The annual meeting of the proprietors of Drury Lane Theatre
was held yesterday, in the saloon, to receive the report of the Committee, .8cc. ; the Earl of Glengall in the chair. Besides the usual matters, the report enters into some controversy with Mr. Macready, rebutting his statements. The following passages comprise the chief points- " With reference to the state of the theatre when Mr. Macready entered upon the management, there was no attempt on his part to conceal the deficiencies ; and the Committee therefore made a corresponding reduction in the required rent, having also consented to stand chargeable with an outlay towards its ge- teeral equipment of nearly 2,000/. With respect to the wardrobe, which has been described by Mr. Macready as nearly valueless in one of the departments, the Committee consider the best answer to be given to such a statement will be found in the official documents usually returned to the superintendent of each
of the departments. • Ladies wardrobe, taken at;the commencement of Mr. Macready's term. £816 17 3 At the conclusion 1,154 8 0 Gentlemen's at the commmencement 3,476 5 3 At the end of the present season 3,486 18 0 The present value not exactly ascertained, but calculated at about the same.
" In his farewell address, Mr. Macready was represented to have stated, that be was called to enter into liabilities which he could not consent to. The Com- mittee are at a loss to find grounds for such complaint, when the extent of those liabilities, in a pecuniary view, was the payment of a nightly rent at the rate of 3,40001. per annum, so long as he occupied the theatre and no
longer. * *
" Mr. Macready has paid to the Committee, for a year and three quarters' occupancy of the theatre, in cash and advances for them in repairs, the sum of 5,1991. ; while the Committee for the above period have incurred an expendi- ture of 8,774/., leaving a deficiency of 3,5751. It is, therefore, the latter sum which, in plain terms, may be stated as the cost of the present advantages of the theatre as compared with the commencement of Mr. Macready's term."
The nnprecedentedly small amount received in cash has thrown the theatre in arrears to the renters and the ground-landlord- " It is true that there are now tenders sent in for renting the theatre under its present advantages for a lessee ; but the Committee must claim a little time to consider well the different offers, without hastily concluding a contract." The report was unanimously adopted.
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