The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-25 00:00:00

APRIL 25. The time of the piece is the epoch of the Roman invasion of Britain. Modred, the high priest, and Mader, the chief of the bards, enter with their attendants, and in an impressive anthem announce a sacrifice. The stone altar is prepared, and Ida, the destined victim, is introduced. She is about to be immolated for the propitiation of the war deities, when Ultee, her lover, enters to entreat her liberation : he is repulsed, and Caractacus, the chief, then appears, and saves her life. — Marcus, one of the Roman chiefs is taken prisoner, and brought into the strong place of the priests, but escapes by clambering along the boughs that overhang the spot of his confinement. Claudius, Drusus, and other Romans come to hi s release: a battle takes place between the Romans and Britons, in which the latter are defeated.—The Second Act represents the Britons dispersed, and Caractacus and his boy Llengo flying among the fastnesses. A Roman soldier shoots the child, and Caractacus kills the soldier with a fragment of the rock. The child dies, the Romans seize CaractarAs, and carry him with Ethelinde and others of the Britons, in triumph to Rome.-111 the Third Act, after much of procession, the Roman generals bring Caractacus before the throne of Claudius Ccrsar the Emperor : who, as far as we could understand, appeared to extend his mercy to the conquered chief, and to unite hint to Ethelinde. From this plot our readers will perceive that little could he expected—and accordingly little has resulted. The total ab sence of dramatic incident (except in the single instance of the shooting of the child, which was not very effective, and which is borrowed from Beautnoet and Fletcher's Play of lionduca), is a fault against which no magnificence of scenery, no pomp of procession, can successfully struggle. The affairs of a nation will never interest upon the stage : it is the petrel:a adventure or distress of some prominent individual or individuals that excites the sympathy of an audience. So the misfortunes of Ugulino and his sous who were starved to death in prison, fill our minds st ith pity and with horror; but the history of a blockaded town where famine carries off whole hundreds in a day, is read almost without emotion : for our minds have not an infinitely extensive faculty of pitying, and the interest is dissolved iu thegeneraliza lion. Now in this ballet Caractacus ought to be the interesting personage; but Caractacus does nothing to excite our interest. Ile fights with his countrymen for his country, but that has nothing in it remarkable. He rescues a victim from death, but he rescues her without incurring any difficulties. He kills the murderer of his child ; but he accomplishes that revenge with oat danger to himself. The only interest then must be the interest • far the Britons : but we have said that the misfortunes of t na tion are not the subjects of a dramatic interest, or indeed of any isely interest at all. And if they were, we should regret to see such a spring of interest touched at a moment like the present ; for though we abhor the wretched patriotism that effervesces in our scenic soldiers and sailors, yet we do not wish, by a represen tation of British discomfiture, to see the stage made the vehicle of reproach to our ancestors, or of discouragement to our cotem poraries. The expense of this piece must have been enormous : but it seems to have been incurred with little judgment, except as far as concerns the music. The music has a character of simplicity and.. grandeur, which produced a great effect upon the audience, and which reflects high honour on the genius of Mr. BISHOP, the composer. The overture was particularly striking, and seems to have been conceived with a noble disdain of all the pantomime trickery of triangles and jig tunes. There was great opposition at the annunciation of the Piece for a second performance. COrENT-GARDES. At this Theatre Shakespeare's Comedy of The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been revived with great expence. The play is thus represented : Duke of Milan, Mr. Murray. Valentine, M r. Kemble. Prot heus, Mr. Pope. Aitlhoniv, Thurio llr. Liston. Egiumour, .Mr. Claremont. Speed, . Mr. Blanchard. Launce, ..Mr. Munclen. Julia, .Miss Smith. Silvia, ...Miss Norton. Lueetta, Miss Waddy. Protheus loves Julia, a lady of Verona, and sends her a letter b) her maid LuerVa. After seeming coyness, she returns his -- THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 2 . passion, but their loves are interrupted by the command of Jr [horde), Protheus's father, who forets his von to tray et, and join young Valentine, at Milan. Valentine, at Milan, falls in love with Silvio, the Duke's daughter, to whom he introduces his friend I' rothrus ; Protheus seeing her, becomes inconstant to Julia. Valentine confides to Protheus his intention of stealing away by night his beloved Silvia, who is to descend from her window by a ladder of ropes ; and the false l'rotheus, iu jea lousy, betrays the plot to the Dul..e. Valentine is discovered, and banished from Milan : he falls among the outlaws, is chosen their Captain, and dwells in the woods, attended by his servant Speed. Julia, unknowing of Pi othois's inconstancy, as:1111aq male attire, and follows him to Nilan, where she lieds him wit it Thur;o, a conceited suitor of Silrin, 'erenadiieg her at the palace window. She engages herself as his page, and is even snot by him to request Silvia's picture, which she obtains. harrassed by her father,who would per , sack her tee Loam Thign;o. flies under the protection of Eglamour ,earch of Valentine. Tlot Duke and his attendants, Mario and Protheits with his servants Launce and Julia, pursue the fugitives. SP—ire and - Eel:wort. are seized by the outlaws in the wood, and Silvio is to • cord by Protheus, who sues for her favour in return of his service. This interview takes place in the wood wi•hin hearing of V oterrtinr. who rushes forward, and reproaches 1 1 1 . 011 ms with his perfidy. Protheus repents, and Vote/dine restores. him to his friendship. Julia discovers herself, and once more becomes dear to her re formed lover. The Dnke is brought iu by the outlaws; he it pleased with the generous spirit of Votrotiac, unites him to Silvi o , and pardons the free-hooters. Scattered throw ~ h the play are scenes of low comic dialogue between the servauts !mimes mot Speed. This play, if it had not been published with the name of Shakspeare, would probably never have been known to ally body but the commentators on the (Ad drama. There i, an incident in the third act : Volentiln • s rope-ladder is taken frean his cloak by the Due:c.- -and there I' a situation iii the aft!. : i a/eating discovers Pentao us w ooing . sit's:a—hut ace e:in se4 nothing else in the whole Play cle , .r.rvitig :!n‘ pv;:; e for dra matic construction; even e de rnction W' the rope-ladder, though naturally matigek;, produces little CTert. Indeed the earlier half of the Play is one of the dune, exhibitions that ever inn audience tolerated : the fourth act better, and the last scene in the tifthiLet istlecidedly good : bin :Al this, at best; can only make The Two Gentlemen if Verer:i a stroLn price Play. Nor is the absence of incident and interest coin peasated by much poetical beauty in t he dialogue : there aviS two or three fine touches of nature, but they are too fine for for common spectattrs, and yv:ll hardly mike the revivnl answer to the Theatre. Among these are the soliloqu. of Jahn on receiving I' rotheits's loving letter: and Julia's comparison of herself with the picture of S ? via. The revival of the good pia •• of onr good authors is always to be encouraged and applaadta: ; but this play seems to imve been received, not because it was :t good alas., inn because it was the play of a good author. We shall always extol the medical power that can raise. from the torpor of numbitig oblivion those forgotten wor:ss a ilk!, Mill retain tine ►prtr of life : but we cannot approve the galvanic vette:net:ea that tor tures unredeetnable mortality, and forces corruption into nua taco. Mr. Kemble performed Faleniine with little effect in the oars lien part of the pity : hut in the fifth act he blazed is it It all his wonted splendour. We are always sorry to see biro represent ing a lover : strength, rather than tenderness, is the characte ristic of his genius. His soflnes.e is always too har t ', and his dtierlion ton dign;fierl, for the 1)e/romance of amatory parts. In his address to 'F/curio at the end of the play . , w here Volrntine, though he does not cease to love, is vertainly more a hero than a lover, Mr.Kemble electrified the audience: pelim pa, indeed, there never was an actor so eminently gifted for Opel( pression of rapid declamation acid lofty passion, Mr. Pope did jut ire to the part of Prof hear: Mr. Liston, throughout the conceited gentility of Muria, was admirably humorous, and Mr. Munden was exceed ingly natural anti quaint in the little character of Lannee. Miss Smith is entitled to high encomium as the rspresentative of Ju lio : she seems determieed to make the Lendtm pulsiie lament more than ever her transit to the Dublin boards. She is pecu liarly excellent in the delineation et ipeeebless grief and patient sufkring. We cannot ptaise the Sii/oia of Miss Norton. She has not yet reformed her bad habit of bringing out her words by syllables, when site should speak, them in sentences. Language ought to flow iu a continued gush : sot to distil like drops Cato a water-tub. . f' 11 • 4' 3 ; ‘ 111 ; • \ r ,