The National Register.
London, England, 1808-02-21 00:00:00

THE N‘TIONAL REGISTER.

THE THEATRES.

So little novelty has been presented this week to the admirers
f Thesp is, that the port of criticism is almost closely blockaded;
:aid as there seems such a complete maim, go 41;I gelatin- articles
of home manufacture, we can only turn our attention to those
of a foreign grow th. In this predicament we naturally advert to
THE 0 l'Elt A,
where Indorse, as altered from 3fetastatin, was repented, to a
house, mut indeed per full, but rt ith a sufficient sprinkling. of
lashirm. On the first appearance of this Opera, we lawyed
some remarks to the public, and can therefore. have hut little
further In say, particularly as our additional animadversions
w nuld fall on that part of the performance which comes more
imine,liahly under the regulation of the Manager. As long as
I ill:. Of entertainments is to be patronized and supported,
we cannot but regret, that the squabbles of contending Managers
:tient d prevent the fashionable world from having it got tap in
the hest manner ; but there are, nevertheless, Foote errors which
might be corrected, even during the present uncivil commotion..
As this Opera is taken from ancient history, Nye have a right to
expect au trtherence to ancient customs, otherwise the illusion
is destroyed, and ue no longer see Did() or Enrax, but hesdames
Du-sek awl tritalani. In the palace of (lido, we did nut ex- 1,
pert to; see a library table iv itu iukstaud, ex. as if for the liar- '
Dose of writing a hake dou.r in modern comedy ; nor can we
understand why Jarbas, a Moor, should be represented black
as a Newer', M Itilst his friend //rasp's, preserves his original
Italian colour. 'fa Madame. Catalani's execution we have al-
ready done justice, and •mnst .min repeat our admiration of her
passers, iu " Peiriero la doles: Nperaaza;" in this air she was
deservedly encored, and gave it with a degree of pathos beyond
Jeer usual ntauner. Iler most spirited passage was in the co-
quetting scene, with linens stud Jarbas, when she answers to the
threats of the latter, " so the tier baenaro sti, ste ati spae:Fir:'
The latter part of the line was given with a degree of force and
articulation which made the house ring, and drew down repeat-
ed plandits. Catalaai's attention to the bye play is also descry-
ing of praise, the more so, as the other performers seem to con-
sider such a thing as totally unnecessary ; indeed from their ap-
parent anxiety to be near the prompter, they rather appear
like children at their school lesson. It is therefore the more to
he w ished, that a settlement of all disputes might lead to the
formation of a respectable company. The divertisement of r
" L'Orrande a linrchux." is of twat mediocre kkial, as scarcely
to deserve notice, were it not that the very shabby dresses of
the performers gave such disgust as to destroy the impression
wide by their dancing ; we shall therefore pass on to the new
ballet of " L'Euleernient de Dejanire," which was repeated
with considerable alterations. As the greatest Critics ofancieut
and modern times have not disdained to analize, awl to direct
the dance, we may be allowed to dilate a little °a this new
mythological ballet. In ancient times dancing formed a great
part of their dramatic representation, and has been defined as
" the art of e' pressing the sentiments of the mind, or the pas-
" sinus, by measured steps, or hounds, that arc made in ea-
" Bence, by regulated motions of the body, and by graceful
" gestures ; all performed to the sound of musical instruments,
" or the voice ;" but the regular ballet was first invented by
Pylades and Bolhylne at Rome, of the latter of whom it has
been said, that when he danced, the gravest matron was thrown
off her guard, and the youngest virgin longed for his addresses.
Under authority so classical, as well as modern custom, M.
D Lgville is fully warranted in introducing the ancient story on
the modern stage ; hut in doing so, he should adhere as closely
as possible, not only to incidents both of time and place, but
also to the general costume and manner. Under the definition
which we base given of . dancing it is evident, that the per-
former may represent the most powerful emotions of the mind,
without the coopeesandcabrioles of the dancing master; and this
expressive mode of dancing will be to the judicious, intinitelymore
interesting, as well as affording to the dancer an opportunity of
displaying the powers of the human form to the greatest advan-
tage. This observation applies to some characters more than
others, and in the present instance, though ancient mythology tells
UN that Herrales learnt from Eat-arta to shoot with the how, from
ca,in, to tight, from Lions to play int the lyre, and from En-
nio/pans to Aug., yet it does not appear that he was taught to
dance.. Whatever applies to moronic will also apply to story,
particularly w here a strict adherence to it is productive of Mita-
Winn equal to any thing resulting from a breach of the rule.—
With regard to those incidents in the poetical life of Herroks,
Watch insve been selected fur this ballet, a stricter adherence to

PPE). 21.

' them, as well as the avoiding of anachronisms, inighltundoubted-
ly have produced a better effect. The rape, h'rt(erruteul" • f
Dejanirt , by Nessus, the Centaur took place after her marriage
with Hercules, and the mortal ys ound from the arron was re-
ceived by Nessus, whilst ferrying her o % er the river Eutwus, and
not en n Bridge, for at that period Bridges were unknon E. The
incident which obliged Hercules to leavi• the Court of Catiodan in
company withhis wile, is also entirely omitted, and the accidental
Meeting of Wrestles w ids lisle, is eery different from the original
idea ; for /ilk had been already refusml to born by her father,
Eareins King of Mchalia ; and it was after Ms-rules hart killed
her father and three brothers, that she was induced to accom-
pany him to Mount where he raise4l an altar to .lupi ter.
In adhering to the story w e should certainly have lost that scene
where Drjanica yields her claim on Hercules to tole; butt the
classical spectator is the more displeased because he recollects
that the jealousy of Ociaitira was aroused by the tittle-tattle of
I.ychns' who when sent by Hercules to Trachynia fur his gar-
ments for the sacrifice, informs her that he had taken lac with
him to assist in his devotions : we notice this the more par-
ticularly, because after the apprent con•ent of his ~rite to
the amour with Inle, there is no reason riven for her suhsequent
jealousy, anti sending of the poisoned garment, which destro%
touch of the effect iu the Ballet. The pile no which //creaks
perished was also set on tire by lightering, and not kindled by
his son Philocleles, this should be attssolri to. With re- pcct to the
performance, we wish to give it every due prai,e.—Deshayes
produces as much interest as could he expected and chewed some
,judgment in throwing himself into the attitude of the l'arnesc
Ilereule,:, as well as where he bends with ('epid on his shoulder ;
this is elegantly allegorical, and in strict conforwitv with t!.e
repre.:entation of Hereules on some. ancient gems. *ln the An.
cient Mythology we are told that Hercules had a contest with
but this surely does not justify his breaking the trident
of rplunr, of coarse this might well be omitted by Monsieur
Dechiteoh As to the female performers. their dmicing had so
little to do with the Story, that we can only observe, Mesdames
DeOmyes and Presle showed their usual agility. and the new
Mincer Miss f;ayton continues to be t girt of touch premise,
We are pleased to see the fair Cranfield fulling op the vacancy
occasioned by Paristit's leaving the stage; and though a French
nit, when nskeil his opinion of a new Piece. ads ised them to
lengthen the dances, arid shorten the pelliconts, e must confess
that Miss Crantield, by the judiciou- length of her drapery,
gives much effect to the fascination of her graceful motions.
A new Opera is in preparation, and will make its appearances
in the coarse of the week.

TRU Rl' -LA N E.

At this Theatre the whole week has been dedicated to " kois,
"or Lore ire a Dreier/," ith some little variety in the A Fier-
pieces : in the first, the curtailments and alterations are for the
better, and the singing awd scenery may draw decent hou,,c for
a few nights longer ; in the latter, we have no novelty to notice,
but we cannot let the occasi #### pass without adverting to the
very excellent acting of Bannister and M) Duncan in The
Citizen. In witnessing the spirit and correctness of these two,
we felt some amends for our tiresome beat at a tedious Opera.

4" rOPRNT C.lRl)elVii

In imitation of her elder Sister, has passed the week in en-
deavouring to drive away " Dull rate ;" but if she continue it
much longer, we ran easily anticipate " How it trill End."
A new Comic Ballet, " Poor Jack : or, rtt r Benevolent Tar,"
was got up on Friday, as a kind of make-weight to the new co-
medy. In this melange of dancing and dumb sliest'. there is an
attempt at plot, as trifling as the executionof it is ridiculous ; to
develope it would he time thrown away ; hut we cannot help
noticing that the idea of an Officer throwing away his hat anti
uniform jacket, when on duty, then slapping an old man in the
face, &T. is as derogatory to the general conduct of Officers in
the Navy, as the turning of boats' oars into dancing crosses, is
contrary to plain common settee. This might be intended to pro-
duce effect, hut we hope that the hisses from the gallery will afford
a lesson to the Ballet Master. The dancing (strictly Speaking) was
excellent ; Mi,.s 11. Bologna, in her hornpipe, received repeated
plaudits, and Mr. Bologna is too well known to need any praise.
it is hut fair that the Manager should receive some return for
the great ex pence, incurred by new scenery, &e. for a new
piece ; and it may be but fair, that ail the children of a larger
growth should he entertained with camels, bearded Turks,
sphinxes, rosy-faced peers, puns and copper-mines ; but all this
etpence might be saved, if our dramatists would but attempt to
throw a little rational plot into their productions, chequered

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