The Press.
London, England, 1853-10-15 00:00:00

S.►ULEIt'S w 1. LLS.

Tim most imaginative readers of Shakspenre
justly question the judiciousness of attempting to
put upon the stage such a play as A .1/id744ffncr
Night's Dream, and, indeed, to attempt, to bang
together with suburban resoureeti, and with thick-
thumbed supoN, such a delicate cobweb as thu

OCTOBER 15, 1853.

fairy element of this ibieee, was indeed a venture at
whieh most managers would have hesitated. Mr.
Phelps, however, has triumphed over his materials
in a most remarkable manner. As sen►i-transparent
fairies are to be hir►vl no more at Islington than
e.sewhere, he has managed, by playing all their
psrts of the play in a subdued green light, and by
dressing his elves in a s' Inlet to gain the very
unsul►stantial and mysterious sort of scenery and
movement which we are ready to accept as proper to
fairy land. And this efft.et is heightened by playing
the grosser porti sof the play in full light. Thus
the main idea which we must %appo►se Shaksp►ean.
to have had in view when he wrote this play, of
creating a sense of pleasure in the mind by the
power of contrast—by entangling the blundering
matter of-faet vulgar artisans in the gossamer web of
fai►yland—was very forcibly set forth. Mr. Phelps
played Bottom with great etli.et, and the scene where
he dons the ass's head and receives the caresses of
Titaffia is a minute bit of acting worthy in itself
journey to Islington. The perfectly asinine manner in
whirl► he returns her caresses by rubbing his long tinse
atfeetionately against her cheek is irresistible ; and
we must praise the mechanism of the head also,
which cocks its ears and opens its mouth exactly at
the will of the wearer. But the great science is the
ludicrous bewilderment which comes over Buttons
when he awakes front sleep divested of the ass's
head. MS Lie.) works all over with conflicting pas
sinus : now he elongates his nose and scratches a
foot off it at his imaginary snout—now he feels for
his missing ear—now he twinkles his eyes, as a
donkey might when the fleas are troublesome—
whether his face is asinine or hitt iiiii► for a moment
perplexes the audience as much as himself, espe-
cially when he brays out " But a luau is but a
welted fool if he will otter to say what 1 thought I
had."

After Phelps's acting of the muzzy weaver (why,
by the way, does he play with such a very r•dl nose ?),
th Pack of Master F. Artie was the most remarka-
ble in merit. This child—for he is little
is certainly vastly clever. Ile has been, we believe,
perhaming at Rochester and other plac►s as the
"Young Garrick," and is one of those " pr►digies "
that we sometimes see in boyhood, of the Master
Betty species. A child rarely seizes the individuali
ties of a character : in this instance, however, the
Pack thototmhly enjoys the fun of his mission, ao►l
the way in which he sits and rubs his hands whilst
he watches the lovers squabbling in the wood is
quite Shakspearian. The dressing of the fairies is
managed with great taste ; and Cobweb, Naseidssono,
Moth, and Mustard Seed are quaint as the creations
of Fuseli. Miss Illation, as Oberon, was graceful.
Miss Cooper, as /bleu►►, was UN) tremulous in her
pathos, too lugubrious where the poetry required
only tendentess of tone. The Hermi►► of Miss
Travers was a clever piece of acting—t►N► violent in
the scenes of altercation ; but we a►hnit that the
wordy war between Helena and _Uremia is liiiiillll to
present without trespassing on the vehement ; the
passage is one in which the mighty bard is open to
criticism. The Ilippolyta of Miss Potiman was dig-
nified and pleasing. The estAcufbie of the company
in this revival was highly commenilnide, with the ex-
ception of Mr. Rsousby in Lysander, who mars and
rants through ins part in a harsh voice, with his elan
thrown up, an►l his head turned back, delivering
passages of poetical music with the effects of
buffoonery. The scenery is excellent, especially the
distant view of .►thens, and of the Piraeus scene from
the wood.
►►'e advise our playgoing friends not to lose the
opportunity of seeing this pa•esentation of A
Midsummer Night. 4 Dreang. Thetheatre was crowded
to excess on Wednesday, and the private boxes and
dress circles filled with a most re pert able audience.
One of the unstudied " effects " in this theatre is the•
immber of persons who take " Shakspeares" in their
hands, and follow the actors reciting the verses of the
text.