The National Register. — London, England, 1812-10-11 00:00:00

1;38 We have already described, in a former paper, the ave nues to the boxes, pit, and galleries, which arc made wide alid commodious ; and the hall beneath the dome, with its eight real marble pillars, and beautiful circular railing in the centre. The grand saloon is also truly magnificent, and tei initiated by two elegant coffee-rooms. The two grand stone staircases, and the bold flight on each, hinted by a bridge of iron, securely fixed in the will, but seentinJy suspended in air, form some of the chief m trnnents of that superb house, and display the bold genius of the architect. Colonel CONGR EV Cs plan for conveying water to every part of the building • has been' carried into execution, and the a7pleduct at the ilussell-street cortitt furnishes a sufficient flUalltity of water, to enable the numerous lion pipes, branch out like unseen veins through the stage, pit, boxes, and galleries, to play for a considerable time. The water, which is supplied by the York-buildings Water-works, can be forced to an altitude of 50 feet perpendicular, by the power of steam, and its abundance, as well as the solidity of the internal walls of this edifice, the back of the boxes con sisting of brick-work instead of -wood, as in our other Theafres, renders all apprehension of fire unfounded. The Grecian lamps beneath the dome, as well as those at the external flout of the Theatre, ate all executed by Mr. DE VILLE, and the fiont lustre and chandeliers by Mr, Sheriff BLADES. Tile Upholstery is furnished by Mr. OAK cry ; and in every part does the interior of this magni ficent- house display a classical taste and excellence of execution, as well as of materials. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. splendid . pantomime, in three acts, ini,erspersed with bombaoic dialogue and trilling sing-song, vas on Tuesday performed as a romantic drama, from the pen of Mr. DI :,10N n, under the title of " The .Ethiop, or the Child of the Desert." Ar4ted►narturn A;r«sclrid •is the hero of this superb pro( I Sill M • The 111 , 4 iS iin IC II sit the espolielits iesotted to by the to prove the atleetion of a fat 'wide Sultana, and et the t. t 1 peps Al..nauzar to I (* 4 .114 C to the dominions of ris father, Oras://M, the s of Ali, alto liatt ► reit dep sed and murdered h\ the tallier M . A Ireseltid A sor t o f u nderplot is a dded. with the in.cutio . n t relict in ! , the serious scenes of the plav by comic action. Ili, part Of the drama is founded no a French tale, w ht, h we :emenibcr to have teen in " Lc. Gen-ft , ?ounces.'' Airaschid introduce% himself to ..11 , .!t0i;,,,r, Orasmin, and their friends, its au .1 4 1h:a!), endowed with stiper-:.nanin p 0 .s e:, and im poses en their gew.e, by malting them believc , that an ivoty isaret ttLith he carries, cull mai:e those viewless who are tinder its; protec tion, to those Whom the prophet loves i.ot. This is upparently proved by the entvo,ce of his rmissat iv!, who affect not to see the consi , irators with w hum the Caliph pretends to league himself. 1 his dereptitoi canied 00, and by means of it Ana/tzar and Orusulipt are intro !need pito the g:!rdetes Of the seraulio. There Oraintia, who has pledod hile *elf to destroy Alrolchi , t, meets his sister, the Sattror. and communi eltes to her his de,ilto. ller mind is tutu by •eontl.cting emotions, as she s t ., pl a ced in that situation to which she is compelled to doom her brother. aMt her uncle to death. Love for her husband prevails, and 0, that apr ears resolved tosacritiee every thing. Abaan %al and Crosatin gain the chamber of the Culiph. The Sultqsta, in vain, endeavours to rouse her husband from sleep, and at length interposes her o II blr-01111 to shirld hint trout the meditated blow, when the C stars from his e,tich, and the apartment is seen lined with armed men. tr o litelt curtains bud before concealed from Aireschid is smisficd of the attectien and constancy of the .Bu/tersir, and - takes her broth, r, Orasm;n, under his protection. Almautnr retires in despair. Aftcr,this sketch of the plot, we think most of our, readers will agree with as, that its extravagance ought to exempt it from cliticism, however its intrinsic worthlessness may ex pose it to censure.- With this impression on our minds, we shall dismiss it as briefly as possible. The characters arc as miserably drawn as the play is injudiciously planned. A/- frawzor, who is introduced as a personage entitled to respect and veneration, dwindles into a cowardly bully, and a woutd•be THE NATIONAL 11F,GISTER. OCT. 11. assassin. This intrepidity manifests itself in his ead mess to at _ tack a weak boy, whom he had sworn to prwect, and in-thear- - dour with which he prepares to fight with a . defenceless woman His magnanimity is depicted by his ildvancin,,fr stab his foe while sleeping, his firmness, by his sutlefin:2; hi s fixed resolve to be changed by a word. A seniiincoai smv, .„. hr, who, eng:iged in a contraband traffic, is l'apouring about ho nour and honesty throughout die play, is made ,consti.. coons, and held up to adin. ,. ation a:: :i very amiable . .:I.aracter. After this s'pecimen of the treat furnishiA 1)r6,46, Persona., it is unnecessary for us to go. further to describe doting magistrates who attempt to corrupt theipugig.:;'(;r'si , :ii;; f , as these may be found, as well as the lady il the . farce Peeping Tom." The comic parts arc wi etched non.enti ties, and it is seal!) , surprising that Mr. DtMOND, who has no humour whatever, should so far mistake his talent, Ds to attempt any thing laughable in the teeth of all his critics who, however they may have di!'i . e!:ed from each other on sokie points, have been unanimous in their contempt for his eau is to excite risibility. From the success of his " Doubtful Son," (which, by the bye, we have since found is nothing but a close tiaasiation of Beaumarchais Mere (;oupab:c), we were in hopes, wiii.ll we heard of " The .f.thiop," that something tclerahle w oo kt he pi oduced, more especially as it had been "In prepawa: tion all the summer." How much we were disapponted may be conceived, from what has already been said. The piece contains nothing that can redound to the credit of its authors, and poor as it is, it has not even the mei it of being original. That Mr. DimoND should have taken the trouble to steal what was so worthless, provokes a smile of contenirt. It reminds us of the pickpocket who could not keep his hand out of another's pocket, though he 1.11”. w it was empty. In addition to the demerits we have already noticed, "The ,Ethiop" has the fault of beiti4 nearly twice as long as it ought to be. We wish it were to be curtailed as Swift' once curtailed a play which had been submitted to his peroial by its author. if erre , / other litre were blotted out, it would hut contain half its present defects, and the beauties struck out. with its faults would not be so numerous, or so great, as to give a. 'much uneasiness. The overture, if not one of the best we over lie: d, is cer tainly one of the loudest. The music, by Mr. Mitt op, is altogether pleasing, but not sti ikingly he scenery truly superb, and reflects credit on the libera!iLy of the managers, but we cannot say much for their taste in lavish ing it on such a production as "The Althiop." Tlie actors did their best for the author, who, unfortu nately, did not put it-in their power to do much. C. KEM Bt.V. appeared to great advantage in " The but You NG was kept very much in the back grouno in the character of Almarnar. LasiruN and FAwcETT were pil loried in parts hi which all "talent was lost. Mrs. H. JOHNSTON and Misr BOOTH were not quite so unfortunate in the Sultana and Orasmin; There was me - h opposition to ware.s the close of the perforirance, but the house was too well packed for the play to fail altogetbN, and the regula rity with which applause was thrown iq cit w'a , most wanted, made us half-inclined to believe that the managers had introduced - a cl:pping machine, whi!•!, they ccu:d work by a steara ; en'gine at e. • rliorißClAL` BR OvrouLk l ' On Saturday last, tr,r ;Le L tit of N1,4:,5..: i•:atrc vv . •AS • rather fast fully atter.ded. r yni A. 4 WW :!; ..t lfie h Merchant of V eiAce l (floe Devils, • ;awl 0 7" . ' :ot r On rt)is orclsion. ‘e had the pleastitc 1 ., •• 'J • of rs Mtn. Sydney and MI . A . Mrs. Sidliey e in Portia, wc arc L . Lildd‘ •A. 0( :-..-.; oil; of t. bad d ! Pt. w t fur 0: I .