The National Register. — London, England, 1815-07-23 00:00:00

LY 2S. . _ . the old Box prices. How are they to procure full houses ? Ey attractive performers, who are to be found, if industri ously sought after. How Mr. Kean was obtained is pretty rotorious. But how are you to excite the Managers to - look fter meritorious r erfor niers ?—Not by augmenting the price cf admission, but by making it their interest to collect large rndiences, and large audiences are only to be collected by good performers. Again, a material objection arises to the proposed advance, from the monopoly which the Theatres enjoy, In the days of that great patent and ornament of our drama, Shakspeare, London, with a population of about 300,000, contained no less than seventeen Theatres, at which the plays of that matchless writer were performed; vet now, when the population of this great city exceeds a million, we have only two regular Theatres. Paris,. Berlin. and Vienna, each of them much smaller than London, con tains a greater number of Theatres, which are judiciously erected in different situations, but here we have only two Theatres within a few yards of each other ;.what then must Le the consequence if these two Theatres conspire to exact their own terms ?—The Public must either submit to their demand, or be deprived of the pleasure of witness ing those dramatic representations, which all ages and all nations have approved, not only as necessary relaxations, but as the means of improvement in morality and taste. If the seller of any article demand a hi g h p r i ce , y ou c h arge him with injustice, but you need not stiffer by him, while many other sellers are to be bad, while several shops are open to you ; but here you have only two shops—[Loud p!auditsj—which confessedly combine, i® this case, although rivals on every other point. This combination, however, is the natural result of a monopoly that ought not to exist. But all monopolies ate odious in the eyes of Englishmen and of justice.—Lord Coke says, that by common law the monopolist was punishable—" for," adds that great autho rity, " they are ever without law, although never without friends."—And Dr. Adam Smith %%as equally adverse to mo nopolies, especially with regard to the drama. If, then, the Proprietors of this Theatre think proper to hold their monopoly, and to resist the erection of other Theatres, they are at least not warranted in raising their terms of admission. By preventing an honest competition, they forfeit all claims to indulgence, and should not be suffered to exact any ex traordinary demand." Here the tumult, which continued with little intermission throughout, increased upon Mr. Fawcett's reappearance on the stage. Mi. Evans joined with many in requesting that that g . entleman should be heard. On silence being obtained, Mr. FAWCETT stated, that the Proprietors begged it to he understood, that the advance alluded to in his Address, they only asked a; a boon, and that it was their wish, that any Clentleman who thought proper to address the House upon the subject, should be attentively heard."—[Sunk applause curd hisses.] On Mr. Fawcett's retiremert, Mr. IiVANs resumed, and after complimenting the audi ^rice for its attention to Mr. Fawcett, observed—"sorely Ladies and Gentlemen, it cannot be seriously alleg-d, that theatrical property is not a profi'able concern. For we know, that very recently a proposition was made to take Drury -lane Theatre upon Lease ; and with all its inetn»ln an ces, to secure to the proprietory an ample per ventage; while the large sums paid for the shares of this Theatre, pf)sstssed by the late Mr. Lewis and by Mr. Martindale, are matters of public notoriety.—Besides, who are they who can live in :core splendour then theati ical Fersons ?—certainly not one fourth of the • zal!.tpt Ucrierals c.f Waterloo.--t Gnu. ri;; AT- 475 " Ladies and Gentlemen,---I am peisuaded that the P i. ro. prietors of this theatre will best consult their own interest and character, by abandoning the unseas•mable project of raising their prices Skluld they, however, persevere, at;di should the public ilkapprove of their conduct, I tiust the'e will be no attempt, as on a former occasion, to resort to co ercion. For in a theatre "To clap or hiks till I+al , en e9lOl Chaim, The roblc7's right's the sante ; Ail join for tilt it subsistence, all r xpect Free leave to praise th,ir worth, their faults cor,eet " On the tertninati3n . of Mr. Evan's speech, the cry of O. which commented upon the conclusion of Mr. Fawcett's Ad— dress, became peculiath , loud. Ivdeed, this cry was soda throughout the• temainiler of the night, that the farce %%as merely a dumb show, the Pei formers being totally inaudible. The cry and -confusion had nut ceased when we left the Theatre, some time after the performance closed. Several other Gentlemen addressed the house from the pit and boxes in the course of the evening, but we could nut distinctly hear them. ENGLISH OPERA. OPERA. This interesting Temple of the Operatic Muse was thrown open to her worshippers on Saturday sennight, and the full ness of the numbers, proved the unabated fervour of their zeal, as well .as the unaltered purity r f their taste. The service of the altar was once more performed by Mr. Cooke, whose qualifications for the Office of High Priest, few can equal, and pile alone can perhaps surpass. Neither the Wowing up of the Dr-rirs Bridge, nor the. dignity of its owner, sources of powerful attractio❑ at any time, excited so much interest, as the first appearance of Air. Cooke in.a character, the medodies of which seemed exclusively Bra— ham's, not only because he composed them, but because his execution imparted to them a degree of expression, which it was not expected any other lips could produce. Real ta lent, however, feels his strength, and instead of desponding. emulates. The free execution, tasteful and not too luxuriant ornaments, and the expresive cadences of the new C o unt 13elino, fell at once on the ear and on the heart. The past was forgotten, and had not the dialogue sometimes-reminded us that Mr. Brahain by attention and study had at lost bt come a good actor, and that Mr. Cooke ought to follow his example, we should have found it difficult to know on to bestowed the palm of excellence. The numerous cncori which doubled the enjoyments of the public during the evening, show that our opinion of Mr. Cooke's merits was not singular. -Mrs. — Cooke in Rota/vino ably supported the exertions of her husband ; and Mr. Harley, who for the first time appear. ed before a London audience, without causing us to forget Lovegrove in - Marcelli, worthily supplied his place. This performer is a valuable acquiition to the nietiopolis. telligence and spirit form the characteristics of his play lie successfully adopts the various changes of passion which the part requires, and his countenance does not remain a blank whilst his lips utter the language of benevolence, anxiety, or hope. In the Boarding Ifotiv7 at 1;111'/11on, he also assumed Mr. Lovegrove's celebrated character of Peter Fid.:et. To say that, with all the exclleneies of his predecessor in our mind, we WQI e highly pleased with his pc' formances. is °tile to do him justice. His hustling activity is not inferior, and in several passages he has contrived to avoid copying, without weakening the effect of the character. Ills leception W3l !?CA i ;:.salving than just. THE NATIONAL REGISTER.