The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-11 00:00:00

DRURY-LANII THEATItt.

A new tragedy, entitled the Provost of Bruges; was last
night produced at this theatre. It is a noble play, abOunding
in striking dramatic incidents? put td ether With Much skill i
ind forcible, yet not he_VOn4 the lititili of propriety, In its deli-
neation of ehatatter. The plot is as follows t---In the time of
the celebrated Charles, Earl of Flanders, a person named
Bertulphe had raised himself by valouri prudence, and joolic7,
from the lowly situation of a tCfe to that of Provost of Bruges,
which in those days placed a man on a level With Princes.
It was to him- that Charles was lcdebted for his elevation
to that potent Earldom. A proclamation issued by Chat tes, and
bearing hard upon the serfs, is issued in 13ruges, and excites
much commotion. The deadly enemy and rival of 13ertulphe
is Thancmar, Chatelain of liourbotog, No living person is
acquainted in Bruges with the lowly birth of Bettuiplie but
an aged man, named Phillippe, supposed to be something of
a conjuror. Bouchard, of a noble race in Flanders, mar,
vied the only daughter of Bertulphe, and has thereby de-
graded himself to the condition of a serf. Thancmar is informed
by old Phillippe that Bertulphe was born on his ( Thancmar's)
-own estate. and that therefore father, daughter, and son-in-law
are his serfs. Some insulting language having been used by
Thancmar to Bouchard, a challenge is the consequence. The
Earl arrives just at the time in Bruges, and endeavours to pre-
vent the parties from entering the lists ; but Bertulphe, de-
sirous of the death of Thancmar, as knowing his secret, urges
his son-in-law to the contest, and thus incurs the displeasure
of the Earl. Just at the moment that swords are about to be
drawn Thancmar refuses to fight, on the ground that Bouchard
is a serf, and unworthy, therefore, to meet a Knight of Flan-
ders. From this event arise all the succeeding tragic disasters,
which end in the madness and death of Constance, the death of
Bouchard and Thancmar in an affray, and self-immolation of the
Provost. Macready played the part of Bertulphe, the Provost,
wiih an energy and discrimination that impress us with a
higher idea of his powers than we have yet entertained. He display_
ed, too, greater versatilaty than is his wont, for though always
successful in his sudden bursts of passion, yet we never knew
him to have a mastery over the pathetic. But his acting
last night agreeably disappointed us. His pathos was exqui-
site, especially in the scenes where he is represented hanging
over the body of his maniac daughter, and implor-
ing her by looks, and words, and gestures, not one of
which but went to the heart, as from the heart they
sprang, to recognize him, if only for an instant. His
exclamation of " God, I shall go mad," when he looks into
his child's face, and sees there is no hope, and then bows his
head in all the agony of a father's sorrow, produced as elec-
trical an effect on the house, as ever was produced by Kean
in his best days. Of a different character, but equally effec.,
tive, was his defence of himself from his son-in-law's reproach,
that he was a Serf. There was no intemperate outbreak of
passion ; no boisterous rant, or spasmcdic attitudenizing in
Macready's acting on this occasion ; he vindicated his insulted
honour in just and harmonious accordance with the lofty na-
ture of the character he represented. "lam a man," said
he, and his form actually seemed to dilate as he spoke.
There was but one blemish in his performance. He too often
forgot that he was an old man, and allowed the boiling spirit ,
of a ripe and vigorous manhood to be too apparent. This,
however, he will no doubt remedy, when he becomes a little
more familiar with the character. , Cooper's Bouchard was
also an able performance, without aspiring to genius. Of
Miss Ellen Tree's Constance, we may say that it was as well
played as such a part could possibly be. Her earlier and
quieter scenes were her best, because there the . skill of the
artist was most requisite to redeem them from insipidity.
Warde was sensible and judicious, as he always is, especially in
his sarcasm ; and Diddear respectable as the Earl of
Flanders. We must not omit to mention Meadows's repre-
sentation of the old man, Phillippe, who has outlived every
thing but his malignity. It was a quiet, but strongly marked
performance, after the manner of the old school ; and told by
its very repose and unassumingness. The language, without
making any undue attempts at the poetic. is chaste and viorgous
throughout. Here and there we detect an absurdity, such as
where the dramatist talks of an " eagle " not " being sparrow-
hatched "—as if an eagle ever could possibly put in such a
claim of affiliation—but generally speaking, the language is
strictly correct, and above all, nervous and flowing.
Were we to make any objection, it would be to
the needless length of the tragedy. Strictly speaking,
the interest ends with the fourth act : but it is needlessly pro-
longed to give opportunity for some developements on the part
of Macready and Miss Tree, of madness and despair. How-
ever, notwithstanding this, it was received with unbounded
applause, and will have a triumphant run. After the play, a
new comic extravaganza, entitled Frolics in Forty-five, was
produced. It was sad stuff, and was damned accordingly
The house was full.