, under a sunset of lovely brightness—and the great stabease of the Tower, with the bridge across the landing—eould not be more effectively re- presented on the largest stage. The costumes are splendid and appro- priate also. Indeed the speeeicle is altogether imposing.
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