The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-15 00:00:00

Abe 19rama•

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SURREY.—The sympathies of a critic are accorded
at once to a manager who has the good sense to present to
audiences, constituted like those of this theatre, a play of
Shakspeare, illustraterl by the accomplished acting of Mr.
Macready, and the profound comments with which that act-
ing is pregnant. A crowded house is on such occasions the
subject of honest joy, and the receipts are calculated in a
spirit of personal kindness for the speculator, and real
concern for his success. If, however, evidence be given
of a purpose merely sordid, if it be made pain that the
audience has been rewarded only as a conduit for money,
and Shalopeare and Mr. Macready never thought of but

as implements for working that conduit, then indeed arc all
feelings of interest extinguished, all indulgence laid
aside, all excuse for ahortemninas repudiated. The ma-
nager who chooses to let into his house, in lar-
ger numbers than it can accommodate, pergolas who
cannot afford to part with their money and time without an
ample equivalent, and who thereby renders his theatre a
scene of rude squabbling and boisterous recrimination, cares
only for the receipts of his treasury, and consequently does
not care at all for the comfort of the audience, for the com-
pleteness of the representation, or for the feelings of the
actors. We will not as yet say that such a manager is to be
found at the Surrey Theatre, because we trust that the over-
crowding which last night interfered so painfully with the
performance of " King Lear " is to be attributed to acci-
dental want of precaution, and not to wilfulness or indif-
ference. It was during Mr. Macready 'a management at
Covent Garden that the tragedy of " King Lear" was first
realised to a Leaden audience, every character allotted its
due share in the conduct of the plot, and the contribution of
all to the terrible catastrophe made intelligible. The
manager himself acted the aged hero, and by. the singular
and unexpected coherency which he threw into the part,
proved himself not only a master of passion in either mood,
but a close observer of disease in the most subtle,
fascinating, and perplexing of its phases. Many
actors had made Liar mad, as if political im-
portance could remain with a madman; it was reserved to
Mr. Macready to fix thcmalady which the poet contemplated,
and to pourtray delirium. The old man's sufferings when
he curses Gontril, when he communes with the storm, and
when his overcharged heart breaks forth into reproaches at
the tameness with which others can regard tho dead
Cordelia, though tempestuous, are yet distinct,
and offer the most touching and delicate contrast.
Mr. Macready gave to each its individuality, and showed
the fury of anger, of delirium, and of grief. On the occasion
to which we allude, moreover, its due importance was first
given to the character of the fool; one essentially tragic. Miss
Hoitoa, iiwe recollect aright, pluyed it, and did its pathos
justice; without, however, as we should have prompted, indi•
eating that the fool was the instrument employed by a party
to rouse the king's jealous dignity, and so to suggest the
re-assumption of his power. 'fhe some and confusion
which prevailed at this theatre last night rendered it difficult
for us to determine how far the representa•lon was, on the
whole, worthy to succeed that at Covent Garden to which
we have just made allusion. Mr. Macready appeared to us
greater than ever, just as the play itself, each time that it is
read, appears more wonderful in conception, more complete
in structure, more profound in meaning. The last scene was
awful; the more so, that the involuntary royalty of Lear's
nature, the authority of his mien, the consciousness
of rwal station, were manifest throughout. A lady
named Torrey, whose proportions would be somewhat too
Asiatic for the celebrated Fut Boy of Mr. Dickens, contrived
to divest the part of the fool of all interest and point. Mr.
Murray as Edmund, and Mr. Saville as Edgar, played with
some spirit, while Mr. Cooper, as Kent, exhibited his usual
propriety. The other performers seemed to us very much
out of place.
THE LYCEUM.—There was a very pleasant novelty
at this theatre last evening ; a one-act piece, called "To
Parents and Guardians," by the author of " A Trip to
Kissingen," a little farce which had great success some years
ago, and between which and this new piece there is a strong
family: likeness. There is, in "To Patentsand Guardians," a
view of the interior of a Clapham boarding-school for boys ;
a sort 2f Do-the-boys Hall, but not painted in Mr. Dickens's
sombre colours. Mr. Swish is a mitigated Sgueers, sufficiently
selfish and unprincipled ; but he is not brought prominently
forward ; and the incidents of the piece consist of the fuu
and frolic.' of a set of lively school-boys, mixed up with
some sentimental scenes which, though not new, excited
considerable interest. One boy, from his superior energy,
has the ascendancy over all the others ; this is Master Robert'
Nettles, who, as personated by Mrs. Keeley, is the very beau
id-al of a fine, handsome school-boy, self-willed and reckless,
but full of high spirit and generosity. His chum is IVaddi-
lore, a fat, good-natured simpleton, sentimental and lubberly ;
whom he employs in his service, and leads into endless
scrapes, the consequences of which, however, when they are
like to become serious, he will not permit his is lend to suffer.
Keeley, in the guise of an overgrown boy, with his inimi-
table air of niaiserse, made this part eaceenvely ludicrous.
There is an old French usher, Monsieur 71,w:1i:ion, the
object of the master's brutal insolence, and of the mis-
chievous tricks of the boys, all which he suffers with a quiet
dignity, which creates an immediate interest in his behalf. An
advertisement appears in the Times one morning, from which
it appears that this old gentleman is a refugee nobleman,
who had fled from France at the revolution, that his estates
have now been restored, and that his friends are endeavour-
ing to find him out. Master Nettles, reading this advertise-
ment, writes to an uncle in the Temple that the usher in his
school is of the same name with the Count do Tourbillon
mentioned in the advertisement, and asks him to make in-
quiry of the party advertising. Mr. Swish ids* discovers, in
the same way, his usher's quality, immediately after he has
treated him with such brutality that he is about to leave
the school. Finding his blunder, the master concealing his
knowledge, loads the poor usher with apologies and favours,
! offers him a share of his business, and his daughter in
marriage. This daughter is a young romping gi-I, between
whom and Master Nettles there is an affair of the heart;
and, bearing of this proposed marriage, they re-
solve to get it broken off in a way which we
did not find intelligible, by dressing up a poor
French girl, who had come to the gate, singing for
her subsistence, and introducing her to the Frenchman with
some pretended tidings of a former wife. When they meet,
the old gentleman discovers, by means of a portrait and
other tokens, that the friendless girl is his long-lost daugh-
ter; and at the same instant a letter arrives to Master
Nettles from his uncle, from which it appears that M. Tour-
baton is the nobleman mentioned in the advertisement,who has
recovered his estates. Mr. Wigan, who performed the part of
the old Frenchman with great feeling and delicacy, and Mrs.
Wigan, who personated the daughter very sweetly, made
this scene of recognition exceedingly affecting, The whole
piece was remarkably well acted. Mr. Wigan, as we have
said, was admirable; he was capitally well "made up," and
acted most artistically; his minutest touches contributing
to the truth of the effect. The scenes in the school-
room and play-ground, with the boys engaged in their
various sports and occupations, were very real and life-like;
and the acting of Mr. and Mrs. Keeley kept the audience in
a state of hilarity from the beginning to the end of the piece.
It was most warmly applauded at the fall of the curtain, and
its success may be regarded as complete.
OLYMPIC. A performance took place at this
theatre last night for the benefit of an actor who formerly
represented Irish characters et the Ilaymarket Theatre
—Mr. John Stephen Ward. The play selected for the
occasion was " John Bull," and the characters were for the
moat part represented by members of the amateur body
called tho " Histrionic Club." Some of them were not ill
sustained ; Mr. Ward was of course the Dennis of the night,
and he gave to the character a very good share of Hibernian
humour, with an eq-sally rich ' brogue " of the same
growth. A lady named Roberts did herself, and the
character of Mrs. Brulgruddery, some credit in the perso-
nation. A young lady named Nivett made her first appear-
ance in London in the character of Lady Caroline Bray-
more, and evinced talent. She seemed to have an ade-
quate conception of the character; and in the scene with
Shoileton, displayed a good deal of lady-like archness. A
Mr. Hammersly, from Bristol, played Shugleton with bust-
ling and exaggerated effrontery. The comedy, however, on
the whole, went off very well. The house was respectably,
but not fully, attended.