The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-04-20 00:00:00

TARA77IIIS.

DRURY-LA NS.

Eiger Monday is quite a day of theatrical celebrity in
the metropolis. As all the " Lenten entertainments" have
oared in the preceding week, the winter theatres, with
their auxiliariev, the Ailelphi, Surrey, &c. re-open on the
evening eat this day with fresh splendor, and, as it were,
with " new-horn beauties." Drury-lane has long
enjovid a high reputation for the attractive novelties
,t presents to itt patrous on such an occasion ; and
let night it sui.taitied, and even enhanced the cele-
brity it enjoyed for scenic splendors and costly decorations.
Macreaily appeared as f'irginerr, in the tragedy that
tsars that title, a part which he has made so peculiarly
his own, and which is one so admirably suited to asocial
Ins defects, and to set off his merits to the utmost advan-
te4e, that it deserves the fullest and moat unqualified
zononentlation. Indeed there are parts of the performance
ea beautifully pathetic and natural, that we almost hesitate
to call it acting. His appeal to the multitude, in favour
of his dau.ghter, was the viry soul and essence of popular
oratory. There is a vehemence sometimes in his delivery
which redeems it from rant, by reason of the real in-
tensity of passion that accompanies it. Ile was warmly
ere.eted on his entrance, and the performance through-
out was honoured with that loud and general applause
which Mr. Macready in this part invariably calls forth.'
If he were always to act so, Mr. Kean might well become,
apprehensive ter his laurels. Indeed at present Mr.
Mecrearly does not yield to him au undisputed superiority.
We have seen him in parts rewarded by as loud and as de-
served applause ss this tragic king, who hitherto ruled su-
preme at Drury-lane. " insperinne ram ./use
Label." A new grand mein-dramatic tale of enchantment,
called Zorooater, or Me Nat.', of Mr Slur, was produced
fur the first time after the play. Such pieces are not much
pi our taste; but there is a portion of the play-going world
who relish them, mid therefore they must be produced at
Esiter, and other holiday seasons. Whilst they
"put money in the purse" of the tr?asury of the theatre,
they ate likely not to be discontinued, as the manager may
fairly say--
That 'tis his !aridness to provide
For people s taste, and not to guide;
And with the nice and squeamish town
That novelties alone go down.'
To those who are admirers of such exhibitions, we can re-
commend Zwnnster, as exceeding in scenic embellishment
any piece of this kind that has been brought out for Koine
years at either of our theatres. The dialogue and plot are
not remarkably clever, nor remarkably otherwise. Joshed,
holiday entertainments of this description are got up with
a view of introducing fine scenery, and therefore probably
the talent of the writer is not the subject of legitimate
criticism. (If the tomtit piece we understand the author
to be Mr. Monerieff, who has been successful in higher
departments of the drama, and who is the arch-manufac-
turer of Christmas and Easter melo-dramas at this tlwatre.
'Elie story of the Drury-lane and Covent-garden piceta are
nearly similar. Gehir (Mr. IVallack) and Panting, the
rightful heiress to the throne of Egypt, arc mutually at-
tached. They meet in the humble walk of life, but the
power of enchantment soon raises Gebir from a lowly sta-
tion to the dignity of a princedom. In his exalted sphere
of life he spurns her with whom in adversity he was wil-
ling to unite his destinies. Fortune veers, and she, its turn,
in her teal character of Queen of Egypt rejects him. Va-
rious vicissitudes—tights, processions, &c. intervene, and,
as may be expected, " love's young &cam" becomes a re-
ality, sad they are finally married. Bamina hi accompa-
nied by a female attendant (Miss Booth) ant Geier
by a male attendaut, Mr. Harley, who is somewhat
whimsically promuttsl fruits the rank of a swineherd
to be Generalissimo of the Prince's army. The rise (Al
Bonaparte was but slow promotion to tlw rapidity vs MI
which a cottager here becomes a King and his servant a
Field-Marshal. By a power "of having all Ilia wishes
complied with," granted by Zortstifer, whose disciple It
was, Gehir desires to be placed in the centre of the earth,
and to have the most beautiful scenes of nature exhibited
before him. Here an opportunity is taken of introducing
a panoramic represeutation of the i :teat I besert, with Arab
tents, the Sphynx and Pyramids, ruins of the great Temple:
of Apollinopolis, Magna, Colossus of Rhodes, Bay of
Naples, grand falls of Some of these are painted
in a style of very superior execution, and they are all ad-
mirably calculated for scenic effect. We do not remember
tohave seen a finer exemplification of perspective paitninitin
scenery than was evinced in the ruins of Apollinopolis.
The grand falls of 'Tivoli, with all their prowl anal
classic recollections, sacred to the Muses, were exhi-
bited before us in a very correct and vivid resemblance.
The view of fort St. Eltno was pleasing, hut the Bay of
Naples and the mcompanying scenery were generally less
picturesque than the Breakwater at Plymouth, and the
sea-secrecy, in the late Nlelo-drante at this Theatre. The
Egyptian customs, insignia, &c. were preserved throughout
the piece with creditable accuracy, both in the dialogue and
scenes, and the performers acquitted themselves of the
little they had to do, in a light and agreeable manner.
Wallack was perhaps aoniewhat too iefined for an Egyp-
tian gentleman ; and much of Harley's comicality might
be restrained, without impairing the effect of the piece.
Alto:tether, however, there is much snore to admire than
to cavil at, and Zioroaster will have, and deserves to have,
a run. It was given out for repetition this et • g, amid
general applause. The play-bills, announcing this piece,
abound iii Greek, but a translation is embodied in the hills,
far the benefit of the ladies, and of gentlemen, who either
forget their Greek, or who may have never had the good
fortune to know any.
COVENT-GARDEN.
Last night, after the comedy of the School of Reflrm,
in which )slr. Rayner sustained the part of that odd

, .
pound of roguery and pit aching, thrown into the character
. of 1 yke, the holiday folks were presented with a piece,
11
entitled in the play hills, .1 nt,lo-ilronnthe !ale of enehani-
' meet, and called the Sperlif ophe Moon, or 11w laiimdalion
of Me Nile. Upon productions of this description, otilf
got up, as the theatrical phrase has it, to answer a tempo-
rary purpose—to make children laugh, and servants talk of
the wonders they have seen at the play-house, it would be
fastidious to inter into any minuteness of comment ; for,
generally speaking, neither their merits nor defects deserve
the labour of criticism. The persons frequenting the the-
atre at these festive twastms of the year arc eatistied with
glare and noise ; and if their eyes and ears he both pleased,
th-y look for nothing farther. In the nitio-dratita of last
night the re were--spirits good and bail—shadows east by
the son at noun-day—and gardens and pavilions seen by 1
foam-light- a.:veral fiirce encounters, which alternately
trzeiksl the hopes and fears of the children—subterranean
caverns, who-Je pillars were resplendent with brightness
(strange as that may seem) ;—riiins, citadels, pavilions,
and groves—all pass before the view in quick succession ;
and/4 to do justice to the artists, were evauttil with very
considerable ability. The Dramatis Personae is as fol-
lows :
Zeraek (Usurper of the Throned s,„ ~
ATI.
of Egypt) - ...1 al . r ty.
Barad (his ('untittinte) - - Mr. T. P. Cooke.
Porn* - - - Mr. Horrelwow.
Eteocles - - - Mr. Findley.
Mina (asiimitsted Arabian Itoy) Miss Love.
Zensain sod A gih (Arabians) - Mr. Henry and Master Roden.
10
Bonriesup (Or eseerof the Lands) Mr. Meadows.
Shyoboarl (his Secretary) - - Mr. Louis.
Timm Shrivel stitch la Tailor) Mr. Blanchard.
:Mims (his man) . Mr. Barnes.
Marmazetta (slave to Mires) . Mr. J. S. Grimaldi.
Tin Prophetic Seer. or ;soothsayer. Mr. Chwtmisit.
Leader of the Cwritrati - . Mr. J. Isaacs.
Merchants . - - Mesars.'Flnney, Norris, Tett.
I Moonbeam - - - Mauer Longhorn.
r The Princess Zephina (Niece ,s to) MI ha
the Late King . - . j ''
1 Antal' (an Arabian of the Free) .. ... ,
Tribe) 1 ABM. s using.
Amaryllis Strelpimititch (the ) ~_ p
Tallor's Wife) - - . j '"'•
The story, or plot, of " the wale of enchantment," from what
we could gather of it, is to this eft'ecL The empire of
Egypt being seizsd by a Usurper, the rightful hr.r. as-
sisted by a prophetic seer, and following his counsel, joins
a band of mt•rchants going with their merchandise to the
Crest City, and there contrives to find admission into a
a secret cavern, in which the Usurisi had deposited a
quantity of treasure, and an enchanted bow and arrow,!
upon whose safe possession depend at once his empire, his
life, and the hand of a fair prince —niece to the monarch
whose throne he bail usurped. The Princess, as is usual,
was betrothed to another, and dislike] the I "suris.r, whom
she slimed with a degree :if courage not often to he found
among the ladies of the East. The rightful heir is also
assisted by the confidant of the Usurper, and in the hour

or peril betrays his master to obtain his mistreat. The
Usurper, to secure his throne, devoted himself to some in-
fernal deity, and like most persona who make such bar-'
gains, brought on himself his speedy and irretrievable de-1
struetion. The minor incidents introduced to effect the
downfall of theUxurper need no mention ; but in fairness we
must say, that a henpecked tailor, and a blustering conceited
overseer, found very amusing repesentatives in Mr. Blan-
chard and Mr. Meadows. Brief as the real story was, or
as it might he made, there was an utter want of continuity
in its parts, and the language of those Egyptians res.:midis'
very closely that which is every day to he heard amongst
the least educated portion of our own neighbours in and
about this metropolis. There was dancing and singing
an eagle who caught a doll, who was safely reposing on a
couch, but afterwards happily divested of its prize. (The
eagle, we understand, is to he handed over to the Bri-
tish Museum for the inspection of the curious, and
the doll is be retained at the theatre, as the next source
of our enchantment there.) There was a moving pano-
ramic
view, in which men, and camels, and clouds moved
with every been ' g respect to time and order ; and what,
we own, startled us not a little was, that gardens, and
pyramids, and castles, passed isysucceission before us ex-
actly to the same tune. However, we must not be over
nice on these occasions. Some of the scenes were admir-
ably well painted,partieularly the "Reflux of the Nile when
the Moon is at full, when the Waters are retiring from
Egypt, anti the fabulous appearance of the Spirits of the
Moon ; the Royal Gardens by Moonlight; the Pavilion
of Ceres in the Festival, pr..vious to the sowing the
Land with Corn ; and the Grove of Fate, which after-
wards changes to the Temple of Isis and ()sine."
We can say little of the " tole of enchantment,"
which we must confess had no such influence upon
i us, nor slid we throughout its performance hear any of
those hearty lasighs and joyous applause*, even from the
children, which we were wont to du on other occasions.
The curtsin dial nut falLontil within a few minutes of
one o'clock. Vb. Faris, innotmoed the repetition of the
lir melo dame for this , amidst as ill-deserved
1 cries of " bravo and a nse,,, as we ever recollect to
I have heard. There was bin new in the machinery,
laud no interest whatmerts in the story ; there was, how-
ever, a fair portion of excellence in the pantomime of
Mr. T. P. Cooke ; and the few tricks of' young Grimaldi
reminded us of his inimitable father. We hope the tale
of enchantment will du more for the treasury of Covent-
genie!' than it has done upon our justice, which can only
afford us to say of it, that it was not a failure. The house
was crowded at half-price.