The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-12-29 00:00:00

THE 4TRES.

• DRURY-LAW%
1 lie tragedy of isubella, or The foal Mar-
rtmli last night revived, after an absence of
les tears from this stage. filri. Vb. Misr sustain-
rd the character of isrthellir but so great war the
Loom which prevailed doting almost the whole or
the evening—the galleries being utiusnally bolster.
lois -that Itw of her scenes were intelligible to the
vidirtice. We regretted this very moult; fur, where
item eilibbol to licit. Mrs. WEST, we were
We., .1 i% nit her perforfumice, which Wall
!•011.g:11-;,; .1 by coergy and p altos. Her first
~,,,oeiew with Biros—her frenzied grief, when
discovers ITIM lifeless noel covered with blond—
ienl her ,r,ing scene—displayed 'rowers of the fittest
0r,1.r. These were almost the only parts of her
per'ermence during which 'deuce was preserved,
and they were honoured with Inuit and getwred ay.
plinfe. Mr. H. litstsbe pla cut the part of &two
with considerable tallent. Mr. lly.NGoncti, or fill-
//Toy, delivered the text with propriety, hut he is
rather too cold • lover. Mr. Ilemnt.tx made his
second appearance, in the charism r of Cnefor. which
lie performed in a very tensible style. Mr.. SPARK,,
as the Nurse, rendered the triplicity of the old
gossip extremely :miming— ind placed the good
yoalities of her heart in the most pleasing light,
The Porter was humorously represented by Mr.
ONnERRY.

Alter the tragedy, the Pantomime was perform-
ed. It met with the most derided opposition
throughout. IVlsen the rurtain fell, a great pin-
primal' of the company remained, :rod the cry of
41 Manager!" was loud sod 11111Verg d. After a
11:100C of considerable length, Mr. S. KEMBLE ap-
peared and addressed the house. He regretted that
lie was not before apprised of the call. The Managers
and Proprietors of I), had no other wish
than to administer to the pleasure arid satisfaction
of those who visited the house, when thew were fi.
vowed with their trentiments.—(Shonta sf " With-
draws/se Pantomime!")—Mr. S. K tint ohs: illaierveil,
ire knew not how to collect their! pi1111111.—.1" There
is hut one opinion"—tens reiterated from every part
of the horse—" Withdraw the Pantomime: it cost
you very little, for Me scenes are sill old.")--" It
leis," said Mr. licsishe, " been advertised for to-
morrow, arid will, I hopr, he produord with such Al-
terations and ant-iiilm-nts, as will pleas. all parties "
---(A general laugh, and ales sf " It's impassible
to mend it!")--" 1 Hilt continued Mr. KEN..
BI.C. "that Mr. BRADBURY, on SAtiirrlay evening,
did something that offended the audience. If he
did, I can assure you he dint pint intri,rl it."—(" He
did ! lie did ! Let him make an upo/ugy—med with-
draw the Panomione."/ —" Is it 'llllf pleasure,"
asked the Manager. " (hot lyre Ilstanbuttst st Id
appear before you ?"—(" Yes ! yes !") Mr. K Est-
!MC retired, and Mr. BRADBURY 1100 D alter ell.
titan-l. He declared that it never was his wish to
offend any individual—and requested to know whist
was the charge against him ? A young man, per-
fectly dead fled, made some observations, from the
dress circle, in a tone of voice so effeminate, that
we could nut make out his ground of complaint.
Mr. BRADBURY again disclaimed having intended
to insult any person. " But," added lir, "if the
Gentleman aho has just spoken, or any other mail
nil the free of the earth, has airy thing to allege
against me, I am ready to tnret him here, or airy
where else, for the purpose of explaitution."—
Mr. BRADBURY then retired amidst a violent up-
roar. The call of " Manager !" continued fur some
time after. But, as Morptir says,

" You may call spirits from the tasty deep,
But will they come ?"
To this instance, thr governing spirit of the theatre
rrfo.ril to ohry the surnmom—atiil, after u quarter
of an hour's ineffectual exorcism, the company
departed. It 14 clear, however, limit the pantomime
must be withilrawn—else there will be, nightly, a
repetition of the distutl►auce which we have de-
►cribed.

COVENT-GARDEN.

Jame Shore, and the new pant • , could not
fail to attract an overflowing audience last night.
The spirit of turbulence, however, seemed to have
kept pussessiois of the more elevated regions of th.•
theatre from Saturday night, and to reign there
with undiviikil influence. We regretted to sae
Miss O'NEILL'S unequalled ;rialtos, softiies', mod
penitence, in the ill-fated heroine of the piece,
spent, or rather wasted on such stubborn materials
for pity or sympathy, as occupied a large proportion
of the house. Miss SomEavit.i.E's powerful voice
frequently soared above the discordant chorus that
issued from the opposite quarter of the house.
Both Ladies repeatedly received rapturous and de-
served plaudits from the "judicious." Mr. Youtio
was very great in f/a•fings. As well as we could
form a judgment, every individual part in the
tragedy was sustained with judgment and talent.
The pantomime arid off with great eclat, till the
lofts• arbiters of the stage, in the pas.age after the
landing from Dublin Ilay, thought proper to call
for a song. Cries of "Off, off!" being repeated for
several minutes; and, we are sorry to add, one or
two missile. having made their way to the stage,
Mr. G*114,11.01 came forward and said, " Ladies
and Gentlemen, 1 would be glad to know what you
want ?" A voice replied, " A sores_."-1 le answer-
ed, " Whatever is announced will Ire perf rmed ;
hut no song is." This produced no eager, the
clamour against the actors cootimied, and was par-
ticularly pointed at Mr. GRINIA Lot. After some in-
terval he appeared a secood tune, with is hill in one
la std, and as description of the pailionione in the
other, ilia! s std, " Here is the bill, and here is the
pantot tttttt e, and no song is announced in either ;
no song, therefore. can be expected ; had I a song
adapted to the pantomime to introduce I should be
too 114ppy." Even this did not appease the angry
spirits,and the storm continued with more or less yin-
!cher till the concluding scene, she Fountain of Love,
the beauty, magnificence, and brilliancy of which
almost every adverse murmur, and elicited
Irmo of applause nearly universal. Justice re-
gimes we should add, that, in our apprehension,
nothing but caprice or folly could have found cause
of umbrage, the several performers having exerted
theinselvea to the utiiiiist, die mechanical con-
trivances and deceptions having been managed with
great a►t, and Kline iiiiprovemeuts made in the
business of the paiitommie.

OLTSIPIC NEW THEATRE.
The Clirittmig stvactiotri at this sgree4ble little

theatre are receiving tbe ohluilits of over-
flowing audiences. We never sew it so crowded ar
it was hart night, and the fine exs.rsiour
EDWIN and 111 r. ELt.l3.rox, 111 Ihe- hut--
lett* of Itochesier, were hailed with wolves...Al a 11..
1/111U.r. To the .ttroctiow of genuine humour 111111
COMIC powerp, the hol:day folk,. had the asltliiimial
gratification of witnessing the excellent melo-ilia-
matic pantomime of Columbine Red Riding Hoed.
Mies STEveNsoN's Columbine was graceful, Air.
GuEsts l's Harlequin very gnnd, anti l'aut.o's
Clown full of humour sled activity. Some of the
reins or the Clown and Panialsou (Mr. Hamora-
soN) were lousily applauded. The rcenery was
throughout lwirutiful—the last scene. retneienfinif
the Grand limey Garden, with Cupid's Dower,
war really magnificent.

The whole of the departments of this theatre have
been rewired in the 4 complete manner, and the
lir' Immences got up with considerable tame. The
orchestra is well tilled, and under the rtoperti-
tendecce of Mr. Vi?ARF.

The• theatre was la‘t night filled in every past
befute the hour fur the hall-vrice acitaissiots.