The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-29 00:00:00

DRURY-ZANE THEATRE.

The return of an actor who has achieved high celebrity
in his profession to the very stage which was the scene of
his early triumphs, and on which he may be said to have
laid the foundation of his future fame, is an event not dis-
similar in character to the visit which a soldier who has
passed victoriously through many campaigns might make
to the battle-field on which he won his first laurels. Viewed
in this light the reappearance of Mr. Charles Kean upon
the boards of Drury-lace Theatre, after an absence of 18
eventful years, will be admitted to be an occurrence of no
common interest and importance ; and that it has been so
regarded by the public there was last night abundant evi-
dence, as well in the aspect of the house itself as in that of
the adjoining locality. The house was a sight of itself,
and a curious and characteristic one, crammed, not
crowded, as it was, from the floor to the roof-tree with an
attentive and sympathetic audience, whose zealous interest
in the performance appeared to make them wholly insensi •
ble to the inconveniences attendant on extreme heat and
excessive pressure. Tier above tier, from the first circle to
the giddy eminence where the "gods" abide, the galleries
were swarming with spectators, and in the pit there was a
sea of swaying forms and eager faces which must have
been a glorious spectacle for the eyes of a manager. The
play performed on this interesting occasion by " her
Majesty's servants," as the actors at this establishment are
privileged to style themselves, was the tragedy of
" Hamlet," with Mr. Charles Kean in the character of the
Prince, and Mrs. Chalks Kean in that of Queen Gertrude.
Both artists were received with unbounded enthusiasm.
No language can do justice to the fervour of their reception.
When first they came out upon the stage the pit "rose at
them"—to use the famous phrase of the elder Kean—and
hats and handkerchiefs were waved rapturously in the air.
Mr. C. Kean having played Hamlet before British
audiences not only some hundreds, but literally some
thousands, of times in the course of his prosperous career,
a description at this hour of the day of a performance with
which both town and country have been so long and so
favourably familiar would be little better than a ridiculous
superfluity—and the critic's office is therefore limited en
the present occasion to the simple duty of placing an inte-
resting event upon record, and of describing the sentiments
which it has awakened in the public mind. It will suffice
to say that of the excellence of Mr. Kean's performance
there can be no higher proof than is comprised in the facts
that, though it has no longer the advantage of novelty, it
is always played to full houses, and still, as ever, evokes the
most cordial applause; nor can there be better evidence of
the tragedian's great abilities than is furnished by the cir-
cumstance that, of all his parts, the most popular is that
which exacts t4ie highest order of histrionic genius, Hamlet
being by eommon consent the most arduous character to
represent in the whole range of English drama. To Mrs.
Kean belongs the praise of having raised to dignity a
character which heretofore, even in the hands of the most
illustrious artists, was but of trivial importance. Her
splendid acting in the part of Gertrude is universally
admired, and it has seldom been seen to greater advantage
than last night. The play was in ether respects very effi-
ciently supported, the more important of the subordinate
characters being sustained with spirit and judgment by
various members of the old Princess's company. ,
At the conclusion of the tragedy Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean
were called before the curtain amid manifestations of
applause as enthusiastic and general as those which had
greeted their first appearance.