The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-11-09 00:00:00

THE THEATRES.

pansy-LAtit.—Su ‘aset:Ane's Historical Play of
Awry the Fourth was brought forward nt this place
00 Saturday evening last, in which the casting of
the Wawa was not very creditable to those who are
intrusted with the management of that scenic con-
cern.
Mr. DOWTON filled the character of the humorous
Knight, instead of Mr. PALMER, and this was an
alteration which ought to have been ; for, although
Mr. DowzoN was not eActly fitted for the part, yet
he did it 50 much snore naturally, and perfectly,
than his predecessor, that we were gratified with the
change.
Mr. ELLISTON bustled through the fiery Hotspur
with energy, if not s. lilt indgment ; and though we
are not much in the habit of approving this Gentle-
man when he wears the livery of the Tragic Muse,
yet he certainly marked the r.;.::,ages, in his inter-
view with his wife, with more p.,:eision and point
than we have been accustomed to hear,
thew der nevite

We have now a serious word or two to utter, in
regard to the decorations and properties (as they are
technically termed) of this Play.
Imprimis, Why was Mr. AVitoccirrote encum-
bered with his coronation robes, in scenes of business
there the-regalia of state was not necessary? •
Secondly, why did they give him a table to lean on,
At the Council Board, which was not large enough
for a bohea party of tea-drinking washerwomen ?
Thirdly, Why did they dress the carriers in smock
frocks, which were not in use in those days ?
Foui:lily,
Why did they paint waggons in the Inn-
yard, when no such conveyances as waggons were in.
vented at that period, and all the carrying &linen
of the public roads was effected by pack-horses ?
Fifthly, why was Hotspur trimmed and bedecked
In his jei kin, like a fighting cock, rather than a mar.
fiat hero of the old school ? It may be said, that
Mr. JUMBLE indulged himself in this mode of attire,
in this part; yet that is but an inefficient apology :
as with nil teat gentleman's merit (and he bath a
great portiou); he was note uniformly, a mark for
imitation.
Now as the aim of the Dramatist, and the aim
of the Performer, should bc to deceive the sight of the
spectator, as much as pcssible, in order to delude
him into a temporary supposition of a reality, how
necessary it may appear to some, that a small degree
of attention should be given to the due arrangement
of the Drama, by those whose bounden duty it is to
have their attention engaged upon the furtherance of
such objects !
It should be noted, on the behalf of theatrical
fitness, that the Manngers of Drury-lane Theatre
have twice attempted to emulate the Directors of the
other Theatre, in two of itIAISPEARE'S Plays, viz.
The Merry Wires of Windsor, and Henry the
Fourth, and have, assuredly, failed in both.

COVENT-Caeprl.—On Saturday evening Mr.
BETTY performed the character of Osman, in Zara.
To the early efforts of every candidate for public fa-
vour we wish to be indulgent; but Mr. BETTY,
though young in years, is not entitled to the consi-
deration that would be shewn to an Essayist ; for his
pretensions are of the highest order, and he is to be
judged of as an actor estimating ais value at 513: per
night.
The play of Zara, though so greatly altered from
the play of VOLTAIRE, is still so much in the French
style, that its interest almost entirely depends on the
acting. Long dialogues, without business or inci-
dent, derive their interest altogether from the
grace of declamation ; and it requires vary su-
perior talents indeed to keep alive the atten-
tion.—Lusignan, in the person of a GARRICK,
was one of the most affecting instances of the
power of acting on the stage, but it requires a GAR.
RICK to produce the emotion. Osman is through-
out declamatory, and it is one of the parts in which
Mr. Berry was early tutored ; and when a boy, he
made a conspicuous figure in it, by his lofty and au-
dible voice—by his erect and stately carriage—by his
knowledge of the stage-play--for then the sentiment
of the spectator was, 66 When this youth shall have
judgment added to his organic powers—when time
and observation shall hate instructed him to imitate
and display the workings of nature, we shall possess
an actor." Unfortunately, Itowefer, this sentiment no
longer rises in :he mind ; for after the lapse of the most
valuable years of his !if.. for the acquirements that are
essential to the art, he appears again only the grown
Loy, with the same stateliness of person indeed,
with the same audibility of tone, but without hav-
ing advanced one step in the progress of the fine and
delicate art of pourtrayitig the passions of the soul,
so as to communicate the impression to the specta-
tors. If the mere standing erect, like a trumpeter Oh
the parade, and bellowing forth a qusitsilty...of loud
breath, could constitute an actor, any one with a
sound voice might be taught to declaim mechani-
cally, and to assist his speech by studied starts
and appointed postures ; but it requires thought and
feeling to mould his whole frame into the being that
he represents, and by the joint influence of eye
and (0(.33 to agitate the bosoms of those who see
and hear him. The,:e requisite powers Mr. Berry
does not seem to possess in any eitent•to justify his
claim to the rank of a tragedian. He spouts well,
and if his voice were of a good quality, its vo-
lume n mild he an important recommendation to a
theatre so gpC,l !t: as Covent-garden; but it wants
die meiical and variety that are re-
;aired to harmonize with the sentiment which he
utters, and which, through the captivated ear would
begot in the hearer he kindred emotion of the speaker.
In his representation of Osman he was always hur-
ried, loud, and indiscriminate. He scarcely waits for
the end of the sentence to which he has to reply.
'%e look i% vain in his features for the impression
which the speech of Zara makes upon him, bat the
instant she has done, forth bursts the answer, with
unretlecting vehemence. He tells us,

I refonried,
when the wept, her nail a thonsand times
" Sprung to In'r and lobed to leap to mine—
We say, he tells US this.—bnt we did not see in his
intelligent eye tiny vestige of such remark at the
tine. There were some passages which requiring a
burst of violent c:chmation, were in unison with
lis tone, and in these he was crowned with honest
applause.