The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-01 00:00:00

SUPPLY,

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

The Merchant of Venice, as performed before her
31)jesty and the Court at Windsor Castle, was per-
formed at this theatre on Saturday evening; and great
credit is due to Mr. Charles Kean for the admirable
manner in which he has managed the exoisions from the
text so as to render the play fit for representation before
the Court. The drama itself is greatly improved by these
excisions,and we have no doubt but from this time forth the
"Court" version of the Merchant of Venice will be adopted
at all our theatres. The effect produced by the performance
on, Saturday evening satisfies us that the greater portion
of the coarse vulgarisms which disfigure some of the
noblest productions of Shalespere are not from the pen
of the immortal bard himself, but are mere "gags"
which successive generations of actors have introduced.
We verily believe that the text of the Merchant of
Venice as performed on Saturday night was a nearer
approach to the text as originally written by Shuks-
pere than any performance that has taken
place since the original production of the
play. Mr. Charles Kean was the Shylock,
a character in the delineation of which he stands alone,
even as his father did—no actor can approach him in this
part. Be is indeed

" The Jew
That Shakspere drew."
Nothing could exceed the concentrated bitterness, the
biting sarcasm with is hich he gave the opening scene;
but he was impressive withal. Ho appeared to be no
mere selfish wretch, seeking to gratify his mere personal
malice—he seemed a patriot after a fashion, the repre-
sentative of a race which had wrongs to avenge and
rights to vindicate, and who, in favourable circumstances,
might have been a William Tell, and have restored
Israel to her place among nations. The scene with.
Tubal was sublime—it was a perfect tempest of con-
tending passions ; and the sudden change from furious
hate to deep tenderness when he mentions his deceased
wife was one of those exquisite touches of pathos which
at once carry away an audience, and force tears, as if
by magic, ft.= the eyes of the sternest. The great trial
scene, too, was given with immense power. In his stern
demands for " justice," in the greedy look of hate with
which he seemed to devour Antonio, and in the manner
in which he, as it were, petted the handle of the knife
which was to minister to his revenge, he seemed to revel
in the triumph of his intellectual superiority over
the " Christmas fools." Christians might have
physical force, and might rack the body, but he had
moral force, and could rack the mind, and so had he
fenced himself by their own laws that they themselves
were forced to deliver to him his victim. his looks, his
gestures, his manner, his tones, ,showed that he
felt that he had not only profited by the
lesson they had taught him, but that he had indeed bet-
tered the example. The sudden transition to that utter
prostration of all mental and physical power, with which
he is overwhelmed when he hears the judgment of Portia
against him, was magnificently given. Mr. Charles
Kean has before now done great things, but his Shylock
is certainly his greatest. It is in every way worthy of
the name he bears. Mrs. Charles Kean's Portia was a
beautiful delineation, gentle, lady-like, and graceful ;
in the trial scene she rose to tragedy, and the
mercy speech was given with a power, a pathos, and
beauty that left nothing to desire. As a piece of de-
clamation it was perfect. Keeley's Lancelot Gobbo was
full of quaint Shaksperian humour; Webster rattled
through Gratiano in admirable style ; and Mrs. Keeley
as Nerissa was a paragon of pertness. The play was
excellently put on the stage, and the house was crowded
in every part. Almost every private box was occupied
by persons of rank and fashion ; and we hail this as a
revival of the taste for the drama among our upper
classes, among whom it has, unfortunately, long lain
dormant. Mr. and Mrs. Kean were called for at the
conclusion of the play, and were enthusiastically received.

(From the Times.)
The revival of the Merchant of Venice with nearly
the same cast as when it was performed at Windsor
Castle on Thursday, drew a crowded house on Saturday.
The private boxes were occupied by several persons of
rank and fashion, and perhaps there may be something
in the hope that the higher classes are beginning at last
to bestow some attention on the English drama. Mr.
Charles Kean's interpretation of the character of Shy-
lock is on the principle of bringing forward those traits
which hint at the connexion of the Jew with the rest of
humanity, rather than those which reveal his malice and
vindictiveness. The broad expressions of rage and re-
vengeful triumph he indeed gives pa!pably enough; but
when malice takes the form of sarcasm ho passes it
lightly over. Thus his first scene, in which he makes
the bargain with Antonio, was without a number of
those points to which wo have }Nen accustomed, and
did not produce much effect. Even hero the humanizing
view was made to prevail, and in the recapitulation of
the wrongs which Shylock had endured from Antonio,
the line