The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-16 00:00:00

The Westminster Play.

The revival this winter of the " Adelphi," following ill
regular order the " Andria," revived last year, would seen-
to indicate that the substitution of Plautus fcr Terence, at-
tempted in 1860, is finally abandoned, and that we shall go
on like our fathers, witnessing a small cycle of Terentiau
plays, Christmas after Christmas, the cycle being rendered
narrower than of old by the omission of the " Eunuchus,"
which it seems has been sentenced to perpetual banishment
as a punishment fur its offences. Perhaps the repetition of a

, -
few )N ell known plays answers the purpose of the Westmiu"
star audience better than the production of a great varielY'
If the aggregate works of Terence and Plautus were put
upon the stage they would not afford many types of chsrac‘
ter not already presented in the selected pieces, for the
writers of the new Greek comedy, which the Romans toar
tor their basis, however they might have multiplied their
collisions, kept themselves within very close limits when
they conceived their list of dramatis personce, andabout
eight types of character will probably comprise all the spec'.
mens of humanity they undertook to exhibit, Hence it is
just as well that the old habitues of St. Peter's dormitory,
assembled rather to admire the abilities of the actors man
to feel a dramatic interest, should have for their delectation
a few choice works with the plot and points of which they
are perfectly familiar, than a series of strange fables to be
unravelled for the occasion. The " Adelphi" does not excit9
so much laughter as the " Andria," but is always an egre'3;
able play. The contrast between the severe and indulg°,
brothers, repeated in so many works, is well maintaisto"
though the close observer may feel somewhat puzzled by
ilt;
0
moral with which the last act is pointed, the poet, who 110
Hitherto been apparently enlisting thesympathies on the 1
of the urbane Micro, suddenly and unaccountably shittiSib
his purpose, and Endeavouring to make us feel that Deurea
in the right, even after Demea himself has pronounced a cal;
trary opinion, in a long recantatory speech, which is one as
the best passages in the play. The drunken scene affor3S
Syrus an opportunity for a peculiar humour which is denied
to the Davus of the Andria, generally his superior. The 11
the attachment of the two young brothers to each other',
shown throughout the entire play, and so prettily express'
in a speech by Micio, elicits a strong feeling in their favou
and the episode of the poor family, with their faithful sis's
Geta and their honest advocate Hegio, gives a pretty 6°13:
mental background to the principal action, in Which "-
comic element predominates.
Even those whose familiarity with the Westminster Ph°
does not extend over a long series of years will scarcely itc`
to be struck by the very great change that has receutli
taken place in the spirit by whioh the performanso is rwe'
gulated. Formerly the language was delivered in A Sl° u;
formal manner, of which perspicuity seemed to be the 5° r
object, and even the gestures that accompanied particul°l3r
lines were so completely stereotyped that they could ease
be retraced after an interval of ten years. Only a perforrs.
ance of extraordinary vivacity could, under these circuit's:
stances, attain the ars celare artem, and even the
impersonations were not altogether without an appeei°e;
of constraint. As the actors, so were the audience. Gerteer
cues had been obviously marked for applause, and, Na h
the passage with which they terminated was well or iLl‘ep,
vered, it was sure to command a round of noisy approbti'ti°
of which the gods were the fuglemen. . boa
Now,on the contrary,the actors and audience are en jy
in a state of comparative liberty. The former are lay,,
allowed to be as natural as they pleased in their delift-'•74
and if anyone is ingenious enough to devise a little bit
original fun, he is quite free to exercise his in
'ed to look 110
ge. schoolboy
Syrus of Mr. Trevor is not the work of a tutored
but of an original humourist, who is determined
much like a professional comedian as
are exuberant even t°
both of astuteness and of inebriety possib e, and his det-ailo
marked
is
theirth e S ostrata of Mr .0 ",r
character, but equally
excess. Quite opposite
perfectly matronly in voice an
ptstefrr,eeaddoimgnfirfloemd
Sbyhai
tuosethis character, small as it is, t°'
manner, The audiencediscriminating.
convention,
°refnde
next to that bestowed ou the
largest
ghetruebauy atwoafrdaiglaThe Demea of Mr. W. C. lane NY°
ibte and genial (it could not have been so ink ho
sharp, irasc 9
though perhaps it lacked variety, and his '°
old times),
,RoliloquY the fifth act deserved more applause than drunkenness of
obtained. Micio was distinguished by a very careful dela-
Syrus.

iiro
These are the most remarkable characters. The "
cast is as follows :—.

-11saeicumnicioa. ' ''
''
AcW...ljl:lVß.liCiscc.koLeeyane
GCSFutattrhaatltt"
F'. L. Hurrlaon
.Esehinus..M. O. ;Situ jerwyn
Syrw ...... E. Trevor I
Drum° A.
11.. Mutt
CtesiPho ..E. J. Chepmell

Persona Muta.
Parmeno .. C. E. Oldman.
The prologue and epilogue were given last night. The
former is, as usual, the obituary of deceased
eninsters," and the persons lamentedare Professor Co7kere,
(under whose care the beautiful scenes of the play' wer,e
executed), the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Beaucharal), 6%r
F. Slade, Bart., Archdeacon Lane Freer (of Hereford), 011"
Captain F. Madan.
8
In the epilogue, which is of course dramatic, Denaca 11,8
become Lord Mayor, Micio an alderman, Syrus the l'atlY°r
butler, Sannio a troublesome liveryman, and Geta
man. Complete copies of both prologue and epilogue
l-"'
be published after the third and last performance, "sy
will take ce to-mo.
Among p
thlae visitorsrrow last night were Lord Chelmsford, the
Dean of Westminster, the Queen's Advocate, Mr. Dere°.
ford, Professor Selwyn, Archdeacon Hale, &c.