The National Register. — London, England, 1809-10-22 00:00:00

676 THE NATIONAL REGISTER. OCT o*. ;adies do not throw their arms about whilst chatting with heir waiting maids i• in short, she ought to remember thaf genteel comedy is but a picture of life, and that the "saw lag of the wind," which may be necessary on a provincutv ige, is not suitable to a London audience. Some per solial allusions, respecting her own reception, were aa . .veered by friendly claps, and her verdict was unanimous. This week has teemed with novelty.—On the same eveti ing Mr. 'inlet made his second appearance on a London stage, in Timothy Quaint, and in Robin Roughead, in the firee. We do not consider the charact4 of Timollay as a Cnir criterion to judge of an actor's merit ; it is a mixture of Corp 'rat Trim and Caleb Quotem, without either origi wality or even a marked expression; much of its wit lies in tne dress, and depends upon the actor. Of the little given hum, however, he lost nothing, and he was even impressive ie the scene of gratitude ; but Mr. Knight casts his eyes too often on the Gods ; he came on the stage as ifercaeeed for a,pplanse, aod made bis bow before he had passed the sale scenes; his looks also, even in this character, were too stiff, and seemed as if made for the occasion. In the farce he was more nt home, but his dialect was rather au afflicted instic:.ty than the pure phraseology of nature ; it is only in particular words that it appears. He seems not SUili t iently to unite '' the action with the word ; he is owe !no ment acting, the next speaking ; his varieties of feature are rather the shiftings of grimace, than changes of ex, pression much, bon ever, must he allowed for a second appearance before a London audience; perhaps as he ac quires more experience he may be eaablekto throw more ofinature into his characters. To those who remember, and who does not ?—the ex quisite personification of Donna Violante by Mrs. Jordan, the attempt of Mrs. Edwin to represent that character en Thurs , day eventing, iu The Wonder, will appear at least a bold one. To say that she went through the part with decency would be far below her merit, yet we feel that indiscriminate praise would be equal) , erroneous. The character of Pio tante is one which does not strike at first, it rises in our estimation as its charms are displayed. The same observa• lion w.ll also apply to the actress, but on Thursday night she was not fairly dealt with, as the riotous behaviour of some jew-looking people in the sties interrupted her in the interesting c,mfidential scene with Colonel Briton, nor was until the rioters were turned out that the performance could t ,-ro on. some of our brother critics, in order to chroxicie thei , impartiality, have drawn a comparison between Mrs. Edwin and the above-mentioned actress, and they have thrown out some very severe strictures upon the former; from the style of the critique, however, we suspect that it was drawn up at home, at the charge of " want of attention to the bye play," seems by no means a judicious one. Mrs. Edwin ii also accused of acting too much; perhaps the emotions of her bosom were too powerfully displayed, but we defy the severest cynic who saw her, on Thursday night, to have re. mained unclectrified in that scene with the jealous Feii.c, , Vhen Flora whispers her that the Colonel has escaped, 114: marks of disapprobation were shown ; she was often ap plauded, and in one or two of the most striking passages, the audience most judiciously sheaved their approval by 'heir silence. There was an attempt at a first appeartlfle in the farce, by Mr. Horn taking the part of Frederick he seems to consider singing, not acting, as his duty ; he therefore, folded his arms twice, made two or three blun ders, and—this is all we have to say of Mr. Uorn, It is with pleasure we announce to the inhabitants of Li• verpool, that Miss Larkman will shortly take her benefit, We hope that this interesting young Lady may meet wit that success which her improving genius so higbly merits. The Royal Jubilee Hat and Bonnet, invented by Mr;. M Mara of the corner of Southampton-street, Strand s have created thk greatest anxiety in the FaAionable World. as they have kelt distinguished by the approbation of Ladies orate iratdiitiacOon. 4 1 1 01110 1 LYE It has been said by some poet, that " where nought is mob!) dared, no gat is e'er n bk. won;" an adsgc, how hick jUstity the jrw ire .he fithie; nor sv:i it stop the voo: of criticism, sve.•.a actors tvaleitake dif& cult ra.,•!cirs, rot which no one, perhao, but th, insclvi S supposed them We are led to this rem irk try the pertociriance ate ..•:iranger at this theatre on Men. dav, 'shell the stao manager of the L)ceern A!tenipted a cliar-etec which th: stage ia4;ticrer of Covent-Garden has 6,, one!' toitme pre-einicte:t: ; aud ‘ve call it a difficult elta. , ratter, not trout any intrinsic in-rit in the.characler ttseH Ai t . .eillea, 431 et:Ca':Se ii is (we in w tiicti sir much is left Ito the actor; we woold not, however, detract I•oin Mr. it ty merit ni less a:duotis parts, but he should ie- Cotieet .1340 there :s _rcat d [Terence bet een the (light of the umlaut and die soaring of the eagle. Mr. Raymond a toque de rte, to have nVstaken this character. Misanthropy wraps up the sufferer within himself, anti dues oot prompt Will to rant '' and tear his passions to tatters; it makes a inau rather contemptuously peevish, than r, fdll‘ ener ;: ctic ; • ;sod iu the tiist Iry ery iew with his ;!teirtic•rt, he s as too loud in his expostulations, where tie ...iglu to have been persuasise; too boisterous w:iere he ought to gave appeared splenetic. Towards the vest; ut the piece, lie beeline ritner inure intefruisPY ani gutted, It•r in the early part. all animation appeared to be contined to his legs awl arms: yet still there was much avaraciig, for his countenance seemed fixed for the gloomy se,erity of time pe:l3gPirue, rather than expressive of the it.iagto inelaucholy of the dishonoured husband and the i!ajius trie , ll We would also point out to Mr. Raymond, to m 1 the actions in real life must no! all be closely copied ou tie! s,ag? ; a delicate d,serimMation will always draw the hoe, and the joy of a fither at meeting his children, wtnmld nave been better delineated by one look tut silent ef , -.pr:ssioa Our: by the kissing of a doting nurse t—besides, w hen the ` tranger first finds vent for his I..ars, it mit7/ tics pet - inured hon to look at them on his hiv..,ikerchief, but 0 blaze wit nose afterwards is rather too much in th. Dutch M. s. Powell, it being her first appearance Cr the season, was riceivel with applause. We will not e isef iiiio inv:dious comparisons respecting her conception of the charw.ter; 1101 iv it necessary further to notice the rest of tic Ir-rformers. In the farce of the nree and the .Dcace, i)e Cau), for the se.-ond time, performed the three .SYn k rlcs, with hi; usual versatility. Oa fayslay, the new actress, Mrs. Edwin, male her second appf , ran-•c• 03 a London stage, and was greeted with !hat avid ut ?oda use which arise,; not merely from a lettrOSl l I f'r but k strongly indicative of appro bation. i'ro•ti the character selected for her debut We may supo.e that Ole coasiders the lively parts of grated come d. as leer/ ric, nor do we think that sire has mistaken her p e, s. naacoura,:.ed as she was, it was scarcely possible tna d tidence should mar her efforts ; indeed the only 11.. a w !Lek to her acting was, that the frequent applause made her too often appear as the actress rather than the Sod'er's Daugh;er. Though not eery young, yet she i h ear ble of assuming the youngest characters, both fioin face and figure ; the first is pleasing and expressive, the later graceful, though rather below the middle size. Her sro,ce is peculiar!y harmonious, and su ffi ciently changeable to express the pliss;mis in her line of characters; and her eye aleme, independent of the dialogue , would have car ried her throt.gh many of the scenes : she made all that could he, am! perhaps o ore than the author conceived, of the ('heerly, and the happy confidence inspired by well-merited approbation, left her quite at liberty to display her complete acquaintance with the " business of the sta'ee." Her bye play was sprightly, and, what is not al • ways the case,uite in character. Mrs. Edwin ought, however, to reco l lect that Comedy is not Tragedy, and that a redundauce of action is not usual in common life : fiue • ~ h 11 1-- C a 11 e d y e d d r a • it d it a le - ig 7.1 ke 0- 1. 1 ,4) S, r!, li- t. Ik elk A.