The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-12 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE,

" MANFRED."
The announcement that appeared in the bills of
,his theatre, that Messrs. Falconer and Chatterton

intended to produce Lord Byron's choral tragedy
of " Manfred" with extraordinary splendour, na-
turally created the greatest interest amongst play-
goers, both old and young, and for weeks the event
has been looked forward to with more than ordi-

nary curiosity. That everything would be done in

the moat complete manner was certain from the

fact that Mr. Phelps had been engaged to sustain
the part of Count Manfred, and also to arrange and
superintend the production of the tragedy. We
must confess to a certain extent we had our
doubts as to the result of the bold experiment,
because it will be recollected that the great
poet congratulated hirrself in one of his
letters to his publisher, Mr. Murray, that
he had at least rendered the work impossible for
stage representation. In another of his letters he
says, " I composed it (Manfred) actually with a
horror of the stage, and with a view to render the
thought of it impracticable, knowing the zeal of my
friends that I should try that for which I have an
invincible repugnance—viz., a representation ;" and
further on, " You may call it a poem, for it is no
drama, and I do not choose to have it called by so
d— a name--a poem in dialogue, or a pantomime
if you will; anything but a green-room synonyme."
With such a strong declaration from its gifted
author, and the experience that its production some
five and twenty years ago had wrought, it must be
admitted on all hands it was a bold venture on the
part of the managers of Drury-lane to undertake
its production, but that determination was tempted
and formed no doubt by the grand descrip-
tions of the various aspects of nature with
which Lord Byron had enriched his work, and
also by the matchless skill of the scenic artists
attached to the theatre. However, upon whatever
ground the matter was decided, it has been thine,
and in a manner that will create the greatest won-
der and delight to thousands. Loug before the
hour of opening
the doors of the theatre, a crowd
assembled outside each of the various entries that

forcibly reminded many of the days of the great
Edmund Kean and Malibran, when all London was
wrought up to fever heat by the performances of
two such gifted artists. At half-past six the doors
were opened, and then a rush took place that will
be long remembered by these present, and fortunate
was either lady or gentleman who gained admit-
tance to the theatre without damaged and wrecked
attire. Within ten minutes after the admission of
the public every seat in the theatre was occu-
pied, and the scene presented was one of the greatest
animation. Prior to the commencement of the
tragedy a small
degree, pamphlet was circulated in the
theatre, and we cannot do better than give a para-
graph or two from it, because it will serve, in some
to those unacquainted with the work, as an
outline of the character of Manfred :—" The mix-
ture of remorse for some hidden, fate-impelled crime,
end of haughty disdain for all the ways of men,
forming the constituent ingredients of this brooding,
self-devouring melancholy which the poet loved to
' attribute to his heroes, is in Manfred idealised be-
yond human proportions. The mystery of his crime
is shrouded in hints so terrible, yet so impenetra-
bly dark, that the imagination fears to speculate on
its nature ; it seems that, if it were uttered, the
universe
would be convulsed. His self-isola-
tion is so complete that it raises him
above
merely mortal nature, and leaves him
nothing
human but the power of feeling
and suffering; and it is this intense self-assertion
—this absolute independence, moral and intel-
lectual, of all communion with created man, that
seems to lend him his strange power over the hid
den elements of nature rather than the magical
studies of which he speaks. Unlike the other moody
and misanthropical heroes of the poet—Lana, Con-
rad, Childe Harold—who still preserve some ves-
tiges of ordinary human instincts, he neither seeks
to numb the gnawing agony within by plunging
into daring and wild adventures, nor indulge his
sullen and splenetic pride in reviewing the scenes
of history and hurling taunting sarcasms at the
petty deeds of men. He is attached to earth only
by the memory of some beautiful and passionately
beloved being, who is herself no longer of earth, her
death being associated with the terrible unspeak-
able crime that inspires his torturing cureless re-
morse. Amidst the awful beauty and grandeur of
Alpine scenery, where his ancestral abode is fixed,
and with which he has from childhood been familiar,
he lives alone with his inextinguishable sorrow and
his unconquerable disdain for mortal nature ;
the only refuge be seeks from his anguish
and desolation is the contemplation of natere in
her terror and in her loveliness, and his only deal-
ings are with the potent spirits that preside over the
elements, and over whom his magical studies have
given him power—a power, however, which avails
him nothing towards assuaging the tortures of his
mind. Another essential, and, so to speak, personal
characteristic of Lord Byron's genius, is here thus
developed :--His intense love for all the changeful
moods and aspects of nature—a love so deep and
reverential that it amounted almost to a religion,
and has inspired him with passages, the grandeur
and elevation of which) combined with their in-
tensely-vivid picturesque truth, have never been
surpassed. Of these splendid tributes to the
mightiness and beauty of creation, the poem " Man-
fred" possesses more than one; and the address to
the Sun, as Manfred, from the window of his an-
cestral hall, sees it setting in glory for the last
time—his death on the following day having
been
foretold by Astarte, when her spirit is evoked in the
hall of Arimanes, is impressed with a calm sub•
unity which is more characteristic of Milton than
of Byron."
The mortal parts were sustained as follows :
Manfred, Mr. Phelps; a Chamois Hunter, Mr. A.
Rayner; the Abbot of St. Maurice, Mr. Ryder.
The immortal, by Miss Atkinson, Mrs. E. Falconer,
Miss Heath, Miss Poole, Miss Rose Leclerq, Miss
E. Hoywood, Miss Cecily Nott. At the termina-
tion of the overture the curtain slowly rose, and
discovered the study of the arch-enchanter Man-
fred. On the appearance of Mr. Phelps, which
takes place immediately afterwards, a reception of
the most extraordinary nature was given him. To
say the audience applauded would be to say nothing,
as each and every one present seemed perfectly
wild in their endeavour to express the pleasure
they felt in seeing him on the stage of Drury-lane.
Again and again he bowed his thanks, but no cessa-
tion of applause took place; on the contrary, it in-
creased to a perfect hurricane ; certainly we
have never seen a more exciting scene, and truly
Mr. Phelps may
say, with Edmund Kean, the
" house rose" at him. At length, the cheering
waving of hats and handkerchiefs having sub-
sided, the tragedy proceeded, amidst the most
breathless silence. The wonderful imaginings of
the immortal poet were
instances he rose to a great
with taste, care, and great
judgment; in many
declaimed by Mr. Phelps
height in declamation
His asking for self-oblivion
--his description of the
chamois hunter's simple life—his crushed and
heart-broken appeal to the spirit of his loved
Astarte—and his interview with the Abbot of
enthusiastic applause.
but theye most
were few and far between;
St. Maurice, were brilliant specimens of elocution,
and called
ee forthts th
At times he gave way to certain mannerisms and
triek
so far, indeed, that the beauty of the greater part
of the reading entirely effaced them from the recol-
lection. The other characters are so infinitessimally
small, that but very little room is left for display by
those to whom they are allotted. Manfred is the
part, the others being merely used as helps to great
effects. Mr. Reyner's delivery of the few lines
allotted the Chamois-Hunter was artistic and fault-
less. Mr. Ryder of course was correct and forcible,
but Miss Rose Leclerq's uttering of the two words
composing her part, ganfred " and "farewell,"
was a marvel of exquisite tenderness.
With respect to the scenery, it is certainly the
most magnificent that has ever been produced. In
fact, we cannot find words that will adequately con-
vey an idea of the expanse, beauty, and reality of
the principal of them. The precipice and glaciers
near the summit of the Jungfrau in the first act is a
wonderful effort, but the most wonderful of all is the
Steinbach waterfall iu the second. The rising of
the Witch of the Alps, amidst a spray of myriads of