The National Register. — London, England, 1812-11-15 00:00:00

• :) ,T. 15. DRAMATIC REGISTER.. DRU ltd'-LANE. 'lr. RAE. front Liverpool, who some years ago p-rformod , t; the lad market, made last night a most successful (Abut :isTheat.e in // mkt. The figure of this Gentleman is w lying in importance lay those who have been ac ,,oomed to contempl.ste the majestic form of K rst ut.t in t i c 5 ,,„i.• ctvtractet, itud there is a sharpness about his lea tws w'och detracts sotnewhat from the dignity of Lis rotiorenance The former, however, if not a very cow _ in:wiling, is pod, and the latter, though not all it, nrioa be, is by no means destitute of expression. Ills ..Re, from his not having been accustomed to so large a theitie, he does not yet know properly how to manage on c;csv o ccasion ; and in consequence of this, it sometimes ! heo , ows ont.leilsantly shrill, and not audible to all parts of t:10 house. This fault we expect he will be able immedi at, !, 1,. cot rect ; and we are confident his powers, properly exerted, are competent to give full effect to every thing he Ind hp%e occasion to utter. His performance was much and tl.serv.d . y aiplauded throu,hout. In some instances he ga% e us an oriental reading of the character ; and this, if not always entitled to praise. s.ented to mark that di , po , ition to ext-cke a jodyonent of his own, which is necessary to make actor. lAttness of the hour forbids us to follow thiough his. Hanitel at present, and as we cannot notici LA his tveri•s arld defects here, it would hardly be fair to anti to the publit, to speak of one and not 4)f the other. Impat;iality, therefore, compels us to defer any farther ob sertations we may have to offer till next Week. DowToN was an excellent Po/onius, and RAYMOND a ve , y respectable Ghovt. The other characters, vith the ex ception of 'Miss K ELL y'g Ophita, were but indi&rently filled up. Laertes was enacted by Mr. WA I, t.la cig., who shook " the box that held his brains," so much, that we can only say of him as was Prinerly seed of rock Rubbin 4, !" Wiggle w•-tvvl , went Ito head COVENT GA.,DF.N THEATRE. On Tuesday and Thursday Mr. BETTY performed in the Ear/ of Esser and Doueas. The former play has long been I a sort of dramatic dead letter, and we cannot say we feel regret at learning that it is likely to continue so. The ; lovers of the Drama would have bad much reason to deplore the effects of Mr. BETTY'S acting, had it been the means of placing this Tragedy again on the stock-list,; and well might it have been said in the words of Volney, " When we reflect on the use man makes of his powers, tow little rc:.son have we to lament that Nature has not given him more." This calamity has happily been averted. Mr. BETTY' Earl of Esse.r, though in many parts entitled to prai,e, was as a whole the least successful of his performances. ()n -its various merits and demerits it is here mat necessary for us to dwell, as the play is not likely to be repeated. In Douglas Mr. BETTY came forward as Nureal, a cha racter to which he owed much of his celebrity when a boy. The recollection of his former success in it made the major part of the audience too sanguine in their expectations; and the result, as is usual in such cases, was--disappointment. In the early part of the play, far from lacing what from his farmer fame, and recent exertions, it had been fondly anti cipated the Norval of the night would prove, he was tame beyond endurance. His happiest moments in the first scenes in which he was . engaged, did not raise his per . formance above the level of Mr. CLAREMOVT'S acting, TILE, NATIONAL REGISTER. 715 and nothing but the iespect which his . pterions meritorious exertions had kindled, could entitle him to the forbearance due to mediocrity. We k;iow not whether it was Indi.position , or fear that caused this filling off; but certainly we never saw him to so great a disathantage before, and we could hardly feel satAied that it was the same performer whose success on a former night gained so much upon the audience. Ile continued to move among the walking gentlemen till that scene in the lc - irth act, in which Lads Randolph disco vers to him, that be is the son of Douglas. Here, censure was compelled to retire to make way for praise. Norval was not more ennobled by the disclosure then made, than was Mr. BETTY as an actor, while attending to Moil Ma's narra tive. Ile seemed at once to start from that mental slumber which had paralysed his exertions in the preceding scenes, and to be at once himself. Throughout this arduous inter view, his acting was eminently marked by justness of con ceptionand felicity of execution, ;IA at once estorcd him to the favour of the auoieacf!. Loud shouts of appro. rewtird• d his labou:s, when be enguit eil the fate of ! , i, father, and his subsequent deportment, when the cha racter of Menalcon was developed to hint, had equal claims to applause. In the scene in which he is taunted by hilr wilco'', Mr. BETTY'S dclireation of the young soldier was still more effective. The swell of indignant pride, with which he listened to the insulting language held by his ' enemy, the scorn with which he retorted on Gtougron, and the conflicting emotions which war in the bosom of Douglas. while prompted by the acuteness of his feelings to disclose, and by prudetve to conceal, the secret of his birth, were ad mirably pictured, and to the end of the act he wits emi nently great. In the fifth act, his performance was not entitled to cie smne warm encomium. This 14 easily ac counted for, as the same scope for a display of talent is not afforded. It was, however, generally satisfactory, and he died with great eclat. Mr. YOUNG, in Old Norral, was received with a shout of applause, which expressed enthusiastic admiration. His performance was, in many parts, excellent ; but he is not a!wayssucces , ful in delineating the weakness and decrepitude of age. When he repeated the following passage— wby did I lea%e my home and ancient dame ! To find the youth—to tell him all I krcw. we were surprised to see him turn his back on Lady Ran. dolph, while speaking the first line. This must have been merely a lapse of the moment, for we cannot suppose that Mr. YOUNG thinks it was intended to be spoken nude. . The other characters were very well sustained: Mrs. U POWELL, in Lady Rando!ph, was particularly successful= and BARRYMOILE gave great effect to many of the spceches I; in Glenalvan. We would, however, advise this actor to keep a little closer to his author than he did on Tuesday.— '1 When he has next to recite the line, Honey'd assent ! how sweet art thou to man ! we do not think it will be well to substitute for it, Hooey'd assent ! lr w rLF.A.A. T art thou to the TASTE of man ! l as he did on Thursday. If Mr. BanstYmoaz has a talent for making tragedy speeches, .he had better write a play himself, than fritter his genius away in mending the i per formances of when. It may appear to him that the word " sweet," is unnecessary where 44 honey" is mentioned ; and that it is very desirable to introduce tack. We, however, have not taste enough to relish his alteration, and thou b h his qualifications for writing tragedy may be of the very first order, we cannot say that, from this sample, we very admire his ear for poetry. The Recruiting Ofccr, of FAIIQUHAR's, was revive Friday. MATTUEWS excited much mirth in Kite, any much .!(1 on d tha - 7 ',VI • • •