The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

PUIIILICATIONS IIEcEIVEM

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11AYMARKE1"niEATEE.

Tut: plot of The Ilope of the Family, produced at
this theatre on Saturday last, Innis upon the follow-
ing incidents :—A certain ',unmet proceeding to India
consigns his only son to the charge or attorney
and a schoolmaster of the ll'uekl',•rd S►lurers genus.
The neglect and cruelty of these inilhilluids come
the sun to abscond. and all trace of him to be lost.
The baronet, relenting a wealthy man, demands his
son, and the consignees, being unable to pr►slnce
their charge, endeavour to provide a substitute in the
shape of Joe Wadd (Mr. Bitekstone). Through
the agency of Jae, who is a virtuous omnibus end, the
guilty are confounded, the lovers muse happy,
and everything brought to a satisfactory elincluNiol.
This play is, in fail, an iuditferent eonicily of the
Morton or Colman school reduced into three acts. The
list of the draw. pers. will he found to contain many
of the elements of the del:fated British drama.
Thus we have a lost child, a 11111/011 fruit► India, a
;sayer exhibiting the usual stage incaution and
ignorance of his profexsion, a true-hearted British
sailor, a virtuous maid•of-all-work, and last, lint not
least. " an honest lad "—a character which, in tine
hands of Knight, Munden, or Emery the elder, would
have I.erhaps become a national raVOlllile. The re-
semblance to the ancient style of play-writing is made
morc strong by the existent* of an underplot, relating
to a scheming housekeeper and her daughter of
dubious character, which is as distinct the Main
events as the most ardent dramatie legitimist could
desire ; iudeeul, in this respect it quite rivals Mr.
Pats celebrated tragedy The Spaniel( Armada. The
author's redeeming point is the care aid, %Inch the
dialogue is written, but this merit is not sufficient of
itself to sustain an interest which is exhausted in
the first MA, 81141 the audience seemed in consequence
heartily tired before the two hours and a half which
the representation occupies had elapsed. The prin-
cipal burden of the acting falls upon the attorney
Duebredr ), whose representative. Mr. I liippendule,
discharges his part respectably. Nlr. Compton emiets
the schoolmaster, who is, we belie % e. meant I. ar a vomit.
character, and " washes young gentlemen in the
luin-
ciplesofthe Protestant religion.- Mr. linchst.ine. as

763

the honest lad .lot'," ruins d his part by the most
wanton butfooisery. It bi !Milani to geiglenilui
of his standing ill tilt' 101.44,w-ion estuleav owing to
make a hit by the exhibition of u nimbly back and
a Whitt' Ilt`ektotil two feet long, and wide ill propor-
tion. This play s.erveil to introduce to the London
piddle Ellen tinny, a lady from Man•
chester; she waa painfully nervous, Alla very ill-
dressed, but what little alio did impressed us
rather favourably. The costumes of all the charac-
ters, with this rarrption of the Nisbet) t :11r. Rogers),
are very bad ; but the %CCM' of a drawing room in
which the action of the Seeltllll mist third acts is laid
ileservi's 1.11111111111111.%1. It would Ile as well that
the eitatilms of civilised aociety should b' followed on
the stage when their non-observance is productive of
sits advantage hl the general Thits, having
livery scrvasita in our employ, we %null( not, 14% Mr.
Diwkicede ilisea in this platy, allow sr to be ass
nositiceil by a maid of all work, whose service,' at
%nal 14 41111111t414 4111141111, wetlntigilles be MIT/. 111141611-
taget)iNly employed in the kitchen or scullery than
in the ilrawing-masts.

.4ny Fort in a Storni, the centrebit of Mei,
day night's etitertaisitlielit, signally failed in iiri'-
liug into the - 11
e%••111 1101 10 be. wondered at, 11011' 11a4
eOl//edy 01 of The Hope of the Family hail pre •
%howdy crushed all hopes or indulging in liktigliti...
The e 111114.1'd of the 111,4 &seri 1161111 I f
foreign material, bore the tionictirlature of a 11.1
an rent (or French putt), not t
least with reference to improting the managerial
finances. .11i empty house and oysterxliells tom
the groundwork of the plot,—ominous anticipation of
the future midis of the piece and probable remu-
neration of the author. Two young milliners, eh: -
gitised, as they inform the audience, as debberdeesys,
hurry from It masked ball and take refitge in the de.
sterU'd kitchen, find slipper, mail themselves of it.
bailahas terrified n young Spaniard with a Tartan
-.earl', who fellows the) I Meg IlieW A pelice •
man brings in the mule, who has frightened the milli-
ners—stiother polieeman has taken the bailiff for
ceueimitting some offence, of which the audience ale
it;nor: itittil the diameters omir feet-wiled and ac.
knowledge they have 1111 Meted Wrongly and were
highly culpable—an opinion in which all before the
velleitt appeared cordially to concur. Thus termi
meted a tissue of folly, exciting only one feeling,
regret--'iz., that Miss Featherstone and her com-
panion, 'Aliss I frnionele, should have lweti furnish. at
with stitch material and eenittnne : if struggling
against the dulness of an tulamused house collet
have commanded the m 1114.0001 of the piece, their oin•
flagging efforts must have secured it; hut Any Poet
in a Starts will, we trust, he no longer a proverb at
the 1 1 aymarket.

It is a pet theory of ours that no man can etreetn•
ally criticise a play until he has seen it twice. A
14econd sight and hearing of .4 I'rruy l'i•Te Moil
-
mom has brought us to the folloaing I.l,iirlii.ions :
First, that the faiTO is a eery good one, well eon.
structed, anti smartly written. Secondly, ant
Iteynolds's acting is quite admirable; and that to
her natural, ladylike, and charming impersonation
the heroine, the, author ionl the manager are entirely
unit hied for the 5111•14 • of the moan.
mend all our 1 rllllO4 who have not seen it to "mule
it their bt•iness" to do so.

Asotitrit Adelphi bit—" one of the sights of the
season," ride 7'imea. " 1:1111114.111111111. of Mine.
Celeste and Mr. Webster in a gland new melodrama
of iteenliar interest, with sot is Anti Hit effects."
These sorels at the head of the playbill induced us
early in the week to visit this the real bonne of the
romantic drains in Eitel:m.l. %%r. spet 'lily rev, ig
'timed in The 'Thirst of Buhl; sir, Mr I.usf Ship ma
the Wild Flower of .11r.rirt), a it Sill, IN Ilion I.) 1.,„
Prier,. dra Nowfroyes, a ,'emus flint. 1111•14 411511:Ill
which ham lately bed it pi at mu at 1114! A 111104411
COMillne in l'aris. /1 the plot suffice to say that
Mr. Webster personates sits adventurer whose thirst
for gold induces ION, by corrupting the stew, to gain
possession of a AIM, uud to LW 11 adritl 1111. 4111tair,
him wife, and daughter to the merry of the ice and
the waves. The daughter only survives, soul after
the lapse of fifteen years she reappears, and is the
means of bringing the murderer of her father awl
mother to justice. This pie'se undoubtedly roman .4
a militia' interest, and is well suited to the tastes
and capacities of an Adelphi mullein..., the ll t 1111 l
perhaps, as it employ,' powerful auxiliaries in the
shape of ieebergs, combats, and timeline.; Mill it is
rendered very tedious I.y its isitiblerable length I Olive
Iststits and lot ty 11611116's 5, and at its terniiiintisas for
141WirtilisSrp. were 1.04. burin wearied even to applaud.
After ell. the Chia Ittilltei ill') is the seenery, whit+,
considering the •inullia ss of the stage, is VI ethtable
to the management. The breaking up 1.1 the ice in
the second art is said 61 INP Very effective, and a
clever bit of nicelsaiii,m, ti gli fir our part we were
~„ blinded and (-linked with dust dint we could so e
nothing. Mr. Wtle.ter gives a Vet) good impersona-
tion of the hero, and in the liiNt scene, he portravo

surprise and despair with considerable success.
Mme. Celeste sets the mother in the first act, and
the daughter in the other four, after a supposed
lapse of fifteen years. We have no doubt that her
performance is very clever; indeed we felt it to be
so; but this lady's total inability to pronounce the
English language (we do not overlook the fact that
in this instance she is supposed to speak with an
Indian accent) renders what she says for the most
part unintelligible, while her ghastly appearance in
the latter portion of the play destroys all illusion, and
makes us wish for a more sympathetic representative
of the part. Mrs. Leigh Murray played the l'uuntess
le Brirsac with a propriety and feeling rarely seen in
these days. Miss F. Maskell appear►d to great ad-
vantage as Adele. Again let us express a hope that
this young lady will not omit, by study and cultiva-
tion, to foster a talent which is of great promise.
Mr. Keeley is the drug e.r nmehind, and turns
the tables against the villains. Ilk acting was
excellent, and he rendered a MI of pathos with
the hand of a true artist. The iothu•nce of
Madame l'eleste in this theatre prevents the fuss-
excre of French words which, takes place in the
Prineess's and other theatres, where the ruling
powers are not blessed with tender ears. Even here,
however, there is room for improvement. We nO.
tired several words which, though correctly accen-
tuated in the playbill, were differently phrased in the
mouths of the speakers. We wish Mr. Webster
would, for the general benefit, publish a glossary of
the terms used in his udvertisements. What does he
mean by sovre effects? ('an the (elect be
vowel and Adelphi at the same time Again,—why
t Meaux We always thought the di% Won% of a
play were called acts in English !!

SADLER'S WELLS.
Tar performances at this house on Tuesday night
were given for the benefit of the Newsvenders' Pro% i
dent institution. There was 110 novelty in the bills
of the slay, them:rent plays consisting of Massin-
gei 's Falai Dowry, and ll igh Life Melon• Stairs, 4 itler-
lug ample attraction. Both pieces were mounted 10141
played in a highly satisfactory manner. IVith the
tragedy especially the audience displayed a deep
yet discriminating gratification. Mr. Phelps was re-
called at the close of the third and Mr. Alarston
after the fourth act. 'rho house was crowded; and
the results, we are gheil to say, 11r01111s0 a wele•ane
addition to the funds era very excellent institution.