The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

FRENCH PLAXS.

A critic of high authority declares the Tartuffe to be
one of the most complete comedies ever written in any
language ; and, certainly, whether it come before us in
the closet or on the stage, one is at a loss which to ad-
mire most, the classical beauty of its proportions, the
ease and propriety of its polished verse, the variety and
distinctness of its characters, or the bold and eloquent
satire of its moral. In each of these essentials Tartuffe
stands pre-eminently excellent. It is indeed seldom that
we find so much animation) energy, criticism, and truth,
crowded together in one single five-act piece. It pro-
perly belongs to that class of comedies which, osten-
sibly written to satirize one particular weakness or de-
fect, are in reality intended to portray human nature in
its most extensive aspects, and to dive into the deepest
recesses of the heart ; but the special satire con-
veyed in the character of Tartuffe is so pointed
and vehement that we can easily understand how it was
that it excited the utmost rancour of the Jesuits, whose
intrigues, in fact, delayed its appearance for at least two
years. As Moliere said himself, ce n'etait pas l'interet
de Dieu qui pouvoit les emouvoir, for a less immoral
play was scarcely ever written, and they offered no
opposition to other plays of Moliere of which the same
cannot be said ; but the vigorous exposition of cant and
hypocrisy contained in the Tartuffe must have seriously
damaged that secret chamber influence by which they
then governed so many of the chief families in France,
and, through them, the destinies of the kingdom. But
delineating human nature at large with such force
and truth of observation, satirising vices which
are as rampant now as they were then, a modern
audience can enjoy it to the full as much as did the gay
courtiers of Louis XIV., pretty nearly two centuries ago.
It was produced last night at the St. James's Theatre
with a care and attention fully calculated to display its
peculiar excellencies. The Tartuffe of M. Regnier, diffi-
cult and thankless as is the part, is one of his best
efforts, and he played it last night in his finest manner.
Without the slightest trace of the charlatanrie or extra-
vagance of the stage hypocrite, his performance was
marked throughout with a discrimination and refine-
ment of tone and gesture, and at times with vehemence
and elevation of manner which stamped it as an effort
of the highest genius. Smooth and measured in the
first scenes, by turns ardent and sophistical in his inter-
views with Elmire, and rising almost to a tragic force in
the triumphant tones of the c'est clone a vans sortir, with
which he overwhelms Orgon, when that credulous
dupe discovers the full measure of his proteges
depravity, M. Regnier marked the varied phases
of the character with a felicity and truthfulness
sufficient to approve him the great artiste which he is.
He was frequently and loudly applauded throughout the
piece. M. _Roland played the part of the irascible and
credulous Orgon, especially in the first scenes, with con-
siderable ability, and materially aided the general effect.
Elmire was played by Mdlle. Brohan with all the grace
and delicay which might be expected from her ; and
Mdlle. Bertin played the saucy and sensible Dorine with
such spirit and vivacity, that we are almost tempted
to say that she quite shared the applause with M.
Regnier. The other characters were well cast, though
we were much disappointed in M. St. Marie's Cleante.
He made but little of this very important character—
Le Raissoneur, as it is called of Moliere's comedie.
The piece was excellently dressed and mounted. We
had almost forgotten to say that it was M. Lafont's
benefit ; that there were a host of other entertainments
besides Tartufe in which he did not appear ; but we
were glad, for his sake, to find that the house was fully
attended. He played with Mdlle. Page in one of Scribe's
numerous effusions, entitled Une Visit a Bedlame, which
afforded scope for some very clever acting, and also in
the second act of Le Gamin de Paris, which, as it did
not commence till after twelve o'clock, we did not re-
main to witness.