The Press.
London, England, 1853-11-05 00:00:00

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Itnantan Sharer, of the flack sea. 1.. Oliphant Illttckw•ood & Sons.
Sari'!" Masc. V vols. A. I G. Rotaledge and Co.
I 'of and Inv. A Story. Want taut
A Prep at the Pixio. Mr*. limy. I►itta.

zke prama.

HAYMARKET"IHEATRE.
Sin EDWAItD LYTTON'S popular comedy of Money was
played here on Wednesday night. We were desirous
of seeing Mr. George Yandenhoff in Evelyn. We
need not dwell upon his performance of the part, as
our previous remarks on his Hamlet are equally ap-
plicable to his personation of the leading character
in Money. In both cases we saw much to praise, not
a little to admire, but nothing to astonish. We ex-
pected
on Wednesday more novelty, and his acting
left upon us a more confirmed impression that he is
an artist of acquired ability, rather than original
power. Ile obtained, however, considerable applause
from the audience. The Graves of Mr. Compton was
highly effective, and produced roars of mirth ; but he
looked too much like "a Guy," and his wig was too
grotesque. Mr. Buckstone was excellent in Benja-
min Stout, and ho impersonated the noisy Radical
with an exhilarating vivacity that we miss in the
originals of the part. The Sir Frederick Blount of
Mr. W. Farren,jun., was the most creditable piece
of acting we have seen from this performer, who has
not yet done much to illustrate his name. Mrs.
}'itzwilliam gave only a sketch of Lady Franklyn;
she failed to bring out the requisite comic effect in
the capital scene where Lady Franklyn quizzes
Graves about his front teeth ; and we could not help
recalling the incomparable humour of the late Mrs.
Glover in the same part. The Clara Douglas of
Mrs. L. S. Buckingham was ladylike, and very
effective in the first acts, but it wanted depth of tone
and passion in the later scenes.
We rarely saw an audience more thoroughly enjoy
the performance of this admirable acting comedy.
At the close of the piece the curtain had to rise
again, and then descend amid hearty applause.

PRINCESS'S.
THEATRICAL managers appear to think that it is im
possible to have too much of a good thing. The
Fils de Familk having proved a pre-eminently " good
thing" to the Paris Gymnase, Mr. Kean has accord-
ingly presented a translation of it at the Princess's
Theatre—uudeterred by the circumstance that an-
other version had been alrealy brought out at the
Adelphi only last week. In justice to Mr. Kean,
however, we must add that his translation, though
last performed, was the first prepared, having been
got ready before the late season closed, but shelved
during the run of other performances. So that to
the Oxford street manager fairly belongs the credit
—such as it is—of precedence in piracy.
The title under which the translated play now ap-
pears is The Lancers; or, the Gentleman's Son. Its
plot we need not detail, as it precisely resembles the
Adelphi version; but no habitue of the Princess's
needs to be informed that the dialogue has been
somewhat refined, the characters somewhat idealised,
and the getting up rendered in every sense com-
plete, accurate, and splendid. This latter achieve-
ment has indeed become characteristic of all the
pieces mounted under Mr.—or should we not say
Mrs.?—Kean's management- From the grotesque
sculptures of a N Himont's palace to the delicate amen-
blemens of a French salon, the object always aimed
at, and generally attained, is to reconstruct upon the
stage the very facsimile of the natural scene. The
banquet-hall in Sardanapalas, and the ballroom in
The Lancers, stand perhaps at the opposite extremes
of " interior " scenery ; but the success with which
the actual or supposed originals have been imitated
is, in both, equally complete. And this, in the pre-
sent dearth of originality among British dramatists
and actors, is probably the best thing a manager
can do.
An actor new to London, but accredited by a
fair provincial reputation, Mr. D. Fisher, made his
first appearance in the character of the " gentleman's
son." His peculiar "walk "is that of gentlemen iu
comedy and melodrama, in which, at this moment,
he will have few rivals on the boar.ls. Though rather
deficient in aplomb, Mr. Fisher performs in a quiet,
unaffected, style : his deportment is graceful ; and both
by tone and action he shows himself not unqualified
for the line of character which be has selected. If

SATURDAY,

his future performances fulfil the promise of his first
appearance, he will supply a void not easy to fill up
properly, especially in a theatre where the tastes
of persons of refinement have to be gratified.
Both drama and actor, we need hardly say, were
perfectly successful on Tuesday, the first night.
E l M.
BEYOND the fact that the season opened on Monday
night, and that Mr. Wright is now a member of the
corps, there is little worth recording of the perform.
ances at this theatre. The pieces hitherto pertia•wed
are old—very old—favourites, except the one designed
to introduce Wright to his new house—which will never
be a favourite at all. The idea of playing off an elaborate
mystification on the audience has been often worked
out more happily than in the present specimen. A
farce, intentionally bad in construction, is commenced
with a series of intentional blunders in scenery and
acting. When hisses are heard, Mr. Mathews rushes
on as manager, and with feigned wrath and agitation
declares that he is the victim of hostile partisanship,
and singles Wright out of the pit as the emissary of a
rival theatre, sent there to disturb the performance.
Wright denies the charge ; a long colloquy ensues,
interspersed with sundry jokes and scraps of thea-
trical gossip ; and in the end Wright is invited upon
the stage, and consents not only to enlist among the
company, but to give a ►roof of his talents there twit
then in a new farce. This opening is tolerable—
although the point of the jest depends upon the sur-
prise of the audience, and this cannot survive the
first representation. The worst is that the " Wright"
farce turns out nearly as dull as that which was in-
terrupted. However, the affair is meant for nothing
more than a pike de eiremetance, and when Mr.
Mathews has shown for a few nights more that he
has got " Wright at last " we may hope he will give
him something better to do.
ST. JAMES'S.
AN "opera season" was commenced at this house on
Saturday last, when the Sunnambula was presented by
a company of artists heretofore known only, and cre-
ditably, at concerts. Miss Lowe was the Amine, and
Mr. Henry Drayton took the part of Rudolph°. The
performance has been repeated during the week, and
obtained favourable acceptance from the audiences ;
but whether the new entreprCneur will succeed in
establishing that "fond impossibility," an English
opera-house, remains to be seen.