The National Register. — London, England, 1812-12-13 00:00:00

7SO . DRURY !ANT:. A new operatic piece was last night produced at this Theatre, entitled " The _Assignation ; or, Right at Last." The plot of this elite? tainment is equally confused and unin teresting. The songs afforded little pleasure, and the music was not much admired. It met with the fate it merited, and a storm of disapprobation which burst out towards the end of the second act, and continued till the curtain fell, sealed its doom. We are at a loss to guess how it happened that a piece so poor in merit was selected for the first new performance at this Theatre. After the treatment the Address Writeis re ceived, we are aware it may well be expected that the Com mittee would not have as many farces submitted to them as they had addresses in the first instance; but still in justice to the needy Authors of the age, whose wants force them to Tabour where their reason cannot flatter them with hope, we must think that among the pieces presented to this Theatre, a better farce might have been discovered than t: at which was hooted from the stage last night. We cannot conceive the Committee were led to believe it the best ; we will not suppose they made choice of it because it was the worst, and therefore conclude, that in consequence of the reproofs they have received for their conduct, in the instance above alluded to, they have resolved to be strictly impartial, and play the pieces sent to them alphabetivallg. This may ac count for the preference given to the _Assignation. Whatever censure the Committee may deserve in some respects, for one thing a., least they are entitled to unquali fied praise. It seems they do not intend to insult an indig- Dant audience by announcing for a second representation a piece which has been unequivocally condemned. We re joice at this, and hail their conduct last night as an auspi cious omen. At the close of the Entertainment, Mr. RAY MOND came forward i n the midst of the tumult, and silence obtained, spoke .as follows : 46 LAD:ES AND GENTLEMEN.—AS this Piece appears to meet with your disapprobation, 1 beg most respectfully to say, it,will not be repeated." This speech was received as it ought to be, with unbound ed applause, and all was " right at last." COVE\T GARDEN. On Monday, November 30, the Play was the tragedy of 'King, Richard the Third, the part of the Duke of Glou cester to be performed by Mr. SEYMOUR, a gentleman of considerable provincial reputation as an• actor, and pretty generally known as a diligent and often successful illustrator of the pages of SHAKSPE A R. With these recommendations Mr. SEY HOUR advanced on the stage, and after the customary greetings and their becom ing acknowledgment, 'commenced his undertaking with a thorough collection of himself, and a manifest possession of the sense and spirit of his author. lle had, however, not proceeded far before he was interrupted. One voice called out, " Speak lorider"—a requisition that was immediately complied with, but without effect. hisses, with cries of " Q 11; og'!" " Chcrlts Kcinble!" eirc. commenced and were kept up in spite of decorum, and the dispositi,in of a large portion of the audience. Early in the 2nd act, Mr. FAwcETT advanced, and stated to the house, that as it was the duty, so was it the constant practice of the Proprietors of that Theatre to contri bute the utmost towards the gra , tication of the Public, by procuring and presenting to them the best and most various means of refi•-.d amusement. That in conformity with that inciple they had listened to the strong recommendations , :;:h which Mr. SEYMOUR'S pretcwiions had bzen urged and THE NATIONAL PECISTER. enforced by persons pre-eminently qualified to form itht estimate of them ; and that as nothing could be so equitabL is that censure or condemnation should follow, rather th an take place of trial, the audience ought to have. an opportunity c,t hearing before they should proceed to condemn. A u r hearing was all that was desired—that obtained, and Mr. SEYMOUR being pronounced by the public voice ineonip e .. tent, he would assure them, that gentleman should not a.ain present himself in the part ; but to a fair trial, he submitted to the house, the gentleman wau. entitled. This address, reasonable and moderate as it was, and app. rently acquiesced in by the audience at large, was disregaid e ,l by the hostile party, and Mr. S. was not suffered to piocc«i. Mr. C. KCM BCE, who had been sought for in complianc e with the requisition described, came forward in Richard's robes, and went through the remainder of the character. DRAMATIC RLGISTER. DEC. i KENNEY AND REYNOLDS. MR. EDITOR—As yours is the only weekly Journal which regularly notices the Theatre at all, and the only one which has any pretensions to impartiality and candour, I wish to be allowed to offer, through its niedinin, a few uh. servations on the drama. I have always thought that an author, or one who appear. before the public as an author, ought, if he take his piece from another, candidly to acknowledge the obligation. 'l%) me, therefore, it does not appear creditable to a man, to bring, f'rward as an original production that which is only a translation. Feeling this, I think Mr. KENNEY when he pre sented the farce called " Love, Law, and Physic," ought to have made it known that it was a translation of " Le Colla teral" of PICA RD. Mr. KENNEY, from knowing how effec tive the character of " Lc Collateral" was in the hands of the celebrated PERDU, might have been justified in adapting that farce to the English stage fur the purpose of giving one of our comic actors a good part, but it would have been quite as well to have openly stated that it was taken from the French, instead of endeavouring to palm it on the puir tic as an original production. Many pieces have been produced avowedly of Fren d i origin, .but I do not recollect that they fared any the woi e on that account. Mr. K ENS EY was therefore letraiol by " false Alarms" into this disingenuous line of conduct, unless indeed it has been resolved by the Manager to "'fora Out" any performance that is not supposed to be original. If such be the case, the man of " The Woild" may be eN cused for " Raising the Wind" in this way. I must, however, observe, that this is not Mr. K ENNEY'S first offence. Ills " False Alarms" was a close tran,latki of an old French play, called "La File Capitaine." Wlica it is known that Mr. KENNEY stoops to tricks like then, it is natural to suspect that whenever he is successful, he s hines in borrowed plumes, and not with the lustre of oribitril genius. Mr. REYNOLDS, with much magnanimity, has disdained this covert mode of proceeding, and has openly avowed that his new play is founded on DRYDEN'S " DOn Sebastian: For this, at least, he is entitled to some respect. lo 111 ' case, however, it is equally curious and interesting, to trace the course of retributive justice. DRYDEN for mangling 811AI;Esrk: ARE, is doomed to be mangled by IIEYNoLnc. Ile (REYNOLDS) has nobly revenged our immortal bard. )1 spoiling that play which DRYDEN thought his best. This is . a pleasing reflection and, happily for h. REY AO LDS., there !S no danger of his suffering io id turn from any future dramatist.---. 1 am, &e. &C, AN OLD SI AGEB' 1 N 7 ~.