The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-09 00:00:00

THE THEATRE.

DRURY•LANL-Mr. KEAN returned to this
Theatre last night, and had the pleasure to find
a very numerous audience ready to give him a
very favourable reception. Those who have al-
ways admired him of course must admire him
now, for his peculiarities are the same, and so is
his general style of acting. For our part, we
have never been among his admirers, though we
acknowledge his spirit, and the originality of his
starts, tappings, his deep and violent ejaculations.
However, he is not a tame follower of his prede-
cessors, but " boldly deviates from the common
track." The part which he performed last night
was Richard the Third, in which he is chiefly in-
debted for his extraordinary reputation. He was
somewhat hoarse, but he seemed to support the
character with so much ardour, that we saw no
necessity for the apology, soliciting indulgence
on account of his recent indisposition, and the re-
mainder of his performance seemed to spew that
it was not necessary. He was received with
very great applause, and as " in a multitude of
counsellors there is wisdom," we bow to the
judgment of the audience. Mrs. W. WEST sus-
tained the part of the Queen with great feeling
and strong effect. Miss SMITHSON is a pleasing
actress, but Comedy is not her forte, and she
is not sufficiently impressive for Lady Anne.—
Why POPE should be displaced from King
Henry, to which his time of life and talents are
adapted, we cannot conceive ; and, though we
think rather favourably of ARCHER, yet his ap-
pearance was too youthful, and his voice too
powerful, for the 64 Meek Usurper," as GrtAir
stiles Henry the Sixth. Mr. WALLACK'S Rich-
mond was a judicious and spirited performance,
and he may be justly classed among the very few
legitimate actors of the present day. Perhaps
our Readers may be amused by the discrepancy
which appears in the remarks of the Morning
Papers. One says " his (KEAN's) appearance
bespoke sound and vigorous health," that " he
exerted the full power of his genius." Another
says, that " his face was thinner than usual—
his countenance and voice afforded, therefore,
the only proofs we could detect of the inroads
which indisposition had made." Another says
" he seems to have gained in size since last sea-
son." Another observes that 64 he has become
very corpulent since last season, and his face has
assumed almost a bloated appearance." Another
remarks that his illness has evidently reduced
him ih flesh." Another compliments the discern-
ment of some of the audience so fur as to state,
that in their impatience " to testify their
enthusiasm that they seemed to mistake every
actor who entered during the first scene for their
expected favourite." Another intimates that it
has " confined its remarks to the general style of
Mr. K.'s representation of the character rather
than to the partial performance of last night, be-
cause the ill-state of his health would render it
uncandid and invidious to notice parts of the
particular performance in which he fell short of
his accustomed effect."

ROT ALWEST LONDON TIIEATRIL—We strolled
last night into this Theatre, and confess we think
the present performances highly creditable to
the management. The first piece, The Wizard
Ville Moor, or the Fisherman of Glencairn, is
full of interest. Mr. MORTIMER, as the Wisard,
displayed great and various power, and the ..4dcla
of Mrs. BRMETZ RI EDER evinced much merit and
knowledge of the Stage. Mr. SANTER, as the
Fisherman, played exceedingly well. The Laird
of Glencairn was respectably represented by Mr.
OSBORNE. All the minor parts were ably sup-
ported. This was followed by The Child of
Nature, in which Mr. MonnmEß, as The. Mar-
quis, appeared to advantage. Mrs. BEMETZ-'
RIEDER, as The Marchioness, was tolerably suc-
cessful. Duke Mercia, by Mr. SANTER, was very
creditably sustained ; and The Count of Mr.
JULIAN, in particular parts, was not without
merit. But the evident attraction of the evening
was the first appearance of a young lady in
4manthis ; indeed, we have rarely witnessed so
successful a debut. Her face and figure are very
prepossessing, and her manner natural and inte-
resting. The performance throughout was highly
meritorious, and in some parts gave proof of ex-
traordinary talent. She was most rapturously
received, and, even now, must be an acquisition
to the Company ; and we venture to predict, that
when experience shall have given more confi-
dence to her natural powers, and she plays
other characters but as well as that of Amanthis,
she will not be long unnoticed by the Mauagers
of the larger Theatres. She is, we understand,
a pupil of Mr. BENGOUGII, many yours Stage Ma-
nager of the Surrey Theatre, and does honour to
his care and judgment. Between the pieces, a
song, by Mr. FISHER, was well received ; and
Mrs. J. SANTER sang a ballad in a very pleasing
style. The concluding Romance of Melmoth,
the Wanderer, has some very striking scenes and
good acting ; it seems to be a great favourite, tf
we may judge from the applause it drew forth.---
(From a Correspondent.)

THE ARTS.--Avery beautiful Portrait of Miss
PATON has recently been painted by Mr. NEW-
TON, one of the very best of our Artists in the
province of Miniature. The likeness is exact,
and the expressian is characteristic and pleasing.
The colouring is vivid and in perfect harmony.
It is, indeed, a faithful and an animated likeness
of this popular warbler. A very fine print from
this admirable portrait has been engraved by Mr.
It. NEWTON, the brother of the painter, which
renders full justice to the original. It is grati-
fying to see two brothers of congenial talents
uniting their powers to illustrate the merits of
each other.

Mr. RUSSELL, formerly of our Theatre, and
whose merits as a Comedian were so deservedly
and highly estimated by the Edinburgh au-
dience, has lately been performing Richard, Shy.
lock, Sir Giles Overreach, and other characters
of a similar description, with so much success,
that the Managers of Covent-Garden Theatre
have engaged him to perform them in London.--
(Edin6urgli Courant.)