The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-10-25 00:00:00

THEATRES..

DRURY-LANE.
This Theatre opentsl for the season on Saturday night.
Its rival sister commenced the winter camerign $ few
weeks earlier, and has reaped ample profit by the priority.
prutry-lane, however, cannot be cerree •ly said to have been
quite idle during the, short interval that Covent-garden
has preceded it in active duty: for, days and weeks pre-
vious to Saturday, the "note of preparation" was loudly
sounded—new alterations, embellishments, and so forth,
were announced with all the pride, pomp, and dream-
Cape:: of glorious pulling, a language in which the Drury-
lave manager is so conversant as really to put rivalry at
Balance. Improvements, perhaps,: may have been made,
hut certainly they are not dircermble to the vulgar eye :
beyond the washing of the steps and boards of the Theatre,
and the dusting of the betteoes, w.• could s,:areely discover
a single trace of decoration which "Old Drury „ did not
possess last seas- n, its fresher and more attractive lustre.
fhe disappointment created by the announce nit tit of em-
bellishments, for which " the eager (AC searched in vain,"
was not very satisfactorily connterbalanced by any great
attractiveness in the entertaitantnts of the evening. After
the company had sung " (let save the hung," and after the
audience, (not a very numerons yritli the must indi-
cation of loyal sentiment on such oceaestars, hail encored it,
the I:61111C opera of the Marriage of Figaro was performed.
We bad very little rtmson to be pleased with the cast of
parts it was certainly such as the public had much reason
to be dim:l644.d with ; for the carp dratuatique of the
theatre could have supplied much more ell:chart repre-
sentatives of almost all the characters. Mr. Dilator' who
played C.aort ibnarira originally transferrul it to Mr.
l'enley (only think of Mr. Poiley tnetetnornliteicel into a
young nobleman ofgallan try and fashion!). This abandon-
;tient t f the part by Mr. Elision can only be excused upon
the presumption that, as
"'fide has from Mir arm" face
Contrived to steal cacti yuutbtul grare;'
i: would be more acceptable to the public to see it entrusted
to a Younger member of the carps than to assume it himself,
an older yet a Letter soldier !" Wi• Is this explanation,
we are disposed to pass over, without animadversion, the
performance of Mr. Peoley, where past r a:are in under-
taking the character, awl the good nature of the audience
in enduring him in it, ve boils highly commendable. A
Miss Graddon, from the Dublin theatre, appeared, for the
firm time at this thea•re, as S:!Sal,l(lh. The musical taleeta
of this lady arc certainly cot Utterable. Her figure, al-
t ioue;h somewhat below tits middle s'ee, is pkasing' and
her countenance expressive of intelligence. To a Itedu.
lady-cultivated yoke site unites a very refined taste,
and a brilliancy of execution, which• in several passages,
met and merited very general applause. She was en-
cacti in " The youth in his blooming array," and
in several other arias, hut that in which she pleased us most,
and in which site evinced a very intimate acquaintance
with the science and melody of satiric, was the duet
with Miss Neal!, " How gently, when the sun's destend-
ine," kc. Het speaking voice wants volume, and is some-
what deficient in sprightliness of tone; but this may be
(ming to the inc.mpleteness of self-possession, very usual
and very excusable o:i a fast appea;ance. Altogether she
is an undirubted acquisition to the operatic department of
the theatre, and has qualified herself to hold a respectable
station in it, by a manifestly close and accurate attention
to the study of music. Miss Cubit's Cherubiao was not
much after our taste. Miss Kelly, of the English Opera-
lloase, used to play this part delightfully. Both she and
Madame Vestris furnish the bras ideal of the archness
and vivacity, and the mischief tht.t may be done by pretty
IMPIOAS pages. Madame Vestris, whom we ace snore fre-
quently in male than in female attire, is quite identified,
in our theatrical notions, with the. Judas, Giooormis, and
Chernbiaas of the stage ; and there is no blame imput-
able to Miss Cubit for not possessing that lightactneness of
manner and expression euited to this character, and which
is, after all, more a natural endowment titan an artificial
accomplishment. Harley played Figaro with his wonted
vivacity, but his singing is truly execrable: in justice to
hiarselt, and in mercy to the audience, he should omit it
altogether. Miss Povey was, as usual, pleasing and ins-
' rearm. Time other peKormers presented few traits exhi-
bitive of merit. A new divertiscment followed, which
emulated of an exhibition of the progress in dancing of
children from three years old to twelve and fourteen. It
was quite a sort of hoarding-school display of girlish,
pirouetting. We could not refrain from pitying the little
infants, who were thrust upon the stage to dance before they
were well able to stand. It was really a humiliating spec-
tacle, to behold a British audience entertained with the
jumping of these little urchins, at a time when their ideas
arc scarcely multiplied beyond what they might have been
in the maternal womb, and that they live almost without
a consciousness of their existence.—
vivit et est vat= nercius ipse sum"
We were glad to observe a very numerous and sensible
' portion of the audience indulge in a well-merited hiss at
the moo ridientous fantoccitti exhibition we have been
perhap ever condemned to witness. Two or three of the
Tama girls evinced considerable proficiency in dancing.
Owing to some accident having happened to the quadru-
peds, the intellectual entertainment announced for this even-
but, in which the principal parts were to be sustained by
Mr. Ducrow'a horses, has been postponed until Tuesday,
sad the tragic play of PO: arra substituted ill its stead.

11,11'31.1k K
The tragedy of Mudd, on Saturday night. again intro-
duced Mr. Hamblin to the London boards, upon which he
once before pei formed the same arduous part, in the absence
of Mr. Kean at Drury-lane. The distinguished approba-
tim with which he then acquitted himself determined him
so longer to continue in the back-ground ; at the same
time the front station being wholly pre-occupied by that
celebrated actor, be was necessarily shut out from the
meditated walks of his ambition, and be therefore resolved
no longer " to serve in heaven," but rather to retire to the
minor theatrical dominions, in which he might reign. if
riot without jealousy, at least without any very successful
riralaltip. We now find him on a sudden finding the
Haymarket troops at the close of their summer campaign,
and reaping whatever laurels can be gathered, before their
mum to winter 9uarters. The incessant and stunning
*tails with which be was received, served to shew
titst be has already paved his way to popularity.
IN performance justified these plaudits, and Air.
Hamblin may well nevi,* •.'iern as an earnest of his
future fame; we my of hisfidure fame, because we trust
that lie Itai too much good sense to receive them as a proof
that the F^-land is already before him, and that lie has
tiothiaigfurtber to do than to bind it round his brow. Our
Space will not permit u to enter at great length into a cri-
tical examination of his performance; but as he is amain to
perfcrni //min en Tuesday night, and will probably re-
peat it, sad as we write with an eye to the performance of
this famoriie charact.v at the two other houses, we shall
enter somewhat n.ore minutely upon it than otherwise we
should have felt inclined to do. We are such idolaters of
Shakspears, that we can never find in our lwans to quarrel
even with his defects; bnt mingling for the moment a spice
of candour with our enthusiasm, we cannot help remark-
ing that the French, in translating this popular tragedy of
our immortal bard, and adapting it for representation on
Omit boards, have made the Cili.sst a being of the imagina-
tion; he is made to exist only "in the mind's eye, and
we think the alteration is judicious, and might be adopted
with advantage. IVe have no objection to the ghost of the
Poisoned monarch being seen in risioa,
" W 'th that hii and warlike form
In *hie' the majesty of buried Denmark
Did so:netitnes march."
8n it oftuda us to see him in his actual costume of steel
"Tnour anti helmet. We are ilisple:tsed to hear hic shoes
neck as he stalks along the stage. It distrovs the illusion
r, the scene to hear a stout, sturdy fellow, with something
'ltea rook's rolling-pin in his hand by wily of a tranehecn,
exclaim, by way of announcing himse!f—
-` I am thy lather's spi"
his substantial form and fat sides, give him a
mat contradiction. Having thrown out these remarks
-tw pay attention m Mr. Hamblin.
le want of flexibility, which is the
ice, took from the dialogue much of
of its street. His lungs are strong,
e not clear; he pitches them ran how
taking the scope of modulatien which
would command, he continues on the
'end. Ilv muet forswear this habit,

eti
:0•
;01

or 'he will never become a permanent favourite. He belongs
to a profession in which he can only hope to acquire emi-
nence, upon very rigorous conditions, and this is one of
them. His manner or gin the soliloquy was ..:ootl; hut
in the following passage

.
"Bred! 0 God !
How *eery, stale, Hat, am! unprofitable
Seem to me all t!o• uses of thin world !
Fie on't. 0 fie! 'lln an unneeded garden
That grows to ',red ; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely."
The words marked in Italics were lengthened out to a fault,
while the next line,
- - - -

" That it should come to this!"
was hurried off too rapidly, and without any expression of
that mixture of pens jet-less and surprise, ulticli it is clearly
meant to convey, and which wtiglit be conveyed with strik-
ing effect, whereas Mr. 11. connects it with a pause, with
the lines that imunaliately follow—
" That it 0,0104! come to this !
But two mouthy d,nd l—nay, not so much ; not Mo—
to excellent a file:4
and he lays the emphasis thus--
•• Nal, not to 'twat, not two;"
which appeared to us erroneous; to our car it wald have
been better thus—
" Itat two innt;thA dead • nay, not so r tech ; ant two:"
it being manifestly intended to mark, poiutedly, the fact
that even Iwo mohilis had not elapsed, and that the haste
with which the guilty nurtials wer: c nsummated was still
more flagrant. In tne following passage—
•' Would t had met try deart,t foe in heaven,
Or ever I had seen that day. Horatio;'
Mr. Hamblin laid a struts on the epithet " dearest ;" we
do not mean to infer that it was misplaced, hut although
we arc aware that it is " dearest foe" in the text, it eppears
so manifest that di, est is the true reading, that we could
wish it restored. _

Humid, ativertic.l to his projected iUtcrview with the
Gkort, says—
If it assume my noble father's person,
I'll speak to it, tho' hell it-elf aitculd gape,
And bid me bold my race."
What in the IIP!110 of gravity could induce tint to pro-
notice it " and somewhat obtrusively too! It is stmie-
times partronalde t.t fritter away the asperity el a consonant,
hut wilfully to air. against sound, and in favour of vul-
garity,—
" Away, away, Iti's tare ro ricre en't."
In his dialogue wait ifmatio and Maredlus, after he
has seen the (door, Mr. Hamblin gave some passages
with great judgment. Wlhttl they have premised not to
reveal the secret which they helit ye Ilatuld is about to
unfold, he cutifid- s to them sarcastically that—

: There's 'leer a viilsin dwellirg Cu all I)cnmak,
But he's us arrant kuare."
He evinced a genuine e-nicts.ition of S'askspeare's meaning,
and he conveyed it with excellent etreet. When he ceu-
dons them against betraying their knowledge of his clad-
ness being assumed,—
• That you at anrh times sing me, never shalt
With arms enctialber'd thus, or this bend-OW:0,
Or by rremottmim: of some deubttel rh-ase
As, weft. tell, ter know"—or, `• tee c.tst.'d
"An see "if list 1,) sptuk,"
Or, " Zr nn if rtry
Or such ambiguous gis log out. to note
That yen krow aught of me:"—
The pa sage was spokca in a manner that made it par-
plexed, and scarcely intelligible; Vet this was not the
fault of the speaker. The confusion to the ear arises from
the too frequent recurrence of the corjunction " or." If
this were omitted, and its otnission supplied by a slight
sufficient to 'nark tlist:tictly these k tell-talc
phrases from which Hamlet warns them to abstain, the
passage would not only give scope to the talents of the
actor, but would be relieved from the confusion which at-
tends it as it stands. In the scene with Polonias, in Act
st, in which Handel, for the first time, affects to he disor-
dered in his intellects, Mr. Hamblin preserved the same
majestic and measured gravity of tone and manner, which I
characterized him before his change:-
1 rt..l.—Do you know me, my Lard ?
Ham —Excalent well; you are a fishmonger."
•
This is manifestly the reply of a man bewildered, but Mr.
Hamblin delivers it with the seriousness at a .
Ile speaks without the least air of aberration or of rM •
he is not in the least forgetful of his former self; these Is
no alternation of light-hem-leant ss, with flashes of senten-
tious wisdom ; the whole dialogue is carried on sushi& part
with the same slow utterance, and being thus shorn of its
strength, is neither impressive nor effecting. Mr. Hamblin
has talents which will enable him to enter into Shakspeare's
delineation much more successfully in this scene, and we
hope he will study it with this view. During the two first
scenes he is much too boisterous, and fails, consequently
I in displaying that refinement of mind which enters into
the character. of Hanalei as pourtrayed by the immortal
poet. He is meant to he represented as swayed by the
warmth of his temperatnent, but rarely carried away by it,
and never without a deep sting of self-reproach. His better
feelings are always npperniost when not subdued by those
of revenge towards the Kii.g of Denmark, whom he suspects
of having intercepted his birth-right by the treacherous
murder of his father. An incessant vehemence of action
and utterance is not consistent with his character. So far,
therefore, as this displays itself to excess, the character of
Handel is misconceived. A man of strong and ardent'
mind, rocked in the cradle of annum, and who has never
been accustomed to subject Isis passions to the control of
his reason, and in whom the good and had of his disposition
unfold themselves according as events occur to call either
into action, such a man will at times darer as much from him-
self as he will from any other individual. Shakspeare, who
knew human nature thoroughly, has exemplified this in
the character of Hurtle t. Several passages which were in-
tended as sentimental musings, Mr. Hamblin gives relic-
mently, and with Isis blood at the boiling point. Hamlet's
indignation, though strongly roused at intervals, is quickly
subdued in the strua;:e with his moral feelings. Mr. H. 1
gives his ?clime nee no time to cool. His soliloquy at
the conclusion of the second act is faulty in this respect; I
it approaches too near to ranting, which is never natural,
and always displeases. There is too much of this in his
sane with Ophelia in the third act ; it is that painful conflict
with his feelings which the Hamlet of Makspeere exhibits
under all his counterfeited madness, but the ravings of a
man bursting with passion, and haltstifled with rage,—
the Hamlet not of the poet but of the stage. The scene
in the Queen's eleset is admirable throughout. In this scene
Mr. Hamblin need fear nn competitor. In the height of
his indignant interview with the Queen lie never once for-
gets that she is his mother. When lie makes a pan through
the arras, and is asked by the Queen
. .

ntot ....L....M1L
10,..11 In the sueslrlierl7r4.lli:Y, nor
i
111 its interest end much a
hit hi, 1731.41411 e-i (MCI tire
at first, and without talti
411 hiving *3 done wo
NMI Imre note to the et