The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-11 00:00:00

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.

We went last night to witness the representation of
Shakspeare's play of King Henry the Fifth, which was
f brought out at this theatre in a style of uncommon
splendour. The drama is by no means one of its au-
' thor's best ; the action is languid, and the delineation of
character comparatively feeble ; and when we first saw
it announced for representation, we will confess that
we had great apprehensions for the result,—in fact, we
anticipated a failure ; but we have been agreeably dis-
appointed ; for the fine acting of Macready, aided by
the incomparable scenic effects of Stanfield, have en-
, sured a run :for the play to the end of the season
r Macready's performance was indeed first-rate through-
out. His conception of Henry the Fifth was
Shaksperian in the truest sense of the term—
that is to say, it was chaste, but impassioned ;
thoroughly English in its blunt, gallant, cordial
bearing ; and maintained an admirable consistency
as a whole. Above all, it was undefaced by mannerism
there were no startling, abrupt transitions from the
extreme of passion to the extreme of levity and indif-
ference ; no sudden, clap-trap alterations of voice and
gesture ; nature disciplined, not checked, by art, was
the actor's sole guide and prompter, and carried him
handsomely throughout. We know not that we have
ever seen Macready to greater advantage than in Henry
the Fifth. It is evident that he has attentively studied
' the part—so attentively, indeed, that few who are ac-
quainted with the play in the closet woul d suppose it
capable of such effects. His conception of the cha-
racter is that of a bluff, generous warrior, pas-
sionately fond of glory, but with a warm, feel-
ing heart that almost redeems his ardent thirst
for war, and makes him quite the beau ideal
of a conqueror. His dignified self-possession when
he refers to the Dauphin's insult, when he sends him a
box full of tennis-balls, was admirably maintained ; and
equally effective was his address to the conspirators,
previous to his dismissing them for execution. Again,
his speech to his disheartened army, just before battle,
when he reminds them that they are going forth to
action on St. Crispin's-day, was so energetic—so im-
passioned—as to remind us of Kean in his best days.
We need hardly say that this noble apostrophe pro-
duced quite an electrical effect on the audience. But
Macready's greatest triumph was reserved for the last
act : for here he has no brilliant points to deal with—
no lofty sentiments to declaim, such as from
their nature must command applause, if mouthed
even by common place; but he has to fill up by into-
nation, gesture, and force and truth of:expression, what the
dramatist has left in sketch. When we say, therefore,
that Macready has succeeded in clothing Shakspeare's
skeleton in genuine English flesh and blood, we mean to
accord him the highest praise that we can possibly
bestow. Mr..Vandenhoff, as Time in Chorus, declaimed
with spirit, but dare we whisper in his ear that he has
yet to arrive at a full appreciation of the admirable '
idiomatic language ,of Shakspaare. In the more animated
passages of his explanations he was judicious enough, but
he failed in expressing the deep, but not very occult,
sentiment that lies in that unrivalled description of the
state of the English army, the night previous to the
battle of Agincourt. Here he declaimed, but he did
not feel, the consequence of which was, that the de-
scription was seareely heeded by the audience. His
daughter performed a trifling part with great skill and
judgment ; giving a truly naive effect to her broken and im-
perfect English. Meadows,as Capt. Fluellyn, was spirited,
but we cannot help thinking that, in his anxiety to pro-
duce an effect, he somewhat caricatured his pa: t.
Harley's Pistol was humourous and amusing, and his
whetting his sword, as if for revenge, after having been
well drubbed by the choleric Welchman, was an admir-
able trait of character. Miss P. Horton, as a page to
Nym, Bardolph, and Co., displayed much archness of
manner. This young lady is a very improving actress,
and we think will, ere long, become an ornament to the
stage. Of the scenery, by Stanfield, it is impossible to
speak in too animated terms of praise. The perspectives
throughout—and some of them were very difficult to ma-
nage—were handled with consummate skill, especially
the scene of the battle-field, which was quite a triamph
of art. The panoramas, too, displayed extraordinary
power of effect, and helped, in no slight degree, to con-
tribute to the success of the piece. The dresses and
decorations were, in.their way equally effective% in fact,
we know of no instance on record, in which a drama
has been got up with such taste, such magnificence,
and uniform keeping of costume, as in the present
instance of Henry the Fifth. Having said this,
we need scarcely add that its repetition was announced by
Macready amid the unanimous cheers of a house
crowded to suffocation. We should not omit to add
that early in the piece an interruption was occasioned
by some drunken squabble in some of the upper boxes,
which, singularly enough, occurred just at the moment
Macready was delivering the line—

" It was the execs; of wine that set him on."
This fortuitous allusion-to the squabble in question was
eagerly caught up by the audience, and occasioned
much mirth.