Star.
London, England, 1824-10-21 00:00:00

READING SCHOOL.

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The following account of the Reading School Cons.
memoration is from the Reading Mercury:
Friday night, we bad the pleasure of witnessing, in
ompany with a crowded and brilliant audience, the first
representation of the Alcestis ef Euripides, by the Young
Gentlemen of Reading School.
The story of this pathetic play, the master-piece of
Euripides, and one of the most beautiful fictions of the
+World, is too well known to require more than a very
brief analysis.. Alcestis, wife of Admetus King of
Thessaly, offers her life in exchange for that of her
husband, whose death has been decreed by the Fates.
The sacrifice is accepted; the appointed day arrives;
Apollo, the friend and protector of Admits, is compelled
to forsake his dwelling ; Death comes in person to
claim his prey, and Akeuis expires in the midst of her
weepotg household. At this point of the drama He cules
appears at the Palace-gate ;he is received with noble
hospitality by the King, and becomes accidentally
acquainted with the death of Alcestis, which, under
the fear of driving him from the house of mourning,
had been concealed by the wretched husband...—
The catastrophe may be related in the words of a
great Poet-
---" Did not Heresies by force
" Wrest from the guardian monster of the tomb
fl Alcestis, a reanimated corse,
" Given back to dwell on earth in beauty's bloom?' •
Woasswolva—Dada ado.
interest of this affecting drama was fully ous-
t ed in the representation. Mr. RICHARDSON, as
us, contrived by the spirit, the pathos, and the ad-
mirable truth of his performance to throw a veil over
the odious selfishness of the character,and even to cheat
us into pity for his sufferings. &mow so became him
that we forgot the cause. His best passages .were,
however, those in which the poet himself escapes from
the monotony of complaint into a higher tone of feel-
iog. The struggle between hospitality and grief in his
scenes with Hercules, and the passion of joy and grati-
tude with which he received his restored wife will not
easily be forgotten by any lover of the drama.
If Mr. RICHARDSON had to contend against an un-
gracious part, Mr. FREDERICK BULLET, as Alcestis, was
fated-to encounter difficulties of a totally opposite na-
ture. He had to embody the subtlest essence of virtue
and of womanhood, to bring into life the fair ideal of
conjugal love. An eminent critic has observed, in
speaking of the contempt for women,which Euripides so
tooftehnavde reclaimed him f
ays,tehattihe perusal
sia!oaft hisher e.y
own Alcedu
Certainly i
ought
t
isthe loveliest female character out of SHAKSPEA na, the
most completely feminine in word and deed. She ap-
pears in two scenes only, in one of which she does not
even speak.; but her spirit, the constant sense of her
heroic self-devotion that pervades the whole play, is felt
as a presence throughout. Not to have destroyed this
illusion would alone have been no mean praise to Mr.
; he did more, he heightened it, especially in
the last and most imprartant scene. The delicate grace
:of his appearance when the veil was withdrawn, the fixed
composure of his features on which death seemed• to
have imprinted a calm and holy beauty, would have
'been a study for a Painter.
Mr. Pa LAIRET was a noble representative of the frank
and fearless Hercules—that fine personification of ge-
nerous power; clothed in his lion's skin, armed with his
club, and somewhat taller and stouter than his theatrical
compeers, he gave no inadequate idea of the athletic
demi-god ; and there was a mastery in his acting, and
sweeping breadth of style, in perfect unison with the
stateliness and grandeur of his person and demeanour.
The transition from a joyous intoxication to an intense
and soi.owful sympathy, in the bold and dangerous
scene, where he enters crowded with flowers, and reeling
under the excitement of wine, was perhaps the most
striking passage in his performance.
The other characters, although less prominent in the
"business of the piece, were given in a manner that
mainly contributed to the harmony and beauty of the
representation. Mr. HALL's spirited and graceful
Apollo, Mr. MANSELL'S unrelenting Onus, Mr. Lorain,
in the charming part of the female attendant, and Mr.
THOMAS, as the faithful follower of Admettu were almost
equally remarkable for propriety and truth. Even the
'children contributed to the effect of the groupe; and
Master Seams, as Cumulus, repeated his little speeches
'with the most captivating artlessness. It was very
pleasant to hear so young a boy lisping Greek. The
Chorus, which, in this domestic play, blends so naturally
with the scene, wasladmirably filled by Mr.Cuavt as, Mr.
CAMERON, and Mr. Moons. The classical scholar could
not fail to observe the skill with which the play was
adapted al the stage, by the learned and excellent Master
and Manager; the judicious omission of the character
of • Mils 'die marked diffetence of pronunciation
between: ;he Attic -and Done dialects, and the re-
storation. of the final vowels, cut off by the metre
when the sense or -the emphasis seemed to require a
fuller sound. ..
The dressesviObte Weis mote than usually splendid,
arid perfectly classical and characteristic. The zone,
tunic, and.pallium were faithfully displa;ed ; and Onus,
habited as-a skeleton, and Apoub, radiant as the god of
day, weie•almost equally unearthly
The Prologue, written by Mr. Wisim.Vratour, was
well delivered by Mr. PALAIRET ; and gir. Tatecmen's
Epilogue, full-Of an airy and poignant playfulness, and
the -happiest: local allusions, was spoken by MT. BULLMI
After the Alcestis -followed The Critic, compressed
.and altered- for the'tlectision, and exceedingly well acted
throughout. Mr. PatAtust as Sir Fretful, and Mr.
RICHARDSON as Pug displayed to great advantage the
versatility of their powers. The by-play of the latter
was capital. Indeed there is about this young Gentle-
man a dramatic instinct, which seizes with equal rea-
diness the wit of Susumu's, or the pathos of EVRIPL•
Milo We have already overstepped our limits, and
=Gat not particularise the rest of the performers; but
we cannot omit to mention Mr. TURNER'S 71/burins. He
was a bad actress to the very life. His voice (we mean the
tragedy voice, thefelsetto), was alttost as ludicrous as
Lisrou's face ; and the transitions to his natural tones'
never failed•to set the house in a roar. Mr. HALL in
.Dangle, 4nd Mr. CURTISS ill Sneer, were also panic's,
lady distinguished.
The profits of the Flap, alWays devoted to charity,
110; this year be apfirepriated to the benefit of the
leatt'onal Schools, thus •doubly promoting the great
;apse of Geiteral Education.
A waodirmi, shot by 141sislawilawl.111, 11.1. et'PaYll. con"
wall, ip early as tie -sth lost. ' ': 3
This is an ages of tli'coveli"; Another fine picture,
___ i lied Iv at ,
painted by Losonco Cauca, ass am. recently P c
knoker's shop bf a well knows 011ggerraed abk
LO
. predate its worth, The dealers are_, eliceediaglT mania"' that
:at good fortune attendant ost eh!, revery did not hailed tq
ihtmarlus.

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