The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-05 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

Encouraged by the success which has attended him in Hamlet and
Richard 111., Mr. C. Kean, on Saturday evening, appeared as Sir Giles
Overeach, in Massinger's play of A New Way to Pay Old Debts.
This play, though not marked by very profound depth of character,
is a proof how much of dramatic interest may be evolved from the inci-
dents of common life, working upon and displaying the multiform traits
of human nature. The character of Sir Giles (like that of Shylock in
the Merchant of Venice), stands out in dark and prominent relief from
the lighter portions of the play; and by the strength and intensity of its
passions alone, exhibited in a simple and unexaggerated story, is in.
vested with almost tragic interest. Sir Giles is the Richard 111. of
domestic life—speaking, of course, of Cibber's Richard. The elements
of character are much the same, though operated upon by different cir-
cumstances, and therefore assuming a different aspect. If Richard ap_
pear the loftier villain. it is because he moves in a higher sphere. The
ambition which, as " great men have greater sins," prompts him to seek
" the crown, that bright reward of ever daring minds," finds in Sir Giles
" the ne ultra of its proudest hopes," in au alliance with noble rank. The
" crook_back'd Richard" scents, perhaps, more heroic in his crimes, mur-
dering Princes and grasping an usurped seeptre, but equally "without re_
morseor dread" the insatiable rapacity which is ever adding to its ill-gotten
store, undeterred by " widows' cries and orphans' tears." And deeply in.
Wresting is that stern unconquerable strength of passion, directed with
unflinching devotedness to the attainment of one long cherished object
influencing every thought, engrossing every energy, and converting all
the "compunctious visitings" of conscience into marble-hearted in-
sensibility ; and terribly impressive is the lesson of retributive justice
beheld in the convulsions of a nature crushed by the weight of its own
iniquities.
The similarity between the characters naturally renders the transi.
tiun from the one to the other proportionably less difficult. And we
were not, therefore, at all surprised when we found Mr. Charles bean's
personation of Sir Giles fully equalled, if not surpassed, his
delineation of Richard,—which, it may be recollected, we
preferred, on the whole, to his Hamlet. The character
of Sir Giles (as we observed of Richard III.) is one strongly and broadly
marked, and requires rather force and vigour, than refinement and deli-
which e has
much appeared
varied ;
by striking than in either of the other two characters
aecttoirn)g is o f
s . the l
ipkaer part (itshfeat
h readingees
o that i t
cannot
ciw:itectl ylh osefp
eaexrxte)peril ell
es,
ndrresemblance to his father (who was so powerful
s n and in this species of character Mr. Kean cannot
e
In
there is little field for criticism. The cool, half jocular manner in which
lie reveals to Marra!! his plans for ruining his neighbour, and his anti.
wii
be arid
any ltis
actor)
cipatory triumph at the prospect of an " Honourable, right honourable
daughter!" were admirable. He was particularly effective in those
parts where Sir Giles suddenly assumes the veil of dissimulation, as
where he changes the accents of impetuous tyranny, for the tones of sub.
slued humility—in his address to " the Lord Lovell;" or the rapid tran.
sltion from the fierce exclamation to his daughter—
" Ha! tears in your eyes!
Rah I dry 'cm—
quickly, or I'll dig 'em out.
Think what it is to be my honourable daughter.
No more ! or else expect"--
to the easy politeness with which he introduces her to " his Lord_
the change from constrained cordiality towards his
ship." Or, again*
nephew,
.. My nephew has been
Too long a stranger,"
to smothered rage at Marall,
" We shall reckon for this hereafter."
Excellent also WAS the some with Lovell, when, in calm language, he
explains his villainous projects, and boasts—
•• When my ears are pierc'd with widows' cries,
And undone orphans wash with tears my threshold,
I only think what 'tis to have my slaughter
Right Honourable; and it is a powerful charm,
Makes sae insensible of remorse, or pity,
Or the least sting cf conscience."
In the scene with his daughter and Allworth, when the latter suggests
to him the leaving out the name of Lord Lovell is the note which he
is sending to the parson, and advises him to write merely " marry her to
this person," we thought there was too much of suspicion in the steady
glance which he directs, first at Allworth anti then at Margaret. If
Sir Giles had been so suspicious, it is not likely he would have acceded
to the suggestion with the careless remark " Well advised!" which ra.
titer intimates his ready, unsuspecting acquiescence. In respect to
Mr. C. Kean's performance of Sir Giles, the same defect struck us
in his I.ersonal appearance as we noticed in his Richard. There
seemed a want of breadth and weight in his physique ; there was not
that maturity in his aspect which belongs to the confirmed and practised
villain. In the earlier scenes perhaps this was visible, where Sir Giles
has little to do, and where nothing but the strongest and most deeply.
Let
the
este exclaiming—.
b ce la
broke inring—
seated feeling of the characters will give effect to the otherwise insig-
nificant part he has to perform. But in the last dreadful scene, ail
defects vanished ; and from the moment when he rushes on, pale with
auger, beating bl
butar aIl
h, and a
" Look to the writing:—
upon the box
That has slept in my cabinet these three years,
I'll rack thy soul for it,"
to the moment when, tortured by fearful visions of coming retribution,
he falls, in deathlike exhaustion—he exhibited a power of acting so
Inrcible, so terrific in its impressions, that it could scarcely have been
equalled, certainly never surpassed. Nothing could be finer than his
chuckling malignancy and half-concealed rage, while tittering—
*. I am familiar with the cause that makes you
Bear up thus bravely. There's a certain buzz
Of a stolen marriage. Do you hear ?—of a stolen marriage:
Wherein, 'tie said, there's somebody hails been cozened—
I name no parties."
The countenance of horror which takes place of triumphant Villainy
when the deed is discovered to be effaced—
" I am overwhelmed with wonder!
What prodigy is this! What subtle devil
Rath razed out the inscription ?"
And his mingled threatening and conciliation to Marall—
" Though the witnesses are dead, your testimony,
Helped with an oath or two; and for thy master,
Thy liberal master, my good, honest servant !
I know thou wi:t swear anything, to dash
This cunning sleight"-
-were excellent, as the outbreak of vehement wrath, when he finds his
" own varlet" rebel against him. When at length he discovers fully how
lie has been duped, the frantic rage, almost turning to frenzied madness,
was pourtrayed with terrible fidelity. In the utterance of the lineai—

" Ha ! I am feeble !
Some undone widow sits upon mine arm,
And my sword, glued to the scabbard with
Wronged orphans' tears, will not be drawn"—
Mr. Kean was too pathetic, and mistook, in our opinion, despair for
remorse. He gave the final burst of despairing frenzy with fearful
power and the dying look of reproachful agony which he directs cowards

his daughter, while the gurgling in his throat indicates the last struggle
of now impotent passion with the grasp of death, was truly awful.
Of the minor characters, Wellborn and Lovell were respectably
played by Cooper and H. Cooke. Mrs. Ternan well performed Lady
Allwcrth : as to Margaret, Miss Poole did her best, but that was not—
the best. Of Compton's Marrall we must speak in terms of high com.
mendation. It was an excellent personation, and drew down, as it de-
served, great applause. This gentleman is a rising actor. Djwton's
Justice Greedy was a good quiet piece of acting.
We should mention that Mr. Kean was received throughout with
unanimous applause; and at the close was called flit, and was again
greeted with the enthusiastic approbation of a very crowded audience.
A lengthened and very severe critique appeared a few days ago in the
columns of a Morning Paper, in which 'f the satirical rogue would in-
sinuate" that Mr. C. Kean is a mere melodramatic actor, and lss no
conception of character, nor any of the loftier elements of tragedy.
We at first were inclined to notice it : but the blind hostility of the
writer (we can call it by no other name) has hurried him into such pal-
pable, egregious blunders, that it altogether counteracts its own ends.
Mr. Kean has nothing to fear from such critics. .

Since writing the above we have seen our judgment so ably supported
by the following critique in the Times, that we have great pleasure,
(barring, of course, the political allusions which the author has some-
what ingeniously managed to introduce) in giving it entire :
Massinger's e ell known and as much admired drama, A New Way
to Pay Old Debts, was performed on Saturday evening. The author (we
think erroneously) denominated the piece a Comedy. There are un-
doubtedly many comic scenes and man) comic characters in it; but the
principal personage is so thoroughly villainous, so complete a human
monster, and his exit is of a description 5..) appalling, whether we consi-
der him as writhing in the death-agonies of a guilty mind, or as sud-
•dculy smitten by mental alienation, as to take the play out of the
pale of legitimate comedy, and to place it in a far more serious
sphere. This drama has outlived the other works of Mes-
singer. His City Madam, altered by Sir J. Burgess, and produced un-
der the title of Riches, had a successful run, a few years since; and his
Fatal Dowry, frosts which Rowe filched the the Farr Penitent, was also
performed some years ago for a very limited number of nights. Both
these plays were, on the score of plot, though ably and cleverly wrought,
objectionable. This cannot be alleged against A New Way to Pay Old
Debts. Its strong and distinct marking of character—its variety of
incident—its happy illustration of domestic manners—its pure and
poweriblly enforced moral—and lastly, the sterling Eiglish vigour which
breathes through its every line, must render it popular so long as any
remnant of just theatrical taste exists amongst us. Mr. C. Kean on
this occasion appeared, for the first time in London, as Sir Giles Over-
reach—that fiendish incarnation of craft and cruelty. At the outset we
pronounce his performance to be one of the most perfect in all its parts
that we have seen for many years. Mr. Kean did not place before his
auditory a strikingly effective portraiture of the leading features of the
character, but he entered minutely into its finer and more subtle
shades. We have seen it asserted that Mr. Charles Kean lacks con.
caption of character. The assertion was made, but it was un-
sustained by proof; and we hold in very great contempt that use-
less and mischievous species of criticism which dogmatically de-
clares that this is good or that is bad, without giving the why or the
wherefore. A critic, whether of actors or of that which they enact,
should be able to adduce a reason for the faith that is in him. Now,
we have attentively watched Mr. C. Kean's Hamlet and his Richard,
and we could perceive no lack of conception of character. He ap-
peared to us thoroughly to understand each situation in which the inci-
dents of the drama placed him ; he appeared rightly to estimate the value
of every sentence which he had to deliver, and to give to each its due
weight and importance. If this be true, and we sincerely and without
prejudice think that it is, the remark applies with, if possible, increased
force to Mr. C. Kean's performance of Sir Giles Overreach. We had a
living picture of the tyrannical and brutal master—of the base, calcu-
lating coveter of other men's possessions—of the wretched slave to a
grovelling ambition, who would even sacrifice the maiden honour of his
slaughter, that she might (his arm prevailing) become " right hon.
ourable"—of the fawning creature who (like our Radicals) would lick
the feet of a nobleman, in the hope of effecting an alliance with a class
which, in his plebeian heart, he hated. " There having ever been,"
says Sir Giles,

" More than a feud, a strange antipathy,
Between us and true gentry."

In this play the chief test of the abilities of the representative of Sir
Giles is in the fith act ; but there is much in the preceding acts that re-
quires great skill and thoughtful care in the performer. In these acts
we are led, by gradations, into a thorough knowledge into the reckless
character of Sir Giles; so that when, in the exasperation of disappoint-
ment, he seeks to immolate his daughter, the atrocity comes not upon
us by surprise—we have been prepared by his precedent conduct to ex-
pect the worst of deeds from a badlyambitious man. All these earlier
scenes would, in the hands of an ordinary artist, have passed off as little
more than matters of course. Not so with Mr. C. Kean. Every tittle
of them was strongly marked—each point which tended to develop•
the depraved mind and heart of Sir Giles was given with strong effect,
and the whole served as a fittinginduction to the great catastrophe. In
the last act Mr. C Kean's triumph was complete. He depicted, in turns,
apprehension, hope, frantic disappointment, and ultimate despair, in
vivid colours. Here the action is varied and strongly contrasted. Sir
Giles's nephew has tricked him ; the bond by which lie held his rela-
tive's lands has miraculously become a sliest of blank paper. For a
moment he is paralysed,—burning wrath succeeds—but the approach
of (as lie supposes) his "right honourable" (laughter banishes for a mo-
ment his resentful feelings, and a paroxysm of frantic joy ensues. It
vanishes almost as soon as it is created. The maiden has espousedthe
youth of her choice—all Sir Giles's ambitious plans are thwarted—
the wretched perpetrator of so many crimes, conscience-stricken, sinks
on the earth, deprived of sense. Every one of these transitions was
given with masterly force and fine discrimination by Mr. C. Kean. He
evinced talent of the highest order in every shade and transition of
the character. Whether he coaxed or threatened Marall—whether he
played the fawning sycophant to Lord Lovell, or, stung wills
madness, defied him to mortal eombat,—whether he attempted
to wheedle his nephew, or furiously exasperated, gave him
" the loud lie,"—in each and all of these positions Mr. Charles
Kean gave the most unquestionable prod's of a comprehensive
and vigorous mind. He conceived boldly and correctly; and what he
so conceived he executed with commensurate truth and rigour. His
exit was extremely well imagined. Instead of at once sinking into the
arms of the attendants, he fell forward, as if suddenly stricken by a
thunderbolt; and, when raised, and lowly borne away, his look was
that of inanity, and his low and hysterical moanings those of a deeply_
suffering being. The applause throughout v. as very great ;at the con-
clusion of the play it was really enthusiastic. Mr. Keats was loudly
called for, and at once came forward, and by gesture signified his grail.
tude to the audience. Mr. Dowton sustained the character of that first-
rate gourmand Justice Greedy very humorously. He, however, does
not look the character. He is not one of those " thin-gutted squires" of
whom it can be said, as the cook says of Justice Greedy—,
Meat's cast array upon him.
It never thrives."
The part of Mandl was admirably played by Mr. Compton. Without
elibrt, without straining, without grimacing, but taking all smoothly
and quietly, he kept the audience in a continual roar of laughter. We
shall not soon forget his look of bewilderment and bepuzzlement (as
Lord Brougham would phrase it), and his grotesque action when he finds
himself, contrary to all human calculation, invited not only to dine with
Lady Allworth, but to salute her. Mr. Cooper sustained the part of
Wellborn judiciously, lie gave the most exquisitely written and touch-
ing appeal of the broken-down spendthrift to Lady Allworth with consi-
derable feeling. A gentleman of nobler port or bearing than Mr. H.
Cooke can boast, ought to personate Lord Lovell, the courtier and the
soldier. Lady Allworth found an agreeable representative in Mrs. Ter.
nan. The house was crow.d in every part from the pit to the slips.