Star.
London, England, 1829-12-19 00:00:00

THE THEATRES.

DRURY LANE.—" A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS.'
CI BBER, in his animated delineation of BEI-I-tames
attributes, thus awards to that meat aotor the very high-
est praise of dramatic excellence :—" The most that a
VAN DYKE can arrive at, is to ntake his portraits of great
persons seem to think ; a SHAKESPEARE goes farther
yet, and tells you what his pictures thought ; a BETTER-
TON steps beyond them both, and calls them front the
grave to breathe, and be themselves again in feature,
speech, and motion. When the skilful Actor shows you
all these powers at once united, and gratifies at once your
eye, your ear, your understanding ;—to conceive the plea-
sure rising from such harmony, you must have been pre-
sent at it —'tis not to he told you !"—To us, who live and
write in days of a less poetic temperament, this eulogy
might, perhaps, appear enthusiastic and extravagant,
did not such a triumph of dramatic genius as KEAN'S
Sir Giles Overreach, convince us how well such praise
may be merited, and with how much sincerity it may be
bestowed.—There we behold, indeed, in the outward sem-
blance of the man—in garb—in mien—in gesture, and
in look—such a picture as a Vandyke might paint ;—in
the language of a Massinger we are told what such a man
might think; and in the identification of KEAN with the
thoughts, the passions, and the impulses of the character,
we behold" the bold, bad man"—" called," as it were," from
the grave to breathe and be himself again, in feature,
speech, and motion," with just such a combination of the
painter's and the poet's powers—just such a union as
" gratifies the eye, the ear, and the understanding" :---
and " to conceive the pleasure arising from such
harmony," we must say in the words of Cr BEER, " you
must have been present at it—'tis not to be told !" We
can conceive of nothing in all the records and memorials
of tragic ability, —we can recall nothing within our own
recollection of scenic skill—not even in the display of
KEAN 's unequalled talents—more perfect, more underi-
atingly faithful, more terrifically true, to nature, than his
personification of Sir Giles In that we have fearfully
developed " hope in which there is no cheerfulness ;
stedfastness within and immovable resolve, with outward
restlessness and whirling activity; violence with guile; teme-
rity with cunning; and, as the result of all, interminable-
ness of object, with perfect indifference of means." Fa-
miliar as his performance of this character must now be
to a metropolitan audience, it has lost nothing of its at-
traction, or of its influence upon the public mind ; and we
much question whether, at any period of his extraordinary
career, KEAN exhibited more mental vigour, or a more
judicious yet brilliant exertion of his physical powers,
than in his second representation of Sir Giles Overreach
on Friday evening.
To recapitulate, or to individualize, the points upon
which the transcendant genius of the Actor has set the
seal of excellence—to single out the traits of character
which are so peculiarly and distinctly delineated by
him or to dwell upon the harrowing thoughts, the
workings of the mind, forcing their way into light
through " the filtering recesses" of deep dissimulation
and habitual guile—might now appear a work of super-
erogation :—but it is impossible to pass over without
some notice—however inadequate to its merits—the ter-
rible effect of the last act; in which the alternations of
triumph— rage—hope—despair—hypocrisy, fury, craft—
malevolence—and frenzy ;—the scorn of his antagonists
—the dishonoring taunts of his nephew and his supposed
" new wife"—his greeting of his honorable daughter"
changed into horror at the defeat of his long cherished
ambition—the dismay with which he contemplates
the blank parchment his haughty commands to
Mandl, changed by his instant fear into abject suppli-
cation and wheedling—the contention of his desper-
ate spirit with the internal throes of agonised re-
morse—and the " very whirlwind of the soul" under
which he sinks at last,—were all depicted with
an appalling reality, which such a mind as KEAN'S
only could conceive—and which KEAN alone could suc-
cessfully depict. His performance throughout elicited
enthusiastic applause, and the close of his exertions was
bailed with repeated cheers. FAitazx's Marall—if not
exclusively the best that we have ever seen,—is decidedly
and pre-eminently the best at present on the stage.—
Cooraa's Wellborx was spirited and good in many pas..
sages ; but in the last scene, his exultation was not that
which a generous or gallant spirit would display, in the
presence of a lady, even at the fall of a merciless oppres-
sor ;—and we would suggest to Miss FAUEIT, that
" Meg Overreach" might evince a little more solicitude
for a father, whose enormities sprang as much from his
ambition to advance her fortunes, u from his own bad
passions
THE WEST I.7OI"rOiFTHEATRE.

If there be any' truth in the saying, that there is
pleasure in variety, one is sure of being pleased by a
visit to this little playhouse. Last night, there were no
fewer than four different entertainments, of no incon-
siderable merit, performed here within the space of four
hours. The Farce of " Ragbag the Wind," through
the joint efforts. ef Mrs. WAYLETT and Mr. VINING,
was performed us a style that would by no means dis-
grace houses of far higher pretensions. There is a little
vulgar fellow of the name of Ross, whose performance is
worth mentioning. It is exceedingly curious and laugh-
able. We shall be happy to find that this place of
amusement meets with that encouragement which it
deserves.

Between die night of Wednesday and morning ofl
Thursday some daring thieves effected an entrance into
the counting-house attached to the works of the Imperial
Gas Company, situate in Hackney Fields, and having
picked an won box, carried off cash to the amount of be-
tween five and six hundred pounds.