MADEMOISELLE JENNY COLON LAFONT.
A FEW eccentric characters there are in this world, who dislike new things for the very novelty that recommends them to the mil- lion. The dramatic SPECTATOR has no better excuse to plead for his silence on a subject worthy of all mention, than a repugnance to encounter new faces and to change old habits. At length, however, he has found his way to the Comedic Francaise ; and been rewarded for the exertion by recognizing two faces which lived in memory, although the names of their owners had escaped it. M. LAFONT and Mademoiselle JENNY COLON, who, married long since in merit, have, as it appears, made a match in matri- mony, were the performers, to the accidental sight of whom on a provincial stage, he owed what SARDANAPALU s or HELIOGABALUS advertised for in vain—a new pleasure ; for such, well played, and seen for the first time, is to an Englishman the exquisite coni- medy of our neighbours.
Whatever be her qualifications for the superior walks of the drama, the Comedie Vaudeville at least could not appear under happier auspices than those of Mademoiselle JENNY—COLON in the public love, and LAFONT by that of her husband. To sum up her merits in one word—if one word can express so much merit— hers may be said to be preeminently the agreeable of acting. It does not thrill you with rapture like that of MARS, or bewitch you like that of the tiny enchantress—VEETPRE—extorting from modest Englishmen exclamations which they are abashed at having uttered; —but it exercises a pleasing influence, and disposes you to a good- y, ill amounting almost to affection, In very truth,the adoration which the Parisian public sometimes manifest for a favourite actress, ceases to be marvellous in the eyes even of the comparatively parzon " mobiles" Britanni. Mademoiselle COLON is fair-browed, with la blonde chevelure—an order of beauty neither so common, nor so highly-prized asa mong us—of a stature rather below than above the ordinary, and a figure which in point of fulness is luxuriant but not yet exuberant. Her viscomica however " vivid," is neither SO irresistible nor so comprehensive as that of MARS and VERTPRE, of whom the first can coquette it in one piece, high-born dame it in another, and be plaintive, impassioned and all-subduing in a third ; whilst the other—is a witch without more words, combining in her petite form an assemblage of the most incongruous properties, and born apparently to achieve impossibilities. Mademoiselle JENNY COLON reigns over the girlish, the innocent and the sus- ceptible, the simply arch and exuberantly gay. She is French sentiment personified, which along with the gaiete de caw,- that ir- radiates the face, blends enough of the pensive and the sad to soften the voice occasionally and throw the eyes into a shade such as sum- mer clouds diffuse over meadows lately brilliant with the brightest sunshine. It was our happiness last week to see and admire Made- moiselle COLON in " Jean " and " Les Deux Peres ;" but in " Les Premieres Amours" it was that she hit the mark with the exqui- site precision which leaves in the mind an image almost as enduring as that of les premires amours themselves ; and which demon- strated exactly where lay the forte of the accomplished artiste.
In " Les Premieres Amours," Mademoiselle COLON represents the girl expanding into womanhood ; who, bred up in the seclusion of the country, retains a good share of the simplicity of the child. In early years she had enjoyed a playmate in " mon cousin Charles," whom the lapse of time naturally converted into a lover, and with whom on his departure for the world sonic seven years ago rings were interchanged—the pledge and the emblem of never- ending love ;—" depuis, j'ai toujours pense a lui, mais je ne tai plus TCV11." Her affectiona faithfully preserving the direction thus given them, when other youths advanced to pay their court, it was only to raise the reflection—quelle difference !—ce nest pas C'harles—ce n'e,st pas tai. In the words printed in Italics her slightly plaintive accent was a faint cello of MAns—not indeed bespeaking the profound imperishable, and well-grounded affec- tion of which a strong-minded woman is capable, bff the pretty fanciful, sentimental penchant of a girl, in whose heart memory, acted on by the imagination, has raised an image existent nowhere else but in that heart. Rein tetigit acu—the actress was here very nature itself, and whilst she disposed you to sympathize with her long-remembering attachment, she at the same time moved you to laughter at its childishness. To the fretfulness which is apt to rise in such a breast, so occu- pied, at the mention of a suitor recommended by parental autho- rity, Mademoiselle COLON gave an expression delightfully comic. It was but yesterday that E mmeline had thus been threatened, and- " depuis bier j'ai la migeaine ou lafievre. je ne sais laquelle ; mais ca me fait Lien mat." This assumption of the valetudina- rian—this sudden discovery of herself in a rapid tteeline at the prospect of an odious suitor and the absence of the favoured one— was aline stroke of girlishness sentimentally in love. But true as it was to nature, the charm of it was surpassed by that of another speech immediately following. In a deini-pathetic tone she half * We regretted that so few people were present to partake of the gratification ; a circumstance we can attribute Lu uoLidug but to the interruption in the usual nights,of performance arising from the observance of the 30th of January ; which, tor no reason that any man can assign better than custom and habitude, is permitted to de- prive expensive establishments of a whole night's profits. On other occasions the .i.'rench Play has drawn comfortable houses.
weeps over the image which fancy conjures up of her father lament- ing over her early grave ; whilst at the same time she half smiles
with a consciousness of the ruse she is playing off on him."— '" Ma pauvre fill. ! ' she imagines him exclaiming, ma pauvre Emmeline, QUI ETAIT SI GENTILLE ne sera plus temps." This was perhaps the most delightful touch of a performance replete with the attractions of consummate nature. But there is a vein more congenial than even the above to Made- moiselle COLON—one of exuberant gladness,—when, with half- closed laughing eyes, she presents a face so enjoue as might smooth the wrinkles on the brow of care itself. When " mon papa," subdued by the image of his " title unique" sinking under paternal obduracy into the tomb, consents to write to the " jeune homme" to decline his visit, Emmeline's rapture and impatience almost raise the spectator's hands and close them in spontaneous ap- plause—" Ah que vous etc aimable ! tenez mon papa, hi, tout de suite, tout de suite." Nay, her joy overflows in commendation even of the note, which she regards as though it deserved to be caressed for the goodness of its argument—" Dieu ! que c'est biers icrit." Then what an assumption of sageness, when with a " diable de raisonnement" as the father expresses it, she reasons him into acquiescence in the propriety of dismissing the lover without seeing him I—" C'est plus honnete, et je same gull sera parfititement content."—Nothing could surpass the self-convinced, self-satisfied air of this winding up of the argument. The rejected-before-seen lover is not a person so easily dismissed. A Frenchman, he had determined the alliance to be " convenable ;" and a gallant of some note, he finds himself prompted to attempt the conquest of one " qui a dejii refus6 vingt partis." With the boldness of a hero of Vaudeville, he resolves to personate the ab- sent " cousin," trusting that a separation of seven years would be too much even for the eyes of love ; and with the daring disregard of probability characteristic of the Vaudeville, his imposition suc- ceeds. The childish eagerness with which, having once caught the idea, she pursues the quest to what she conceives to be absolute conviction, and then puts aside all attempts to unconvince her, was admirably painted :—" Non, non vraiment—vous me trompez—ce que vous lui disiez—tout a-l'heure—votre trouble—votre embarras —ses yeux fixes sur les miens.— Charles c'est tot t' Her convic- tion, rapturously expressed itself, delights the spectator the more from his consciousness of the absolute mistake which is at the bottom of it, and which gives a ludicrous effect to eestacy of her gladness. "And you knew me again !" says the supposed Charles- " Sur le champ," responds she,—" sans savoir pourquoidetais un peu agitee—c'etait un pressentiment qui me disait : IL EST LA," I he reader will easily imagine what effect this description of agi- tations and presentiments, given with an air of the most perfect good faith, and with tones and an expression of face half lapsing from hilarity into the tender,—will have on an audience possessed all the while of the real state of the case.
The subsequent scene with the supposed cousin, in which lie is puzzled to keep pace with her rapidly recurring and delighted re- miniscences, was perhaps the most fruitful of comic entertainment. The recollections of former times—the stolen visits to the farm in search of cream—" c'etait toujours toi qui en mangeais le plus"— the stolen kiss of which she promised to complain but forgot- " mais dans ce temps la, deja vous etiez hien hardi"—above
the agreement made on his quitting home—" vous savez
!taut'' (which sadly perplexes the impostor)—were delivered in the very spirit of a person absolutely relapsing into the child- hood from which she has just emerged. In the eestacy of her joyful fetrospections, she bends as though she would rest her hands on her knees, after the manner of one possessed with uncontrollable delight and quite forgetting the staid pro- priety of the woman :—" to souviens-tu comme nous etions gais, comme nous etions heureux et ma pauvre tante Judith, comme nous in faisions enrager ! " The mention of aunt Judith reminds her that" Monsieur" has not yet spoken of her "pauvre tante." " C'est vrai," replies he, committing himself—" she must be very old:' In what a delicious burst of mingled astonishment and reproof was the rejoinder delivered ! — " Comment ! bieii vieille 1—mais elle est mark. &pais trois ans."
We have reached our utmpst limits, ere half the inimitable strokes of this charming performance have been recapitulated. At the outset, we said, Mademoiselle COLON'S acting did not convey the rapturous sensations created by the two enchantresses mentioned above, with whom she is not unworthy of being named. On stirring up our recollections of her Emmeline, we find we ought to have said—generally speaking her acting creates emotions of a more moderate nature. The peril-in-I-lance we have considered shows that she can pass the boundaries of the " agreeable," when the part allotted to her conspires with the turn of her genius. On the word of men who hope to be saved as well as others, we declare we could have exclaimed at more passages Excellent one with the rough but honest hearty emphasis of Othello—" Excellent wench !—perdition catch my soul but I do—honour thee."—" 0 lame and impotent conclu- sion!" would Desdemona have rejoined.
Of M. LAFONT, whose Jean is a unique and admirable perform- anee—of our old acquaintance LAPORTE, whose altendrisement in relating the last words of his god-son Jean's mother, showed he had " not lost his G "—of Mademoiselle JOLY, who is Art Julie, and a great acquisition to the company—and of St. ANGE, who deserves infinitely more laud than she gets,—we could write at length ; but " Ohe jam satis est," say the fingers of the writer, and " Olie jam satis est" will re-echo the voice of the reader.
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