The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-26 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.

•
Mr. George Vandenhoff, the eldest son of the Welk
known tragedian of that name, and for many years air
sent in America, made a very successful re-appearance
last night at this theatre in the character of Harn,
He possesses the advantages of a good person and as
excellent voice, is easy and dignified in his action, aid
correct in his reading ; and though his performance
not display any of the higher flights of the tragic t
there was nothing objectionable, nothing overstrained'
all was marked by carefulness, intelligence, and Pr;',-,
priety, and the verdict of the audience was unanimong`Jt
in his favour, he being " called" with loud applause 5
the conclusion of the piece.
We copy the following notice of this gentlenisg'°
debi2t from our contemporary the Morning Post :
" If Mr. Vandenhoff has not gained fame and innepeld
from our transatlantic brethren, he has certainly acenir-ch
experience and improvement in their land, and to sil
an extent as to make us doubt his identity with the gel);
tleman bearing his name whose acquaint,ance we had p,r'
viously made. We have no hesitation in declaring 3.',1.;
Vandenhoff's Hamlet to be not only by many degrep
the best at present on the stage, but also better than 3,
.1 .j:t
that has been seen since the days of John Kemble. Wts
he may make of other Shaksperian characters, requirl':
greater energy, passion, physical power, and melo-dfri
matic excitement, we cannot pretend to say ; but ,c.).
this we are sure, that his picture of the contempla,trv;',
philosophical, elegant Prince of Denmark, who is en,k)4l
goaded into action by a supernatural visitation, gi_vie
the pressure of most extraordinary and terrwi.o
circumstances, could not possibly be surpassed.
this age of strong accents and exaggeration, especia,"elt
in theatrical matters, it is truly refreshing to ni of
with an actor who never " o'ersteps the modestf.a
nature "—who moves with gentlemanlike ease S.
grace upon the stage, and speaks the language of S/1.34,
spere with just emphasis and purity. Such is ei
George Vandenhoff ; but his merits do not end
for he is not merely a correct performer, but 0,16'1_01
great one. He not only satisfies but delights us---';,ig
this he accomplishes in various ways. Firstly, bYtsPro
really beautiful level speaking, which is truly "ng
to advantage dressed." This at once honourably
eat
tinguishes him from all contemporary tragedians, not,e,o,t
of whom can make any effect except in passages of g!ovg
excitement, where the delineation of stormy Pass' be
may justify a spasmodic style of expression. SecondlY/ilig
charms us by the exquisite delicacy he imparts toi,'ls,
dramatic picture, and the masterly finish of its vetting
Thirdly, by the sympathetic glow of feeling emang etie
from the heart—the genial, steadily-burning Peaocl
fire which everywhere vivifies his conceptions,
tidi,
warms by its electric power the coldest of his of
tors into admiration. Add to these the influence;ost
a very agreeable voice, a commanding figure, a A
graceful gestures, and an expressive countenance, 30,1 i•
fair idea may be formed of the very remarkable %pa,
ties of Mr. Vandenhoff, as exhibited on this 003' de
We have preferred giving a general sketch of the
or'
butant's powers to selecting special portions of hig
formance for praise. Where all was so evenlY g
where the Horatian precept—
"Denique sit quod vis simplex dumtaxat et untit'celi
was so finely exemplified, such a course would be sc:e,i,e,
just. Miss Louisa Howard quite surprised us by bera_ or
ation of Ophelia. The sweetness arid simple
nesteess she threw into it, no less than the plastic b,r),, to
of her gestures, gave afresh and charming colour oro
the character, which merits high praise both on tne,:efore
of novelty and intrinsic excellence. We had nevesr:d otoirf
seen this young lady in a Shaksperian part,
r`.0.0,9
knowledge of her previous performances in d
so fv,lo
little merit did not certainly lead us to anticipate
rig"l
mirable an effort as this in the hi,hest walk of hint.,,,,,0r114
art. In other respects the tragedy was b..,tt__lr„ten
represented, with the exception of Mr. ii.,.7r.r-sraga
Gravedigger, which did him much credit. 01,1,e
denhoff was warmly applauded throughout, atio,
for with enthusiasm after the final fall a the curt

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