The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-24 00:00:00

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

RE-APPEIARANCE 01 ,‘ MISS CUSHMAN.
After a long absence fron a the London stage, Miss
Cushman made her appeara rice, last evening, at the Hay-
Xnarket Theatre, before a very crowded and fashionable
audience, as Bianca, in th ke five act tragedy of Fazio,
end met with that cordial welcome which is only given
,t° great popular favoue,tes. Some few years ago, an
knerican actor, whe, fancied himself slighted at one of
uur theatres, averre,d that with regard to his own
eeuntrymea we did not reciprocate those kindly
Seelings which, were evinced towards English
devotees to th.e. histrionic art on the other side of the
Atlantic. Of, course, no one who really knew our peo-
ple,
and ha 'A. any acquaintance with theatrical matters,
'Would endorse with his assent such an opinion, for, of
all natior,s, we yield to none in the encouragement and
14101313°rt. 'which we give to foreign artistes. Of this Miss
affords a remarkable example. From the first
'aYqte trode upon the metropolitan stage, her career with
has been one of uninterrupted success. Her genius, her
enthusiastic devotion to her profession, and her exemplary
life, amidst no ordinary trials and difficulties, have ob-
tained from us, no less than .n her native land, their, due
teed of praise ; and she has attained a position, which
-very few of our most celebrated female performers can
Zaw boast of.
Miss Cushman is no every-day actress. Her imperso-
laation of character is truly wonderf,ul. 'With a masterly
blind she readily seizes upon thr; meaning and spirit of
the Part she undertakes, an so incorporates herself
With it, that you lose Wight of the mere per-
former in the traith and ex7oestness of her delineation.
What, for instance, cou'al be more perfect than her
Bianca of last night ? FAA)r whole soul seemed intent on
'what she did ; every • look, utterance, and gesture
expressed eloquentl-1 and powerfully the passions
which animated the breast of the loving but jealous,
Ste injured but fc,rgiving wife ; yet nothing was over-
strained or unafitaral, all was in strict keeping with
the conception faf 'the character, and hence it was not
astonishing to End that a strong impression was made
on the mind s of the audience, many in our vicinity
shedding tears in no small abundance, being moved to
.11e quick 'by the pathos and intensity of her acting.
"e subjoi.D. extracts from the criticisms upon this lady
by our s'everal morning contemporaries.
At Che conclusion of the tragedy, Miss Cushman
%tile forward and bowed her acknowledgments, in
'lbw:Aimee to a perfect storm of galls.
The Fazio of Mr. Howe was distinguished by that
ogre, ease, and gracefulness which we have frequently
aoticed in that gentleman's representations. Mrs. L. S.
Buckingham, who, as usual, was dressed magnificently,
made an elegant Aldabella, but the repulsiveness of the
character is enough to disv,rm praise, even if it be ex-
tremely well rendered. We may say, however, that,
barring a little stiffnes,s., and a rather too unimpassioned
delivery, Mrs. Bu'lLir.gham acquitted herself n
asmall credit. The almost trifling part of the miser
rtolo, was ma.de the most of by Mr. Chippendale, who
an extremely clever personifier of old men.
dutiful, and dresses, and other decorations were ve
ry
ya said much for the able management of
ckatoiae.

bliss ( From the Times.)
when Cktarlotte Cushman, who astonished all London
made her debut about a dozen years ago, and
f ',ur. some time has been rather a memory than an
actual
whiched last night as Bianca in Fazio,
112 e‘haracter first introduced her to our metropo-
a' The great characteristics of Miss Cushman are the
1."1,e as they were in the days of her former career. An
Xelleet restless to embody its conceptions, and an energy
''at dashes headlong to the most terrific results, still
"?ttalk the performance of this most original actress. Un-
"4oarrassed by notions of the ideal, the graceful, and the
80eitlating, it is her aim to express every passion with its
111 st fearful reality—nay, if you will, with all its hideous-
NVhen Bianca, after the death of her husband,
14,e_ues, a maniac, into the ballroom, Miss Cushman makes
lir Most of' the situation by avoiding everything
alight in the least tend towards dilution. The de-
a: wild and unconstrained ; the hair is tossed about
4egardless of the laws of beauty ; the teeth are set with
I,lalzfle meaning at the guilty and shrinking Aldabella.
elidee Scenes that depict emotions less violent still give
z;rliee of the same principle. The vindictive wife,
tQat her vindictiveness is past, offers to resign her
lar 'ea.nd to the seductive paramour, if she will but save
8 life through her influence with the Duke. It is not
l'l3ll Pathos of this situation which is seized iss
tiahalan but the abject degradation of a strong nature,
/1(1 the humiliation which allows the sufferer to clutch
oven at disgrace, rather than fall into the abyss of
i7erY, is rendered with frightful truth. Let it not be
--'agined, however, that Miss Cushman can only repre-
lleut love when deformed by jealousy, lashed into re-
blorse., or crushed into despair ; her earlier scenes
401un'd in explosions of affection. When she has rea
coved out the inference that jealousy may end in
a';_taal hatred of her husband, the suddenness with which
41Fie recoils from the thought and falls on Fazio's neck in
--
1„ agony of fondness, is really a grand burst of hearty,
reserving, reckless devotion. But, amid this display
°lf st!.ong intellect and gigantic energy, there is still
an element to make the portrait of Bianca corn-
.avfet,e—the element of fascinating softness. The Bianca
'3lBB Cushman can overpower with her affection, can
vrad in her jealousy, can bite the dust in her despair, but
r• can more readily fancy the imaginative Fazio escap-
ig from the lawful fetters of her terrible charms than is
'4A 4
eri Nether
h Consistent with the moral purpose of the piece.
galled a
b of the tragedy Miss Cushman was loudly
but strongly -Y an audience whose hearts she had not lured,
shaken.

(From the Morning Chronicle.)
beltr• Bucks one's managerial campaign, which has
linen chiefly conducted in the comic spirit one may sup-
,l;Be roost congenial to his own idiosyncrasy, last night
toollinled the tragic feature. The distinguished American
iu stress Miss Cushman, made her appearance as Bianca,
%ran Milman's Fazio. This lady—we mean Miss
41Cutnan, and are by no means so sure that what we
-1,,41°f her h
I might be as safely predicated of Bianca—
goerlia'waYs be welcome to two large classes of play-
tress.
She is an intellectual, if not a poetical
tho„,) and while there is sufficient evidence of
It.a,--git and study in her personations to satisfy the
d.:'itY of those who demand art in acting, she dis-
lottte",B, ,4 Picturesque power and an almost unequalled
tensity which take the mass of spectators by storm.
tegard her as the finest exponent of the melodrama,
th nkg the Word in its best sense, who at present treads
I•ttucarde ; and believing as we do that, for a variety of
14.0-cne, the highest form of drama is at present unap-
-48 aohable by English actors, we rank Miss Cushman,
poittctaY be inferred, in a position of no ordinary im-
te alles• Her engagement, providing Mr. Buckstone
li_NtrePared to exhibit her peculiar merits in a fitting
18 about the wisest step which has marked.
to -ulzinistration—that is, if Mr. Buckstone design
ttei,g,ve her characters in either revived or new
41"uranias of the best sort, and by no means to
ellander her powers and injure his own interests by
teithteeProduction of old "legitimate" plays, to which
juati, r she nor the rest of his company can do
-e2 and which nobody wishes to see, if they could.
e trust
to have to record that he has not only engaged
Zoreizarkable artiste, but has shown that he knows how
eakeZP27 her powers, in which case Miss Cushman's en-
ds th at once a profitable speculation as re-
biterp,Ze -u▪
arnarket, and a valuable service to the true
physi°f the stage. Miss Cushman is by no means
intici-ag fitted for Bianca, but she gave the points with
Old ,..c'ecA, and in the stormier scenes evinced all her
ever' pow
• But the part is unsuited to her in almost
terveVlPect. Miss Cushman was received as she de-
to " be ; but we have indicated our hope as to the
136',411... Parts to be allotted to her in future, and of which
.ca is certainly not one.

( From the Morningq _Herald.)
Zt Was part of Mr. Buckstone s scheme, when he com-
.l„'ftced the present season, to engage Miss Cushman.
;14s romise he has redeemed, and that distinguished,
-"stress appeared last night as Bianca, in Milman s Fazio,
Character that has always, we believe, been. considered
cl 4
ef her most remarkable personations. It can
eely be considered. one of the most interesting,
1. tile tragedy itself is sorely artificial,
.the sentiment
I._l, and the pangs of the principal personage
However, . with
-Zit little suggestive of sympathy..
It 5 well-known play of the old Quarterly Reviewer
tos have now little to do. It h.as. had. its day, and
Miss Cushman and Miss Glyn is ittstinednaeblltyedefno
jrotyhse.
'aetical exhumation which it occasionally
ahe 'liscern no appreciable difference either in theap
appear-
-4e or the intellectual vigour of this gifted American
teßlBte• She had no rival, and her pre-eminenucaeliintytheisf
ke]deret has not yet been disturbed. The rich
the force of her elocution, the superiority of
Ikil'telugment, and the earnestness of her manner,
tat.uetanding her manifold Macreadyisms, thear calculated to keep her high in roll of
Ali ases. She was well received by the audience
undo Were mindful of her former triumphs and of her
4evbted claims upon the public admiration. Hers
tha.illg throughout the whole of the tragedy wa.
for Neterised, as we have intimated, by all itsd
:Qear
a:l:lab:tea. The jealously of the fond an
baolcllg wife, which leads her to denounce her hus-
Ztazrdating hiot from a wanton;
with no other object than that of
furnishes her with a
14:e7nt.gurZaiyiurrafaeme for the display of certain of her most
ad --atic qualitieS. The studied formality of the
11::iotpreiatensteisl
ge, and the mechanical nature of the images, which
st,edarceleverness rather than facility and ap-
impediments which she vanquishes
~°nsunnate skill. There is a sincerity in the man-
h°l Mies Cushman which must always make its way.
3:t she utters we know she feels, and her deep, gut-
tones bespeak the anxiety and the emotion within.
ria in..a.t.ever natural defects appertain to her, her discri-
Ztive ability blinds the spectator to their presence.
er delineation of feminine tenderness, notwithstanding
Nyitjllaseuline sentiment which one is apt to associate
" her touching; and we well
their °Yf with what force she expresses feeings which have
in orig,_ in
1, la goaded and excited passion. Her power
tiot-ie latter case is vividly exhibited in her denuncia-
D,48 latter
the Marchesa, whose blandishments have been
,l"`chased by the impressionable Fazio, while her mad-
vveti agenv, when she finds that she has ruined her
th -4nd vacillating husband, instead of saving him 2.3
1:`14,1 hoped, signally illustrates the former. Miss
Nyllelblarl, in a word, revived all the good impressions
"4 She originally ouggeptecL She was applswisi

with great heartiness, and was led on the stage at the
close of the tragedy by Mr. Rogers, amid renewed con-
gratulations.

(From the Daily News.)

The reception awarded to Miss Cushman on her return
to the Haymarket yesterday evening, was as warm and
hearty as her most enthusiastic admirers could desire.
The play chosen for the occasion was Fazio, one with
which the critics have always found fault, but which
somehow or other keeps the stage, notwithstanding their
maledictions. It is true that its plot is improbable,
and that the language often passes the line which
separates poetry from bombast, but still it has fine
situations, and an action that does not often lag, while
there are frequent opportunities for the display of high
histrionic power in the character of Bianca, the heroine.
Miss Cushman has made this character all her own,
filling the eye and seizing on the emotion of the audience
from the rising of the curtain down to the terrible climax
of the fifth act. Her acting last evening, while exhi-
biting a chastened and improved judgment, had lost
none of the energy which created her success in for-
mer engagements. The gradual growth of her jealousy
from a suspicion to a passion was finely pourtrayed, and
the alternations between womanly fondness and wo-
manly rage, were marked with a truth and force
which received warm acceptation from the audience. The
whole of the improbable fourth act was sustained by her
acting, but the mad scene in the fifth was her triumph.
It was an effort of true dramatic genius and impulse,
and was almost fearful in its reality. It brought down
thunders of applause, which were repeated again and
again when she re-appeared, in answer to an unanimous
and prolonged call before the curtain. It is but fair to
add that Miss Cushman was played well up to, by the
ladies and gentlemen to whom the other characters
were allotted.