PLAYS AND PLAYERS.
Ma. JERROLD'S petite comedy Nell Gwynne, which was brought' out at Covent Garden on Wednesday, is very pleasant and amusing, and was decidedly successful. It seemed, however, only the first half of a comedy ; the falling of the curtain was quite a surprise. Its materials are slight, consisting merely of a dramatic version of an incident or two - in the life of Nell Gwynne,—her appearance at the theatre as an orange- girl, and subsequently on the stage where she speaks the prologue to DRYDEN'S comedy. the Siege of stage, dressed in a hat with a brim as broad as the circumference of a coach-wheel ; and Charles the Se- cond's passion for her. We do not object to the slight anachronisms, nor to the deviations of the dramatist from the letter of her history; but granting these, he should have managed the plotand the denoue- ment more skilfully. The King is represented as first meeting with " Nelly" during one of his rambles in disguise, at the house of a milliner, whose ostensible trade would seem to be the cover to a baser traffic. To excuse her • falling so easily into the snares of the royal rake, she is made to appear seeking an escape from the importunities of an old counsellor ; whose stratagem to carry her off is defeated by the unaccountable stupidity of his own agent, in mistaking a well-known profligate called Orange Moll for Nell Here the piece should properly terminate ; for the subsequent 'appearance of the heroine at the theatre leads to no, thing; except that she recognizes her lover in the person of the who is present; and thus the prologue to DRYDEN'S play is con-. verted into the epilogue of Mr. JERROLD'S.
The dialogue is neat and pointed; but some of the repartees put into the month of • Nell, though smart, are too evidently studied to- pass for the spontaneous wit of an uneducated girl. • Neither is her character drawn With a master hand ; • Miss Taxtott's Pens somition, though eleverwas More like the 1 Nell Gwynne of
the drama, than the teal,. kind-hearted red girl, overflowing withanirth; arld.borne away with the excess-of her good spirits. Mrs. Jounso; leas the only actia.-: who could have done justice to the origi- nal elieramer, had it been drawn faithfully and with a congenial feeling. 'flie -other characters, with one • glorious exception—KEELEY'S Orange. Moll—are poorly drawn, and as tamely acted. • King Charles is merely a walking gentleman, and JONES made him look nothing more; and .joe Haines turns out to be a dull fellow,—the part was not at all suited- to MEADOWS. BLANCHARD was comical enough in Crowfoot, the phi lawyer. But Kr:Eta:sr, as Orange Moll, ' was excellent. He persoinfrad the Billingsgate virago of the pit to the life, and evinced a proper feminine volubility of tongue. Tbe scenery and pageantry Were. capital ; especially an authentic vie,w of the exterior of the first Drury Lane Theatre, and an interior vieWnith the arrival, Of the old-fashioned audience in the quaint cosh-tem .of that.day, and the entrance of the King. and his Ceara. In- deed, tbe spectdcle was the only part of the performance which carried hq..:11: td thelime of the Restorittion.
Dan Quixote has been got up at the Adelphi, with the same spirit and success which usually characterize the productions of this theatre; and with the advantage also of a very effective east of characters, par- tieularly in•the instances of 0. Satun as Don Quixote and REEVE as .Senchii. The piece, however, partakes too much of the extravaganza. I hew was no need to caricature Dim Quixote. The incidents selected -are not repre.serited with sufficient clearness. Almost every one, it is
fainiliar with the adventures of Don Quixote, and the audience therefore can readily fill up the impeded outline ; but the points selected should have been distinctly developed, and well introduced, in .order.to make up for the deficiency of wit in the dialogue. It is suffi- dently difficult to act up to a humorous description, and to bear out the represeotation the vivid impression made by it.
The tight with the windmill came haltingly off on the first night, in -consequence of Rosinante turning restive, and checking the fury of the knieuvs Career. The attack on the flock of sheep was obscurely indi- catedtbi means of small pasteboard figures moved across the back Of the seem; and the subsequent appearance on the stage of a shepherd 'with 'a fleece swung.aeross his -crook. The capture of Mambrino's helmet and the liberation of the galley-slaves were better managed. AncrSeirthko Was regularly tossed in a blanket ; REEVE perforining this .part of the character by proxy, of course—it would have been hard work' for tile blanketteers else.
0.-S.m•rri looked the Knight of the Rueful Countenance to the'life, .when.in repose.- His grimaces were not in character ; and he should have seemed more in earnest throughout. Don Quixote is a serious personage, who is not conscious of the laughter of the, world, or of the ridiculousness of•his figure. The barber's bacon—a very real and prOpdr compromise between helmet and bowl—became 0. Salmi. ex- -cellently' well ; and the gravity and absent look with which he wore it whenthe danced with the Dutchess; were in good keeping. His. ap- pearance„ too, as he rese up in hed like a spectre, wrapped iii a patch- work counterpane, was itresiatibly ludicrous. ' JOHN REEvE'S &inch.° was In parts very faithful to the original, and in all very droll. He was dressed well, and, with the aid of stuffing, looked tolerably squab and plethoric. lie occasionally forgot the clownishness of the cha- racter; • but the gusto and spontaneity of his humour made up for these lapses- and he caused abuodance of laughter. YATES played Cardenio, the jealous madman, very effectively; and Mrs. HONEY looked very &berating as Lucinda: in the drama they are represented, by a pardon- able licence,' to be the Duke Mid Dutehess of the story. Mrs. FITZ- wILLFAM, as Sancho's wife, dill well 'what little she had to do ; and BUCEISTONE, as the Barber; was- quite at home; shaving his customers with 'true professional dexterity.
The scenery—especially the ball-room at the Duke's palace, and the - fête, avith jets of teal water—was' excellent.
LisToN was -taken , soddenly ill in the-midst of his performance on Satuiday night; and has not yet• recovered Sufficiently to be able to re- .sume- his engagement 'at the °Veal& He is labouring under a severe nervous attack' to which he is subject. He alone of all men is so un-, fortunate'as to be shirt out from one of, the pleasantest and best reme- dies for low spirits, "going- tO see LISTON." Both 11,1tertiEws and LISToN are morbidly nervous; MATHEWS'S nervousness assumes the complexion of irritability, LiStores of melancholy.LISTON and Melancholy—what a conjunction of,opposites . the bane preying on
its an,tid,ote.. . •
Signor DEVILLE, for many seasons a useful performer in subordi- nate farts at the Italian Opera, died suddenly this week in a :fit . of apop exy.. •
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Th f.e_licences o :the Hayunirket. Theatre and the,English_ Opera-
house _have been extended t6 months in the year,—that is, from. the li.5th of March" to the .15th of 'November. The two &miner Theatres' are, now on a par with..the Winter ones, and- Mounts and Amami) will be able to make Up for their recent losses.' Tke-monodra" matic'entertairrinent with Which' Miss KEL1 y opens the Stranrt.Theatre next Saturday; is to consist of "' Dramatic Recollec- tions. and. Studies 'Of- Character." Her Dramatic Sehool is also an- nounced to commence forthwith. KiaiaLt: and 'his daughter hive lo 'amost liberal engagement at Boston; in coniequerice of thir. exorbitant 'demands; to WhiCh the Manager, with. proper' Yankee spirit, refused to' accede. Krann.E's proposal 1-la-Paganini to have half the receipts; Was even agreed to ; but that would not content him. Not satisfied With the golden eggs, be s for-ripping up the goose. Hies is 'making engagements' in this Country for his theatres in the Uniad 'States. Theatrical affairs seem to be in a. flourishing condi- tion Zin the 'other "side of tbe' Atlantic. The 'Italian Opera is well suppdrted and Jonathan noWonly Wants a corps of Germans to make him CoMplefe in all'poigh: Thp English company at Paris, under 'the management of Miss Smrritsex, seem to have had bad luck hitherto; but they have resumed perfoirmance, in the hope of better.
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