THE THEATRES.
Ter closing of the two Great Theatres suggests a retrospect.of the past season, and a comparison of the two managements ; than which, no two things can be more opposite. At Drury Lane, the old vicious and de- lusive system flourished in all its rankness: expenditure, profuse in proportion to the looseness of the obligation to fulfil pecirniary en- gagements, was lavished on dresses and decorations with a heedless neglect of the nicer proprieties of stage-show ; a shameless disregard of the incompetence of individual performers thrust into principal parts, was coupled with a mendacious effrontery in puffing their pre- tensions ; and unlimited issues of orders served the twofold purpose of filling the house and supplying the deficiencies in the remuneration of the company,—the attraction that the stage representations failed to offer being, moreover, made up by the allurements of the green-room arid tee saloon. At Covent Garden, the sole reliance of the manage- ment was on the quality tool interest of the entertainments; all avail- able talent was secured, and moderately but certainly recompensed; a liberal economy in the outlay of money was combined with an unspar- ing use of that valuable but unexpensive article taste, and immense labour and pains were bestowed upon the arrangement of the scenic accessories and the drilling of the performers ; the practice of order- giving was wholly abolished ; and the frequenters of the theatre_ drawn thither to witness entertainments upon whose nierits the play- bills were silent—were not annoyed by the offensive horesion of improper characters. The contrast is striking: the good effects of the reformed system have been evident in the improved character of the stage representations and the order and decorum of the audience; arid the public voice has borne hearty testimony to the success of the experiment. The pecuniary result of the present season has not been answerable : to both theatres it has been a losing one; but in the one case the loss has been borne by the enterprising Manager who effected the reform, in the other it has fallen upon the unfortunate actors.and the mismanaging Committee. M ACREA DY, however, has a chance of reaping the reward of his successful experiment next season : at any rate he is secured, it seems, from further loss by the public-spirited con- duct of a few wealthy individuals (including a few of the more prospe- rous actors) who have come forward with a sum of 4,0001. to bear him harmless—a generous and well-deserved support that will probably riot be needed. Drury is to be let again ; in their choice of a lessee, it is to be hoped theCommittee will profit by past experience. Why not make it an English Opera-house ? In reviewing the past season, all that rises to time recollection at Drury is the fantoccitri figure of Citaiii.es KEA N darting to and fro, and a faint echo of the brazen clangour of BALFE'S and BENE. nier's operas. At Covent Garden, Rooers opera of 'bailie has taken stronger hold of the memory ; Miami's Lady if Lyons and KNOWLES'S Woman's Wit are yet in the freshness of popularity ; and the impression made by the magnificent revivals of Mac- beth, Any Lear, and Coriolamts, remains as vivid as ever. We are glad to know that these restorations of SHAN SPEA RE have brought money to the treasury—for this, of necessity, is the manager's test of stmeess. There is still scope for the exercise of taste and judgment in the same quarry ; and the old dramatists are a mine almost ;reworked. But novelty is the grand attracting power. A good play is the sheet- anchor of the stage ; yet it is the one thing that managers trust to the
chapter of accidents for. They rely too exclusively on actors and scenic display : these are but the means to an end. The stage without n literature is a body without a soul. The present race of actors are, it must be acknowledged, not such as to adorn the drama : they are foil to the author's wit, not light to his hidden meaning. The size of the two Great Theatres dwarfs their pretensions, in proportion as it tends to aggrandize their profession. People's expectations are raised by the magnitude and splendour of the houses, to a height that the little- ness of the performance contrasts with most ludicrously. That which satisfies on the boards of the Haymarket or the Adelphi, is intolerable at Drury Lane or Covent Garden.
We mention this not invidiously, but to remind managers that there are such people as authors; and that, by a singular coincidence, it al- ways happens to be a successful new play that brings most people to the theatre and most credit to the performers. "Stock pieces," though they cost nothing for copyright, do not always repay the ex- pense of getting them tip; while the production of a new play is com- rratively inexpensive. Managers ought to know their own business bst, however. and MACREADY, who, before, was the means of pro- ducing several dramas, has a circle of literary friends eager to aid:hint arid benefit by his exertions. But the coterie of a tragedian does not embrace "all the talents ;" nor does it follow, that because the desk of the " reader " is loaded with trash, there exists no dramatic genius but what is known. There is more likely to be "some mute inglorious" M me Lowe or M ASS1NG ER. than" MILTON," WhOM the diffi- culties and delays hitherto experienced by aspirants for stage fame have deterred from its pursuit. A direct arid open channel of communica- tion, enlightened and impartial judgment, judicious encouragement, and even friendly assistance to talent of the right kind—where the only obstacles to success were technical—might draw ont latent power. The most successful dramatists have been those connected with the theatre professionally : this fact speaks volumes on the necessity of a knowledge of the stage business to dramatic writers. But this is not intuitive ; it must be learnt, and experience only can teach it. The most valuable assistance has been rendered by AI AC R EADY to the authors of those plays that be has brought forward—without which, in- deed, they could not have been acted. He has too much on his hands to devote his time to moulding into shape the crude conceptions of tyros; but there are playwrights enough who might profitably vary their occu- pation of spoiling smart French vaudevilles, by tinkering the ruder
rennufacture of native artists. Some useful hints, deduced from the example of popular pieces, might be thrown together to explain the rationale of "stage-effect," and the mechanical points of construction and representation. The sale of such a book would produce a kw pouirds, for it is a maiden subject : some book-maker may thank us for the notion.
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