The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-13 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S TBEATRE.

Mr. Charles Kean's Hamlet is undoubtedly one of
his finest Sbakesperian impersonations, and the crowded
audience of last night fully testified their appreciation
of the actor's genius. The character is one peculiarly
suited to the mental and physical capabilities of Mr.
Kean, who endows the royal prince with a refiner's
delicacy, evincing at the same time a noble ambition and
the highest degree of enthusiasm. His expression and
attitude, when he first gazes on the dread appearance
of the ghost—the assumption of madness in his meeting
with Ophelia—the play of his features as he probes
the conscience of the King the effirt to recall
hie mother from the path of guilt and last,
not least, his calm and sorrowful death, are
pourtrayed with a heart-rending feeling and pathos
that place Mr. Kean beyond all competitors. Much
has been said and written on this subject, but the only
fault we can find with Mr. Kean iu connecti with
"Hamlet" h', that ha does not play it often enough.
We are glad to find that now everybody will have an
opportunity of seeing the Hamlet of the day. Those
who do not embrace the occasion will lose the inteilec-
tual pleasure of beholding one of the finest corubinaeions
of natural feeling and artistic finish ever witnessed on
the stage.
"The Midsummer Night's Dream," one of the brightest
conceptions of the Great Poet, was revived on Monday
evening. Never was brilliant conception more perfectly
embodied, either in scenic or histrionic departments.
Every person concerned exerted himself or herself to the
utmost, and their efforts merited the enthusiastic and
rapturous applause with which they were greeted by a
house densely crowded in every part. We rejoice to
find that it is to be repeated alternately with " Hamlet,"
for what, we trust, may prove a prolonged period. Those
hardest to be pleased cannot hope for greater gratifica-
tion in the Shakeperian Drama,

(Prom ne Times.)

Up to last night two years had elaNed riuce Mr.
Charles Kean's performance of the Shalesperien cha-
racter with which, in spite of mere modern imper-
sonations, he is chiefly identified in the minds of all
who have followed him throughout his professional
career. When, after a long absence, ho appeared as
Hamlet at Drury-lane Theatre, on the 3d Jan., 1838,
be commenced the course which has lei to his present
high position ; for what he did previously to that date
merely constituted a series of juvenile efforts, leading
to no permanent result as far as this metropolis is con-
cerned. Nor is this all. For many years subsequently to
1838 Lis Hamlet remained distinguished from his other
characters by the great care and elaboration bestowed
upon it. Twenty years ago Mr. Cnarles Kean was not
the consummate artist he is now. Then he rather startled
by "points" than worked out a cbarac.,er in its details,
but now he does not undertake a part which he dies not
study in all its bearings, so that every accent, every in-
tonation, every gesture, may contribute to its signifi-
cance. But even years ago Hamlet stood apart by the
careful finish bestowed upon it, and might be oanei-
dared rather as an anticipation of that better school
Of art, at once genial, conscientious, and industrious,
of which Mr. Kean is the present type, than of
that opposite school which seeks rather to surprise
than to sustain, and which be represented in the
earlier part of his career. Now, his other characters
are as highly finished as his Hamlet ; but still a certain
distinguishing reputation will always cling to the work
that tee artist has first perfected, and if we add to this
consideration the importance of the pait, we shall have
no difficulty in understanding the excitement that pre•
vailed at the Princess's Theatre when " Hane;et" was
revived last night. The very circumstance that the
revival had been first announced for last Monday week,
but had been deferred on account cf Mr. Kean's indis-
poe'tion, came is as an extra stimulant where no stimu-
lant Was wanting.
Never did we witness a more thoroughly triumphant
performance. From the moment Mr. Kean began the
speech—
" Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt-!"

he had the audience completely in his gra-p, and carried
them at will through the whole course of the play.
While the King and the Court were present, and the
weight of their presence eat he :wily on the mourning
prince, his long silence nod his brief replies rather
fostered than satisfied curiosity, but no sooner was he
alone than the sense of freedom with which he rushed
into the soliloquy electrified every spectator. For
the first few minutes Hamlet was an enigma, an un-
fathomable something scarcely endowed with the power
of speech. With the soliloquy he at once became the
being of deep sorrows and strong affections, delighted
to call forth every thought from the innermost recesses
of his heart, and the audience were well pleased to
become his confidants during the five long acts of the
stupendous tragedy.
The great characteristic of Mr. Charles Kean's Ham-
let is its completeness as a deliberately executed work of
art, coupled with its warm life and its individual reality.
‘Ve read of eminent actors of the past, who each took
hold of Hamlet by some particular attribute, end made
that the keynote of the whole cemplex character. Thus,
for instance, one accented the melancholy of the be-
reaved sou ; another dwelt on the courtly qualities of
the prince ; a third regarded Hamlet as a scholar,
on the assumption, no doubt, that he had gained a
" double first" at Wittenberg ; a fourth looked upon
him as a metaphysici becausie be reflects upon life
and death, with a hint or two at immortality. Now, it
is the great merit of Mr. Kean that you cannot dispose
of his Hamlet by some convenient term that will serve
as a ticket to his whole interpretation, and allow an utter-
ance of an empty nothing to pass for an oracular
decision. As to make an acquaintance with a real
individual you must watch him through part of his
career, and not be satisfied with some vague attribute
that he may possess in common with hundreds of his
species, so, to become acquainted with Mr. Kean's
Hamlet you must follow him through his mimic
life, and see how he deports himself in every
situation. In other words, Mr. Lean has seized
upon Hamlet, not as an abstraction, but as a
concrete specimen of humanity, and has reflected
how this specimen is to be represented under
the variety of influences that operate upon it through-
out the story. Hamlet as a prince, not referable to any
really historical period, may be regarded as the Eliza-
bethan ideal of a gentleman ; consequently all his move-
ments are marked by the most studied elegance, and his
fencing is of the highest order. Again Mr. Kean is most
careful that the affectionate side of Hamlet's character
shall not be oversbaded by the tendency to reflection or
the necessity of dissimulation. His Hamlet has a large
heart that is always longing to express itself, even when
policy commands it to be silent. A wail of grief, beau-
tiful in its intensity, bursts through his reproaches to
Ophelia, and once nearly terminates them altogether ;
his Welcome to Horatio is that of an affectionate nature
hungering for sympathy ; his detection and exposure of
the hypocrisy of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not
without the strong indication of a sad regret that these
paltry spies are not his friends ; his solemn censure of
his mother is tempered by respect and gentleness ; even
the awe inspired by the Ghost is visibly qualified by the
thought that it is his father's spirit that addresses him.
For the manner in which Mr. Charles Kean has appre-
hended the reflective side of Hamlet's character we must
look to the careful elocution with which he delivers the
calmer speeches, the solemn deliberation of the soliloquy
"To be or not to be," the poetic enthusiasm which per
vades his admiration of " the piece of work" called
" man." Nor let it be imagined that by thus regarding
the gentler and more tranquil elements in Hamlet'ss
nature he softens him down too much. The ferocious
curiosity with which be watches the countenance of
the King during the play scene, the force with which
be hurls forth those speeches that belong to the
more violent explosions of passion, could not be sur-
passed ; and there is this remarkable excllence in Mr.
Kean's more violent displays of emotion, that they seem
to rise naturally out of the preceding part of the dia-
logue, and are totally from that isolated rant which is
often used as a clap-trap. Indeed, throughout t e
whole of this extremely fine performance we suey noti? he
an undeviating attention to detail that secures a consis-
tencyt to the character in all its utterances. The slight
mental effort, for instance, with which Hamlet
endea-
vours to recall the words of the forgotten epoch about
Hecuba is indicated with a natural truthfulness that
could have only been obtained by a deep study of facial
expression.
The Hamlet of Mr. Kean is, in short, a gem of his-
trionic art, and so it was thought by the audience last
night, who summoned him before the curtain with the
most enthusiastic cheers.

An inquest was held y esterday at the Westminster
Hospital on the body of a man named Clementson. The
jury were of opinion that the deceased died through con-
gestion of the brain, but that he had been greatly
n eglected by Mr. Greig, the parish surgeon.
TnE HAvELoos BARONETCY.—We understand that it
is probable that her Majesty will be recommended by
Lord Palmerston, in order to place the validity of the
patent of creation beyond doubt or dispute, to back-date
the baronetcy conferred in November last on General
Havelock, so as to make it bear date from the day in the
previous month on which he so gallantly relieved the
garrison of Luoknow.