The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-01-07 00:00:00

THEATRES.

DR:, 1111-1, AXE.
We regret that it is our unpleasant duty to
describe onr of those ►ernes of tumult and disorder,
which of late, so often disgraced this Theatre,
and to drive from its walls ■II those who
valor their tierce, comfort, and security. After the
dramatic romance of Rudder: Field, whet the Mans.
ger stated, in the Nile, he thought he was entitled
to call a new comic Pantomime, war produced. It

nt denominated The Silver Arrow; or, Barlegal*

anti the Fairy Batton, and the opritit!ti incident is
totwil,d fits it well-kiffitsii tale in The Arabian

Aigh Eriteriainnients. (Mr. SimpioN),
ernamontell of the Princess Notirininiliur(ThibTßEE)

..... .... . .
implores the nnl of the Fire King, to enable him
to secnrelier hand—. Hod receives from the Monarch
n golden arrow, by the use of which he is to attain
his object. Prince Ahmed (Mr. E. VAnNot.n) is
slim ►mitten with the charms of lie Princess, whom.

!Ober, Burglar, declares, that he who launches an
arrow to ihr greatest distance, shall receive the hand
of his ihnighter. Ahmed is furnished with a silver-
arrow by lies guardian genius, Pori Barron, rind the
rivals pioceril to try their fortune. The arrow dirt-
charged by Alsused cannot be found, and Houssain
clainer the Princess as his bride. Ahmed, in
(1,1..4, noires to the gardens of the palace, where
iliscoveis his arrow, and encounter the genius,
Pali IThipai, by which he is transformed into Har-
lequin. In ri suivirqutnt scene, Normand, the acr-
ruut ['truce Iloussuin, supported by Mr. 11 A WT..
LAN D, is a hanged into ('lown, and Prince Boussnix
into l'antahmi. The usual Noninitnic annihila-
tion% of .6 rime arid splice," then occur--till at
)4 i.glll Chown discover. //ariequirt—but the
• Lioeirrs orrivet in time to succour him. Ile
:H• O his etii-tros are wafted to a Celestial Palace,

•vh, .e thi v are united in spite of the marlinia-
tioitS of Cie tire King. I-13vinlz given an mil-
li, r,f i!,e hiroiless of the PalitOtllllll., we lIIW
hear, Cif to uuuce the rote which attended its
it!.l-1... „titinn. A part nithe 11111110:er, before the
falling the itsupirinii, to the performance of
tit 01011;1r, had riiinr, expressed strong' symptoms
of ib.• itisfaction at the tlebiy, and smile kw cries
" I r.,rfhary for ever!" were heard—which were
oinivilitl by ghouls in favour of lIMITI.AN 0, the
w Cipn'st. Matters were, however, in a coin; a-
rinivily peaceful Min., till some persons in the left-.
slips observed individuals ou the ripties.te
stile of the house thrownitz into, the pit a baud-bill,
ul which tie following is a copy :
BRADRUIt": For,. EVER!

~lot
1r717: co,ndsists o rl
npaniuminir —Good scenery,
ow
Ilse Isle nantominte of the " Doody Club" any of
11.0.0 reriiiisitsa—Yei., one, a good Clown, the celebrated
J;01, ISaadbury.
11. t 1 it sill new seemly or trirks!—No, not nor of either.
that the wire of its (adore i--Muat decidedly.
Is it ronviateni with the liberal feeling of a British midi-
• to drier n good Clow,' (ruin the stage on the product/us
▪ fa lid Pasitominse?—No!
thiOit not every Esieliolonan to insist upon his resuming
Lis ehararit r ("kiwis in the new Pantomime, and
te oune sillier hot !qua I—Yea I uo Cluwu but Brad.
es bury.-111.idlotry for ever !
- •

This net was followed he Cullen of " nee out the
anottytnot,s rosettls !" which were met by the oh-
iinxions early wills terms equally abusive. The pit
mid grlleries, up to this time, had taken et!rs little
part in the ulterealion—but, on the diaviiiig.np of
the I.7lllthill the uproar become 11111Ver.si, wig' yell%
of " &adieu ft for ever !" and " Hartland for
art,. ." shank the walls of the thswtre. vio-
lence of the lan parties was raised almost to a pitch
ut Uttar wlreir HARTLAND appeared—but he vainly
exerti.d his strength anil agitily, much of which 1w
pus:asses, to propitiate the favour of his op-
piniesits. Tavv attempted to procure a 4rll.
1111'11i:41y pause af silence, while she performed
a solo on the flageolet : but neithur feinine
callous, nor manly perseverance, had our effect 011
those who came determined to mar the performisoce.
The friends of Bailments were chiefly l'osted 111
she right-hand slips, near the stage, and from thence
*ll incessant noise was kept up, mail the pei fowl-
since had proceeded tOr about a quarter of an iron.,
when a iiirge placard was hoisted, bearing on it the
words, "Bradbury for ever .' The HARTLAND-
ITES made a desperate effort to (tOSSePS Bleinstlvri
of this raper, hut, os it was defended by 'WIIIOIIII
.4thiell with sticks, they did not surceed, though
they caused it to be withdrawn. From the pe-
riod when this Odom, was hoisted, the attention
of the audience was almost exclusively directed
to the conduct of the opposing parties in the
tight. hand slips—and the most hideous noise awl
4:oorusioo teiviril through the house. Tlie friends
of fIAitTLAND, whose D4lll3llerS exceeded, in a ten-
fold proportion, those of lets foes, occasienolly va-
ried their cry, by shouting " Tara ota the Me.
gad& !"—" Down with the Pulpits !"
nitudiag lo BRADBURY'S having exhibited, at one
time, 1r a preacher. This disgraceful scene roil-
tinned until the curtain fell, and the pantomime
was ainiumiced for repetition. Cries of " Maim-
ger 1. were then heard in various direcCons—dt-
onnciations of Mr. STErnes )(ENGLE, and of
some of the Committee of Management. ()it the
other side, reiterated shouts of " Error, I" —" Hart-
land fur ever !" and " Daunts with the bandits !"
iiecompitnied by the waving of hats and twaiiilker-
.chiels, reminded the riotet spectator of a congre-
gation 'of infuriated liidlemites. The griilleineu
in the aoleri,,, who had previously amused them-
selves wals half-a-dozen boxingrmatehes, sow began
to wax warm—and determined, by a bold effort, to
drew • 44RADDURY'41 friends from the slips. For this
purpose. t hey assailed them with fragments of oranges
and apirtr-s-asid, length, a bottle waerbrowii
by
1.111/le till:1111, which struck off the Mit of a :4,e•ille-
risen, who had not, during the eveiring, taken soy
lion iu the dinDitte. Fortunately he was not
This was the inglial for peaceable spectators to leave
the ~bps--which were 10011 IIIM11(1011ed to the con-
Ilicting platters, two.or three of whom, even in dna
situation, elan from which would be cera
Imo death, proctednd to light. No orator appear-
-104, the audience gradually began to thin ; and
the two parties having roared themselves hoarse,
mot exhausted all tueur scurrility. the theatre was
t 'eared root', after twelve o'clock, our of the {writes
iii the Mt havirig previously proposed " Three
cheerssfur HART...IIWD ! Victoria ! Vittoria !" So
tt rust ',atoll the evessing's vioissernents —w Inch, it is
to be feared, will tne reilesved every night until
uutice. dig Pautosnitot itself, we cantina

Pl,l

'Peak eery ra7oltralaly. . Bal, we must ale!, that it
was quite impossihle, in she short space of two or
three flays, to produce a •fittioheil Pantomime. No
unprejudiced nand run lose sight of this plain fact.
The tricks are not insteiermis--.and, unfortunately,
several of Ilium here completely bungled. But
here, again, we ask, could it be expected that those
who had the munagrinvoit of them should retain the
perfect itossession of their faculties, annoyed as they
were by every species of discordant simnel ? The
greater part of the scenery is ohl—hut it is all
beautiful—motel] of it eminently so. Looking dis-
passionately on all the transactions of the evening, we
feel that a fair trial was not given to the Pantomime;
and, beyond that, we cannot help saying, that ju.-
lice was not done to those who manage the affairs of
the theatre. They are placed in a complete di-
lemma. Do what they will they are certain of being
censured. In obedience to what they conceived to
be the voice of the public, they withdrew the for-
neer pantomime, and discharged &Ir. BRADBURY.
They mow hear another public. demandiug the
return of that individual. If they attend to it,
Mr. HARTLANDeS friends will not be tardy in as-
serting his Odium So that, between the two fac-
tions, the theatre is likely to he completely ruined
—and the Proprietors may amuse themselves,
" A curse um bath your Clowns !"

COVENT-GA !WEN.
The comedy of Twelfth Night was revived last
night, though it scarcely bears any relation except
the name. Dr. JOHNSON truly remarks, that the
ennellision of this play wants credibility, and there-
fore fails to coovey the itistroction required in the
drama ; but tl gli ibis be allowed, and that the'
general contexture of the plot bears little affinity to
real lifer yet in the progress of the story and the
minor incident., the legitimate end of lighter thea-
trical composition is observed—the holding up the
meaner vices to ridicule and contempt—the detect-
ing and exposing the disagreeable foibles of human
stature. Th.. drunken brawler is made the object
of pity nun disgust in Sir Toby Be/eh, and set up
hs the butt of even the fool's severity; and newer
W. 1% the insolence of office snore humorously hum-
bled, or inordinate self-lore and overweening vanity
more ludicrously and harmlessly punished, than in

..... , ,
the person' of Mubob°. SHAKSPEARE'II moral
joAticr has betel impeached for directing the *haft
of shirr against o character of mere natural fatuity,
iii Sir Andrew Agneeheek ; but perhaps this charge
is not well founded, for if we examine the springs
of our feelings, we shall probably acknowledge that
Sir Andrew Agneeherk is not laughed at on the
*loge for *bat he iv, but for what he affects to b.,
sisal is not. Mere want or inferiority of intel-
lect is in itself certainly entitled to commiseration;
but when the personification of stupidity and dui.
ne-s aspires to be the merry companion and the

bun ricant—when the downright dolt and idiot
wishes to be thought the accomplished gentleman and
a•lolot—when the very quintescence of cowardice
apes after ilia .1 jealousy iu hollow," the " sud-
denness iii quarrel" of the wither, he is beyond
all question fair game for the satirist. I-le has him-
►rif stepiwd from beneath the shield that would have
afforded him protection. SHAKSPEARI knew that
slfectation existed in fools, as well as in other .
mortals, asnl desiring to exhibit it under that
variety, wits obliged to take it as he found it, and
represent the voile combination. If the subject
of the passion sometimes excite no other feeling
but melancholy or pity, the fault is to be traced to
human stature, and nut to its eopyer. The artifice
by which Viola gains access and confidence to the
Dyke. and finally wills his heart, strougly resembles
that of Rosalind with Orlando, in As 100 Like It.
The ladies in both ploys (with their favour he it
said)—Olivia and Vida is this, Rosalind and Celia
in the other, give away their hearts with equal rea-
diness, and almost on find sight. The mistakes,
too, that occur from the exact likeness of Sebastian

and Viola, remind us of those iu the comedy of '
Errors, arising from that of the two brothers. But
such coincidences in character and fable could
hardly he avoided by a writer who took an universal
range through the moral world. Mr. W. FARBER
Fel formed the part of Sir Andrew Agnerheek, for the
lint time, and succeeded in exhibiting a very correct
semblance of the being whose ideas move with the
downeto, of the baud* of • clock ; whose words and
thoughts follow in the track pointed out by any oils
vibe with the obedience of a pack-florae; whose
actions, mental and bodily, emanate from the will
of another ; an animated puppet. He dressed and
looked the character well. The instantaneous im-
pression produced by the sight of his contour—
countenance, figure, and mariner—was that of men-
tal vacuity and feebleness of every kind. The want
of 6, speculation" in the eye, of expression Or villa.
City in the other parts of the visage, of any thing..
like grace or elegance in the figure, or animated
1 motion in the limbs, *poke a negation of siearly all
1 useful or attractive qualities. In the passages where
I fir Andrew is winked upon to assume what is
I foreign to his nature anal habits, as its the capering
1 for Sir Toby, the attempt at gallantry toward*
Muria. the lighting with Viola, and wanton attack
1 on Sebastian, Nir. FARRIER'S acting was irresistibly
• comic. Throughout he was ', in admirable fool-
ing." and within the limits we have alluded to pro-
duced laughter general and incessant. Mr. EMERY
I represented the jolly and misciiievou• sot arith coo-
tside rable talent. 31r. J. IlussEt.t. transfused muck
i of the appearance of wooing roguery and ready
hurnenr, iotn the Clown—the licensed foul, whose
i office it was In stand the brunt of every man's
1 satire, anal have • joke suited to all occasions and all,
tempers, anal in imitate this well 0, craves a kind of
wit." Miss BRUNTON performed Viola with aim-
plicity, innocence, amid anieeti. Her recisstisu of
1 tl.r.se singularly beautiful hoes--
~ She never told her love," &e.

was erreived with plaudits. Viola's aversion to the
cosohat with Sir Andrew was so well cnunterfe.tvd,
rod the iidluence of fear on the other vide su pew.
fectly assumed. as to produce one of the mast
bisighalsie scenes we ►ecollect to have sera. There
tire some passages in the play quite too gross for the
ea► Of a modern awlience—they might easily be
'tied without wrakeisiog the general e:feet.—
The house was very well attended.

Thrte war rathrr r time attendance et Norwich
market on Soturtil, and Witert advaucell from
2t. to 3r. per coo b. Husky was also about 1..
dearer.—Tbrre was a good impoly of Scots, home-
kreds, and edict Icon owl Vat stuck.