THE THEATRES.
A Full. house is a phmnomenon on this side of the water ; it is a nightly occurrence on the other : the Surrey Theatre is crammed to the ceiling as a matter of course ; and while his brother managers think themselves lucky if they escape ruin, Mr. DAVIDGE is making a rapid fortune. The secret of this success is cheapness : it dates from the time when the manager lowered the prices of admission one-half. The audiences are of a more miscellaneous character than at the high- priced theatres, but they are well-behaved ; a little uproarious in their expressions of impatience, perhaps, and not nicely discriminating in their applause, but making up for deficiency of judgment in heartiness of delight at what pleases them. Nor is their taste so very. low.: Jim along Josey, being a novelty, is preferred to Othello, which is none; but the admirers of My Poll and Partner Joe can also relish the Sonnambula. The entertainments must be good of their kind ; and the humbler sort, being easier provided in perfection, and better appreciated, necessarily predominate : effective representation, how- ever, is essential to make cheapness profitable. Since the failure of HALFE'S attempt to revive English opera, Wusosr, Miss ROSIER, LEFFLER, and other vocalists, have been singing at the Surrey, in The Castle of Andalusia and Guy Mannering, followed by The Quaker, and other musical afterpieces. This class of performances might not have been remunerative at the high prices ; but they are profitable at the low. The system adopted by Mr. DAVIDGE would have worked equally well in any other of the Metropolitan boroughs. Lambeth supports two other theatres, the largest among the "Minors "—at least it did till Astley's was burnt down. Not that the denizens of the New Cut and St. George's Fields are more theatrically-inclined than the in- habitants of Finsbury and the Tower Hamlets, but they have better and cheaper amusement near to their own doors : it is not the old re- putation of Sadlers' Wells that maintains lits popularity, but the new pieces, clever acting, and pretty scenery. Transport the New Strand or the English Opera company to Whitechapel and Shoreditch, and they would draw better audiences than they do now at the same rate of admission ; and at Surrey prices they would fill houses twice the size. The moan about the "decline of the drama" is cant : people like to go to the play, but they cannot afford to pay so much, and do not like to go so. far from home for amusement ; moreover, they like to see some- thing that will give them the stimulus they require. For the enjoy- ment of rare excellence the few will pay high, or submit to some incon- venience: witness the crowds that flock to see RACHEL, and the suc- cess of the German Opera. Observe the sort of people that consent to be stoved up in those ovens in the roof at the Italian Opera and Drury Lane ; and calculate how many more there are of the respectable middle class, with limited means and refined tastes, who deprive themselves of a high treat, not choosing either the alternative of paying half-a-guinea or incurring the penalty of a headache. Had RACHEL performed at Drury Lane at playhouse-prices, she would have filled the house for six times "five nights"; and if the admission to the German Opera had been the same as when MALIBRAN and SCHROEDER appeared on these boards, the: speculation might have been much more profitable ; the pay-places would have been besieged rather than the " free list." There is no "free list" at the Surry, we opine ; for who would beg of a manager for an order when he could pass in for a shilling or two ? and who would pay five or ten shillings when be could have an order for the asking ? The present management of Covent Garden by restricting the paper currency of the theatre enriched the treasury ; and splendid representations with diminished prices have paid well : the proceeds of the gallery reduced from two shillings to one, we in- cline to think have exceeded the average amount of receipts under the old prices. It may be urged that the Surrey entertainments fur- nished by Mr. DAVIDGE, being mostly of an infenor order, the case is not satisfactorily made out : we shall have an opportunity of putting this to the proof. Coriolanus is announced at the Surrey, with a provincial tragedian for the hero ; and we presume it will be got up in good style, or its performance would not be worth while. This play, though one of the most magnificent of MACREADY'S revivals, is understood not to have cleared its expenses at Covent Garden : we are curious to know what success it will have at the Surrey. Mr. Osnamarwrosi, we per- ceive, has opened the Victoria at the same prices as the Surrey, and
gives Othello as an afterpiece to a new melodrama founded on the "Adventures of Susan Hopley."
We have been led into this consideration of stage economics by a visit the other night to the luckless Lyceum ; which we found half empty, notwithstanding the alleged "great attraction" of SELBY'S dra- matic version of Burnaby Rudge. It is, like all that class of productions, merely a series of "tableaux," in which the performers, dressed an- cording to the descriptions, stand in the attitude of the figures in the cuts, and speak the dialogue of the novel. The succession of bald dis- jointed scenes is wearisome : the characters have the artificial air of theatrical personages, without the dramatic effect of action : it is the very still-life of the stage. Nevertheless, Miss FORTESCUE'S persona- tion of Burnaby 1?udge, the idiot boy, is graceful and touching ; SELBY, as Mr. Chester, a master of the ceremonies in hypocrisy and rascality, is well-dressed, soft-spoken, and looks lies ; and SALTER, as the mys- terious murderer and outcast, by his forcible acting makes SELBY'S de- nouement to Boz's unfinished story the most effective scene of the whole. And S. SMITH, as Bloch Hugh, the savage Ostler, GRANBY, as Gabriel Varden, the locksmith, and Mrs. HARRIS, as Miggs, the toad- eating servant, are each capital representatives of their respective parts. MACREADY has returned to the Haymarket ; where he is engaged, it is said, until after the term of his lease of Drury conimences: he appears tonight in Money. CHARLES KEAN "has been prevailed upon to post- pone taking his benefit" for a few days, and is performing "more last nights" with ELLEN TREE.
The German Opera season closes on Wednesday ; the performance on Monday will be for the benefit of Herr SCHUMANN, the manager. At the Strand, a new fairy piece, which has been long in preparation, is announced for Monday.
TAGLIONI is came at last ; and as the Italian Opera season is fast drawing to a close, the few nights for which she is engaged are not likely to become more numerous. We have not seen her ; but CHarro, with youth on her side, has so greatly improved, that she is every season becoming a more formidable rival to the Queen of the Ballet.
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