The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-15 00:00:00

OCTOBER 15, 1853. fairy element of this ibieee, was indeed a venture at whieh most managers would have hesitated. Mr. Phelps, however, has triumphed over his materials in a most remarkable manner. As sen►i-transparent fairies are to be hir►vl no more at Islington than e . sewhere, he has managed, by playing all their psrts of the play in a subdued green light, and by dressing his elves in a s' Inlet to gain the very unsul►stantial and mysterious sort of scenery and movement which we are ready to accept as proper to fairy land. And this efft.et is heightened by playing the grosser porti sof the play in full light. Thus the main idea which we must %appo►se Shaksp►ean. to have had in view when he wrote this play, of creating a sense of pleasure in the mind by the power of contrast—by entangling the blundering matter of-faet vulgar artisans in the gossamer web of fai►yland—was very forcibly set forth. Mr. Phelps played Bottom with great etli.et, and the scene where he dons the ass's head and receives the caresses of Titaffia is a minute bit of acting worthy in itself journey to Islington. The perfectly asinine manner in whirl► he returns her caresses by rubbing his long tins e atfeetionately against her cheek is irresistible ; and we must praise the mechanism of the head also, which cocks its ears and opens its mouth exactly at the will of the wearer. But the great science is the ludicrous bewilderment which comes over Buttons when he awakes front sleep divested of the ass's head. MS Lie.) works all over with conflicting pas sinus : now he elongates his nose and scratches a foot off it at his imaginary snout—now he feels for his missing ear—now he twinkles his eyes, as a donkey might when the fleas are troublesome — whether his face is asinine or hitt iiiii► for a moment perplexes the audience as much as himself, espe cially when he brays out " But a luau is but a welted fool if he will otter to say what 1 thought I had." After Phelps's acting of the muzzy weaver (why, by the way, does he play with such a very r•dl nose ?), th Pack of Master F. Artie was the most remarka ble in merit. This child—for he is little is certainly vastly clever. Ile has been, we believe, perhaming at Rochester and other plac►s as the "Young Garrick," and is one of those " pr►digies " that we sometimes see in boyhood, of the Master Betty species. A child rarely seizes the individuali ties of a character : in this instance, however, the Pack thototmhly enjoys the fun of his mission, ao►l the way in which he sits and rubs his hands whilst he watches the lovers squabbling in the wood is quite Shakspearian. The dressing of the fairies is managed with great taste ; and Cobweb, Naseidssono, Moth, and Mustard Seed are quaint as the creations of Fuseli. Miss Illation, as Oberon, was graceful. Miss Cooper, as /bleu►►, was UN) tremulous in her pathos, too lugubrious where the poetry required only tendentess of tone. The Hermi►► of Miss Travers was a clever piece of acting—t►N► violent in the scenes of altercation ; but we a►hnit that the wordy war between Helena and _Uremia is liiiiillll to present without trespassing on the vehement ; the passage is one in which the mighty bard is open to criticism. The Ilippolyta of Miss Potiman was dig nified and pleasing. The estAcufbie of the company in this revival was highly co mmenilnide, with the ex ception of Mr. Rsousby in Lysander, who mars and rants through ins part in a harsh voice, with his elan thrown up, an►l his head turned back, delivering passages of poetical music with the effects of buffoonery. The scenery is excellent, especially the distant view of .►thens, and of the Piraeus scene from the wood. ►►'e advise our playgoing friends not to lose the opportunity of seeing this pa•esentation of A Midsummer Night . 4 Dreang. The theatre was crowded to excess on Wednesday, and the private boxes and dress circles filled with a most re pert able audience. One of the unstudied " effects " in this theatre is the• immber of persons who take " Shakspeares" in their hands, and follow the actors reciting the verses of the text. PRINCESS'S THE vritv.. THF. brief recess at this theatre t - 4-mutated on 'Mon day. The new season opened with the selfsame pet f4prlllaltee as the old one left oft Sefribinapalwit eontinnes t ► Ie the chief attraction ; and, at the chief attraetion of Sardauopthot consists of its seettery nO4l mountings, these have lawn judi ciously renovated. ADELPHI. THE translator of /;liiirideFamille Las not even attPmpted to acclimatise the drama. The version wilieh, under the title of The Discarded Son, Ws. 1111411111 Cell 10 the Adelphi On Monday Hight 14 French, without reserve or mitigation. It is French in elm meter, French in construction, and French in senti ment. As the scene is laid iu France it may indeed he said that this air of nationality i 4 11Hly tit a n d appropriate. And so it may he. Rut, whatever con sistency and rraiseaddaiice may thus he given to the Piece lei a work of art, thene can lw no doubt that it seriously mars the appreciation which a play of such "powerful iuWrest "—as the bilk have it— THE PRESS. ought to receive at the hands of a metropolitan an dienee. Among the II rams I permake, moreover, all the chief male charilett.r. are military. Now, th e r retail army is s e essentially ditterent from o ar own in what we must call its domestie features—the free Rnil easy intereibili'M` IWiWeell eflieers and env ales — the iidmixture of sileial slants and regimental grade— the system of discipline---even the "point of honour - —vary so completely from anything which an English barrack or a eleibliain camp eau show, that the great mass of playgoers can hardly enjoy, or a lways understand, the victim.. The faith lies not with the author or the adapter ; nor even with andienees exclusively ltritish. Any natural, unexaggerated Englishman would be found quite as thin oarl e ss ill a Parisian theatre as the veritable Frenchman is in a London one. As a drawback upon the etrectiveness of the performance, this result is inevitable in all translated plays. But then, the *babe manager never produces translated plays. while his Anglican confrere seldom produces anything else. 110. //Warded SOH sutrers, as we lmve already hinted, to In re titan an average degree under this intluence; all the e, heekeel, Peon its very ex cellences—from the ingenious simplicity of its you struction, and the natural easy style ill whieli the principal characters are performed by Miss Waolgar and Mr. Leigh Murray. We have no space to detail the plot. Its leading ;lent ;Meld Is elltnl l4 lo 4 l to the dis c ardea son, - who appears as a were private in a regiment of %lowers quartered neat N alley. lie has in Banner )ears indulged iu elissipul , run steeply in debt, alai incurred llisgraee with his family. 111 despair he has enlisted, and makes it a point of honour to sent. his moll time in the ranks, unless — as he says—he van re-enter society with a Well bikini w ife Minn 1115 /11111. Such a spouse he fuels ill .I(b.liate do llelronte. whoite lie meets, disguised as a peasant girl, in a suburban tavern ; falls billow with at first sight ; and makes that love reciproeal to the point of distraie. lion when again encountering the lady on the very same evening in her own lady-diameter at cc found ball. The colonel of the regiment is his rival ; a duel ensues; and the " powerful interest " promised in the playbill is wrought out of the danger which the young lover runs sir being Awl, by s euteoce of a court martial, for fighting with his superior oftieer. Sotne fun of a rather laborious order is performed by Messrs. Keeley and Paul Itisllord in the cliaraeters of a silly drummer mud a tier el iermasier. Mrs. Keeley figures as a military . lady, Mulatto,. it General idfilri, the only eliaracier in the play that is "adapted" liar the English audience. She' assigns 14 • the French all the English victories at. the Nile, Alt totia, or Waterloo ; transfers to the Emperor the famous minimums, 0 guards, and at. then, I." MO "WOll . l, "when any 4 1„.r v at, ‘o rsion than her 111131 is suggested. The idea WWI good, lent is rather overworked, both by the author and the performer. A g other " French " attributes presented in this pky we imist not omit to include the stage rue striate, which rivals even the Boulevard ileaumarehais in finish and propriety. Another novelty, entitled //ad Charges, came Mil on Thursday. It is a trifling paw de eireaullaure, designed to turn to farrieal aroma the popular outcry against hotel over charges. A Captain Fitz chinle goes to an expensive le del, frightens the landlord into the belief that lie is the principal writer of " showing-up " letters in the newspapers, and gets a siimpthous (limier for less than prime cost. Mr. Selby is author of the fares., and plays the captain. The fun is all practical, awl lust very lively. ortign trt, Yittraturt, &c. NUNR•II NEW 1111I.IHN‘t I:EOCLATHINst. --- Withoßl entering into any disquisition whether the silks. 'pieta regulations 1w vonsonant with the freedom of trade, or not, we mate the facts as they are. Already, tip to the present time, e‘ery new building had 1,11 Iw examines, by the lechnieal seethes of the Building c o mmission before the walls were plastered saver anal the woodwork covered, for the sake of aseertaining whether this had been done according to Ilso. plan anal the existing regodations. Hy new regithainstis reeently issued, another inspect' is to inks, 'dies. before any new building eau be mummtlered to the inhabitants. Tte inspeetort have to inquire whether the tireislitees, staves, cellars, wells, e., are in a Mate esitTesponsling with Ilse seemity of the building and the health awl eoliths-1 of the inhabitants. The per feet dryness also is to Is. useertained, and, if all this Is. found satisfactory, then only a permit for the inhabiting 4 of the house is to be granted. Without these formalities, in future, not even a room, store, or ...hop, is to be surrendered to polish: to !he in. THE PRINCE lay IiVALIp:WN MATItI4 it.vrtos AT THE l'stynitsrrY or JV.NA.—The reigning Brand !bike of Saxe IVeimar has, on assuming the hereslitsry dig nity of hatieellor of the I'lli%er,ity of Jena, executes, lay Isis own sign manual the nottriettla *Um an the tolls of the unisex-ity of the three mains of l'ritsee Allsert, as well as of the Princes of Saxe Meiningen and Saxe Altenburg. 571 "Tut: I, isrSt . ITER " OF 14:1 1 % %IMO 1 1 4 V het 1r Ireerre W 414 painted by the great anis fear the rebelitry die 01 Maria &Ile But the fresco had 11et .4 binesolllllVll flint' that a breath sufficed to scale 44 parts of the eoloins:. Recently the restorer of paintings, Stelfatio Itarerzi. Ines di. co‘creil N Mettle. 11 huh these decaying colours 11111I,t'lettiliteiteftoil the MAIL %Mil .411 beillg 1641 1%11 the also I. painting has fully site ceeeleel. T h e same NI. Ilareiti had formerly con trived a method of re ing freseoes from the wall emit repliteito.* them on Ilikililubl, whirls Ibribeelo44 eta be reSObtleil tub With the . ' 141.1 Supper " of 1.. da Mr s Is . \ I till ( 'obig f ie thud the instrumental portion elf this year's musical and plitIllar11'.I"II I arl.ritlit. ham *tiniest out nitwit below general e‘peetation. At the lii' ginning the overture to the l'alishoSser had to he begun anew after the first twenty bars plapst, and in other pieces also the perform..rs I le w eotittotete fiasco. Al s rinks MissioN IN t %Tit %I. A run A. —Tliti apostolie delegate. 1 1 r. Knoblecher, hits sonnet', with stone other IlrieSlS, &t .11eviui.lrtn, Ulla starts for his missionary labours in Sudan and the lintels of the White Nile. lie intends to prtwieil tip the Nile its far its Nowittain or Koroslot, then to puss the *Omit Desert as possible, ill order to remit char. tutu in November. Too: Nit...ll4DM (1111: • 1'11 r.—At Weimar the Grand Duke has issued an order for the veleta - salon or Hit annual religious cenotiony iu memory of * ;seethe. Saxe Cielstirg Gotha, anal the other Thuringian duchies, hate determinist to elo the same. A Nrw Tor vs to . , called " Teatro after the celebrated writer, has heel* Tilted at Set‘tenti, Isis leirtliplace. An unlucky &evident tie Cllll e's I till the first night. The Irtirlis Irtslig Which the lucre witY suspended suddenly gilts. May, wad tile lwgldelolnU 111115.., %vit.:l6l3g 11041 1,4155:,4 would unl',►lliislt hove Lilies! tloe.e who were under it ill the pit, had nest the lamplighter oilsolie, per . eit Mg the danger iii time, seized hold of the sound 'tart 011 e of the nises, and. Biting the alum, kept the lustre suspended for a few seconds, oil the peril of Isis life, until he ch illi let it fall upon the empty scoots. His urw ens iii,l46l'llle/ I It's no the e‘ertissii. Then. ass a panic 11111 wig the sites-144115r., the lootse at the time I w111:f Vllllllllll 4 l als flat us 11 vs 111141 halls ; bid alter No title Iolle, 1.1 . 111 . 11* wlh I'e,bolV4l, luau the repro:swat& tits of till' piece weal 1.11 without interruption. Tim Erre - now Ts irrotien of Piedmont trans mitted in the i'Sbilis'.l' Scptclisher last inn private despatches, which produced The samitteer of iloverinewiti elespatelies transmitted was 109 ; 11155 , 45* 1 . 554* the udwiui.lnilion o I the lelegru!lhs, 1111 Melting I despat ches during the 'The foetal receipts Irian the Ist a .lawastry to the :1011a of September wittoottotetl lit tiro,ort:tr. 'Fin.: Ewer:note 14 Al si so has l'illifetiVatiii i i.raler of the Iron Crown, first class, on General ('omit chi Stockelberg, mill the cross of the same order sin M. do Molirenhoini, twen.tar, or the itio.ow embassy. .% I.l:•rriot from St. l'etershurg, of the :111th announces the 414.6t1i in that capital of the Princess 1 15•1 1 4.5111111kV, Wife 14 Ihr IGlss i aul Minister of War, formerly the Countess de St. '1 ' 111: I I sTi I. A kill IVES or I.'imays,.F.—Tila new arrangement of the archives of Florence presents much improiement on former systems. The locale assigned to the colleetino iv the petal t+ built by Vasotri for Ceastiso I. It 411111144 he compared with the arelsiie . s est' Naples, placed at St. Set erne), perhaps the titles, reeeenl lathe . .. in Kornis Still the Wilding of 1 sisari has also great merits, especially 1111 twessint of the large space it will *Weird ber the complete Fle.rentine wreltivem. The diplomatie col. Il'ettllll. Oilitileiteell ill lii M, esillt 81114 11141110 1*411,0 4 :10 Isarchisselit documents ; that of the times the Republic is 05M111 000 1 4 1 of . .Nl,P 4 4Nll'tseiettli of tin - bats dew' : the* t he ~l e di i i ,sll. 145,41110 ileeilw; that iii' the exilic/10er lists 11,1110 olunies or ; w hick, V. 111111111.41 with other 5 , 5* •Iwr rol lertilite , , will rake the !mother of ilortutient. tool ' , wreck (exclusive ef the 111111111 HO ) In II5,M;11. '1'10•5 requin.s it stupendous locale, which, howo.ver, iv at Istunt Isere. Ilan bellows hall, of %hie+ 11 linest contains the Nlestici illsoutients. WAttst:it iv now ileltglititiv the Vienna people, and Mr. litee iv sisal in that city, elbow deep in ve eminent law and musical diplomacy. Halt' wiles is 1.1,1•Mi..1. ill Vletlnu,has the satisfaction seeing The Ibthrositon (Julr in the plokilsills riery ten 11e is bringing out Iris opera Keolatithe the Kanotloner, Thor, with a new esistralto, Mailmen . Herrman, who loos a strong the:Orield chest voice, and take. the I.'ideg..t.c., as double to %%tomer. A Re• mese it whirls has been circulated, of photo graphic forgeries of Bank oaf England notes hmiug illlolllllll.lll, is 1111'181T1'11. Some ex periments hate reeently Is a n Mails. id the I billk wills the view to 51 ,4411:tin whether any precamiouto may he desirable. b u t there i 4 reason to suopose that south forgeries could 1.. presentkd without ituuttdiutw tletertion. ats ',2611 ; 136 : 1. to the the *lnlet! :omit do dr on M. inhassay. 111tH ult., lirinerces Of War, vr.—The 'mementos locale pelmets 1.4 stailiared Ses ern's), Still the eveeistlly . 14 we ' ril for the raMie coil- 14 els ate 06 f I' time% of P ; •,- 11f %ern atm INAS ; that Amuses of •Ittr rot m01t.% and • 5,01;11. 1, swi'ver, whieli 11.0 Vienna .111ssw sleets Mr. Italie, • 11-. Y. %faction of rsery ten Is/ant/se at ~ :Madame loe%t voice, ner. of photo. . le% hating Some ex- Wr Kink with lIIiININ May c that 1 ituum. diute * •