THE THEATRES.
TALFOURD'S new tragedy, The Athenian Captive, which was to have been produced toolight at Covent Garden, is postponed, by the sudden and severe illness of Mrs. Wansee, the representative of one of its principal characters. This, we may be sure, is no " thea- trical indisposition :" the lady lots our best wishes for her speedy reco- very. On Monday, Romeo and Juliet will be performed ; ANDERSON arid Miss HELEN Factor being the hero and heroine, and AlaeREADY filling the subordinate part of Friar Lawrence—which, however, re- quires the finest talent to make it impressive and give due value to the beautiful poetry. This is urn excellent example,—the Manager carry- ing out in his own person the system that be has followed generally throughout the season with such admirable effect.
The event of the o•euk having gone off, the only occurrence worth noting is the rt•appearance of SHERIDAN KNOWLES on the stage ; which he honours only for a few nights, supporting his " pupil," Miss Eseuns- STONE, in the Hunchback. The Julia of this lady disappointed us : we think it even a less successful effort than her Constance. Both were marred by forced assumption --over-acting, as it is called --the substitution of stage artifice for the higher refinement of simplicity. Miss ELPHIN- sroNE appears to have been more accustomed to serious than lively cha- racters : having seen her in each, we think she might succeed in both— but not in either, unless she Call discard the theatrical mannerism, and trust to the pronmtings of her own feelings. She is not,"we dare say, de- ficient in sensibility ; but it is repressed by the cold conventionalities of her art. Over-much tutoring, and the baneful probation of provincial theatres, have bad their usual effects ; and they are visible in the mouthing declamatory mode of delivery, alternate whine and rant.. In Alias ELPHINSTONE'S case, injudicious training has had no injurious effect on her action and deportment, which are free and graceful : but otherwise she seems in danger of following the same course as MSS TAYLOR arid Miss HELEN Faucet., who have become thorough-paced practitioners of the mechanical rules of theatrical elocution-teachers. We do not allude to Mr. KNOWLES in particular : indeed, judging from his own acting, which is only tolerable for its feeling and earnest- ness, we should infer that no instructions of his could sophisticate. It is the system that is in fault. What is called "the art of acting," instead of assisting the development of character and the expression of genuine emotion, imposes formal restraints and arbitrary laws, that stifle spontaneous impulse and check the natural exercise of the faculties. Some old stagers, by long habitude, acquire ease—learn to grace
their fetters ; and others—ClIARLES KEAN, few instance—by dint of energy make their clanking effective : but CHARLLS KEMBLE and MACREADY are the only two splendid instances of the natural man breaking through the crust of custom that cases the sensibilities as a mask does the visage. The career of a stroller tends to vulgarize the artificial style. Applause to the player is the breath of life. To insure it from a country audience—ay, and from the majority of many a town one too—noise and violence are necessary; while in large theatres
the size of the house renders some degree of exaggeration essential to produce an effect. The wonder is, that truth should subsist at all, amidst this combination of the false and factitious.
But to return to the Hunchback at the Ilaymarket. We never saw the comic scenes between Illodus and Helen played properly before : and therefore, till now, they always seemed out of nature. Miss TAYI.Olt caricatured the wantonness of the lively girl ; and ABuort made the bashful bookworm look like an automaton or an idiot. Mrs. Forzwistrast was playful and coquettish, not boisterous or rude : and HEMMING showed that his backwardness was not insensibility, but mere slowness of perception and scholastic shyness : as it cousin, he was easy mid familiar with Helen ; but when he regarded her as a lover, he became timid. Mr. E. Gi.ovse avoided giving offence, but Le neither imparted dignity nor pathos to Sir Montag Cli.1Thrd: he was more of "the clerk" than the gentleman, and the humble suit of the secretary became him too well. WELSTER, as the coxcomb, made the pompous inanity of affectation rather too grave ; but he steered clear of buffoonery, and seemed properly iniconscious of his ridiculous airs. The mythological burlesque of Hero and Leander, at the St. James's, has too much need of the allowance of Easter-week to be noticeable now. Mrs. HONEY'S shapely legs, gaudy scenery, some excessive buffoonery by Mr. WRIGHT, and the puns of the rhyming dialogue, are the principal points of attraction. Apropos of Easter speethele Sindbad has altogether disappeared- For all the roc and the stupendous egg, and the Valley of Diamonds, and the glistering serpents that acted their parts so well, and the glo- rious Cyclops, it failed to attract, for want of interest iii the drama, amid was discontinued to save the heavy nightly expease. Here is a notable fact showing the worthlessness of spectiode, merely as such : its value as ati accessory has been abundantly proved at the same theatre. Good dramas are still the grand want of the stage : actors may be indifferent, scenery and stage appointments bad, set a sterling ;day will not lose its interest as a novelty even by mediocre representa- tion.
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