The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-14 00:00:00

THE "TIMES" ON THE NEW YORK STAGE.

The Times continues its interesting articles on the stage
of New York by an English playgoer. No. IV. opens
with an account of the New York Theatre, which stands
on the east side of the Broadway, a little below Wallack's.
Formerly a church, it retains its original ecclesiastical
aspect, the old square Kentish steeple, and shocks Eng-
Fah feeling by the showy letters around the parapet,
announcing the New York Theatre. It chiefly depends on
pieces called " Transpontine." The melo-drama, at pre-
sent attracting a large audience, is entitled " Under the
Gas-light." The "Sensation" is a horrible villain, who binds
a poor wretch across the rails, and the noise of the coming
train excites the greatest anguish, when a woman appears as
the deliverer. The house in which Madame Ris:ori performed
is the French Theatre, in a fashionable district out of the
Broadway line. Madame Ristori created a furore in New
York, and her return is eagerly awaited. Mr. J. Jefferson,
whose Rip Van Winkle, at the Adelphi, was considered
one of the finest delineations over seen in London, is now
at the New York Olympic, where he draws crowded
houses. A like good fortune attends Mr. Forrest at the
Broadway Theatre. In New York his best parts are con-
sidered to be Virginius, Richelieu, and Damon. Long-1-or-
gotten in England, "Damon and Pythias" remains an ever-
green in America. The Astor Place Opera House, now
converted into the mercantile library, is still pointed out
as the scene of the Macready riot, said to have emanated
from the cool reception the American star met at the
Princess's in Oxford-street. The writer doubts whether,
with the exception of Mr. Charles Kean, there
is now upon the English stage a tragedian
worthy to hold a candle to Mr. Forrest. "He is not over-
refined, and he rather makee points than grasps entire
characters. But his power is great, he is a conscientious
artist, and in the New World he stands as almost the last
representative of that old English school which was re-
garded as perfect before the age of ultra-realism began,
and miniature accuracy on a miniature scale was regarded
as the ultima thule of histrionic art." Although little of the
antique enters into the American element the writer ob-
serves :—" But English history is more loved here than it
is among the most patriotic Britishers, especially that por-
tion which precedes the quarrel between the mother coun-
try and the colonies. To the American Queen Elizabeth
and Mary Stuart are classical figures, re,wesentatives
of his own ancestry; and when the former brandishes
the sword of Enrico Ottavo' to confront Philip 11.,
the claptrap is more tolling in New York than it would be
in London. It is the cause of the Anglo-Saxon against the
Spaniard, contested before the time when the At.glo-Saxon
split up into two factions. "Richard III.," once so popular
in England, has altogether dropped there, and it is pleasant
to observe the zeal with ,which Now Yorkers flock to wit-
ness and applaud Mr. Edwin Forrest's impersonation of
the crook-backed tyrant at the Broadway Theatre. " There
is all the old traditional business, executed with unfading
energy and power, and the accessories are all in that old-
fashioned style in which every illusion, save that produced
by the principal actors, is eschewed altogether. Those
devices by which Mr. Charles Kean contrived to make
the boards look as if they were trodden by real armies
are wholly unknown, and half a dozen men-at-
arms, intended to represent hundreds, appeal to the
imagination only, without any attempt to appear more
numerous to the physical eye. As far as decorations are
concerned, things are in that palmy' state of which so
much is talked by veteran legitimists, but which always
fails miserably when its restoration is effected."
According to the writer, the adequate performance of
subordinate parts is not to be found on the New York
stage where the "star" system prevails. " People go to
see one principal actor, and nothing more. That the
Americans love good acting there is no doubt, but they
are content to find it in the one particular artist who holds
the highest place. I am told, however, that my opinion
on this subject would be modified if I witnessed the per-
formance of a legitimate comedy by the regular company
at Wallack's, whose activity will not commence till
towards the end of this month. I deem it but fair to state
this fact, as I fear I shall not stay long enough to ascertain
whether my present impression is correct or not."
"Gorgeous decorations, though not found necessary for
the enjoyment of the poetical drama, are, nevertheless,
. welly relished by the Americans; and I Lave already men-