The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-06-18 00:00:00

THE DRAMA.

Mr. Hackett concluded his engagement and took his benefit
at the Theatre Royal on Friday night, when he repeated his
performances of Rip Van Winkle, Solomon Swap, and Colonel
Nimrod Wildfire, to the fullest house that we have seen this
season. In parting with this truly original actor, we feel that
we shall not "look upon his like again" fur a long time to
come. _ _ _

The hiatus occasioned by Hackett's departure has already
been filled up by a fresh importation of dramatic talent of a
high order, in the person of Mr. Power, who made his appear-
ance last night in the character of Denis Brulyruddery, in the
play of John Bull. There are but few comedies in the English
language so likely to revive pleasing recollections in the mind
of an old play-goer as this, and still fewer that can boast of
having called forth at one time the talents of an Eizery, Faw-
cett, Lewis, Irish Johnstone, Cooke, Blanchard, and Mrs. Da-
venport. Thus ushered into the world, John Bull was the delight
of John Bull for many seasons, and its revival here is no small
source of gratification to us. Power is now the first, and, we
believe, the only good Irishman on the stage, and although we
cannot say that the mantle of Johnstone has fallen upon him,
still, as times go, he is an admirable actor, and the parts of
Denis Brulyruddery in the first piece, and the Ambassador in
the second, were both excellent iu their way as exhibiting the
peculiarities of high and low life in Ireland. He is rich in
brocrue, and easy in his action, and wins upon an audience by
theluoyancy of his spirits. Mr. Browne and Miss Huddart
were the liorrouraWe Tom Shnilleton and Lady Caroline Bray-
snore; between the heartless top and Jbppess of eighteen hun- '
dred and " the exquisites" of the present day there is no ether
difference than that which a mere change of fashion has pro-
duced. They acted their parts to the very life, and therefore
we can with a safe conscience say- that we never saw them
better acted. Mr. Vandenhoff as Peregrine was rather heavy,
the great fault of this excellent performer, but stage sermons
are always stupid, and we suspect useless things. An appeal
to our better feelings is always more effective in a play, when
produced by an incidental contrast of light and shade, than by
a laboured effort of either the author or the actor. Mr. An-
drews as Job Thornberry was too lachrymose, and in the scene
with Sir Simon Rochdale he wanted some of the indignant
spirit that roused the outraged tradesman to demand justice
from the seducer of his daughter; but, on the whole, the cha-
racter was well sustained. Miss Eyre performed the part of
Mary Thornberry, we-were about to_ say too well, for she made
her more interesting than she deserved to be; this again is
the fault of the author, and the most objectionable in the piece.
In the afteipiece of the Irish Ambassador Power had an
opportunity of exhibiting himself as an Irish gentleman, which
he did with all the ease that belongs to that most agreea.ble
race of men. The title of the piece misled us net a little, for
we expected a Belgian instead of a German scene. The house
was respectably filled, and the audience appeared to enjoy the
entertainment of the evening with great zest.
Mr. Power is, we understand, on his way to America.