THE THEATRES.
THE week's novelties are few and trivial ; BALFE'S two operas at Drury Lane and the Princess's and BOGRCICAULT'S comedy at the Haymarket being pWces de resistance to the popular appetite, that grows with -what it feeds on : they will most likely last till Christmas, and even then form part of the fare provided for holyday entertainment.
The two new afterpieces brought out at the Haymarket to back up the comedy are laughable trifles, but of the most opposite kinds ; the one depending upon character and sentiment for its interest and amuse- ment; the other utterly devoid of nature and consistency, and made up of pantomimic bustle and absurd situations. The plots of both turn on one person's being mistaken for another ; but the equivoque is so differ- ently treated that the two pieces may be taken as types of totally dis- tinct species of dramatic entertainments.
Somebody Else is the title of a pleasant vaudeville, cleverly adapted to the English stage by the most expert and successful of playwrights, Mr. PLANcnP. Hans Moritz, a Swiss mechanic, has fallen in love with his pretty ward, Louise, without knowing it ; and she is equally attached to him. By way of stifling his lurking fondness for Louise, which he thinks it wrong to encourage, Hans makes an offer to his cousin Minnie, a rustic coquette, who cares less for him than be for her. The return of Louise's brother after a long absence, with a suitor for his sister, opens the eyes of all parties to the true state of their hearts. Minnie passes herself off for Louise to the brother, who feels more than brotherly love for her ; and the opposition of Hans and Louise to the proposed match leads to the discovery of their mutual passion and the trick of Minnie. The series of perplexities in this game of cross-purposes are not less diverting for a vein of tender feeling ; it gives pungency to the ludicrous dilemmas. Madame VESTA'S makes Minnie a buxom, blunt-spoken, wilful country wench, ripe for mis- chief, and impatient for matrimony, but very independent towards her betrothed. There is a heartiness, breadth, and freedom in her perform- ance, which is controlled by good taste, and displays her usual tact and finesse. She sings a piquante song, called "The Vixen," very charm- ingly ; and is the life of the piece. The other characters are better dressed than acted.
Young England is a complete take-in; the only allusion to the subject of the title is made by BECKSTONE, the butt and buffoon of the piece, who comes in with an infant swathed in a shawl and calls it "a sample of Young England." The fun of the farce is, that every one of the dramatis personm is in turn mistaken for somebody else. This farrago of stale practical jokes and stage-tricks is of home manufac- ture; and christened on the same principle that GEORGE ROBINS prints his auction-bills. Perhaps the misnomer is part of the jest : it is not the worst part either. Another French melodrama, called Sidonia de Molina, or Ruses de Guerre, has been produced at the Adelphi, and made but little impres- sion. Madame CELESTE plays a novice, who escapes from a convent in the disguise of a monk, and is discovered by her two suitors, a Spanish grandee and a French officer : she evades them, and becomes by some mysterious means Camerara Mayor to the Queen of Spain ; when she gives her hand to the Frenchman. WRIGHT'S comical expression of ter- ror at the fury of his master, the choleric grandee, enlivens a tedious and uninteresting plot, but cannot clear up its obscurities. It is one of those, pieces written to display a favourite actress in different costumes, that rely for their attraction on the popularity as well as the talent of the principal performer : their success is a test rather of her power and influence than of the merit of the drama.
At Drury Lane, Mademoiselle PLUNKETT is dancing in the ballet of the Pen, with great eclat; and BALFE'S new opera is running a prospe- rous career. If anything stop its progress, it will be the exhaustion of the vocalists : how long their voices will stand the wear and tear of nightly performances, remains to be seen. Miss RAINFORTH'S suffers most from the incessant strain.
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