The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-30 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL

The engagement of Mrs. and Mr. Charles Kean has
proved highly attractive. The house has been very well
and fashionably attended dining this week. " The Game-
ster," Mr. Sheridan Knowles' last newelay of " The Rose
of Arragon," Mr. Knowles' play of " Love," " The
Stranger," with the new pantomime, have proved magnets
sufficiently potent to draw the public into the " royal pro-
perty."
" The Rose of Arragon," although possessing an ingenious
plot and occasional bursts of fine language, we do not reckon
as one of the best of Mr. Knowles' productions. It is long and
somewhat heavy, and was made still more so by the intolerable
time the audience were kept waiting between the acts. Mrs.
Charles Kean's Olivia is a chaste and beautiful performance.
Her acting throughout was replete with that grace, feeling,
and pathos that have ever distinguished her, and placed her
as the leading actress of the day. She appears somewhat
thinner than when last here. In Mr. Charles Kean there is
a great change—he seems to have toned down with an un.
sparing hand all those clap-traps in which he was wont once
to luxuriate. We noticed the absence of those starts, strut-
tings, and sudden alterations of voice, that no doubt told
with the audience, but which were unnatural : he has, in fact,
" reformed them altogether." There is a higher quality about
slr. Kean's acting than we ever expected to see—not that
we detract from his merits, which are great, but that we say
he has adopted, or somebody else has suggested, improve-
ments most palpable in his style. His Alasco was full
enough of fire and energy to mark the proud Spanish peasant
without being over done.
His Hoon, in " Love," on Wednesday night, was ex-
tremely clever. Of Mrs. Kean's Countess of Eppenstein
we have often spoken. It is like everything else she plays—
the perfection of histrionic art. Miss Gardner's Catherine quite
surprised us. As a singer she is acknowledged to be one of the
sweetest we have had for long, permanently connected with
the theatre. Miss Gardner is an excellent musician, and
understands well her art, but singers are not expected to be
good actresses as well, and the instances of their ability,
" out of their line," are rare. Miss Gardner has proved
that she may lay claim to being one of them—for her acting
in this instance constantly drew forth very marked tokens of
approbation. She made every line tell ; lost not a point
where one could he made ; and in the scene where she ap-
pears as a page, her archness and vivacity were most amu-
sing, and she was warmly applauded at its conclusion.
Without question Miss Gardner's Catherine is the best that
has been seen at this theatre since the play was produced.
The pantomime of Baron Munchausen is an admirable
one ; the tricks and changes are all new, and apply to the
local as well as the general topics of the day—for instance,
mesmerism, the corn-laws, hydropathy, the tariff, the Chi-
nese war, hullabolooisra, and other novelties, that draw
money from John Bull's pockets. Some novel effects are
Produced ; one particularly excites surprise, where the scene
falls down flat on the stage, and exhibits the harbour of
Hong Kong, very beautifully and correctly painted. The
introduction is amusing, in which Baron Munchausen is
made the medium of introducing the comic business on the
stage. The " Baron bold" is extremely well acted by Mr. L.
S. Thompson ; Mr. Jonas's Pantaloon is really the clown of
the piece, Mr. Paulo being about the worst representative of
this character we ever saw. He appears to possess neither
life, spirit, nor fun. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt make a good
Harlequin and Columbine—the dress of the former is a
remarkably handsome one. The pantomime is got up with
great care, and there is a considerable display of ingenuity in it.
Some of the scenery is very beautiful. Amongst the best
tricks are the " Weighing of the Sovereigns," " The man
with the growing leg," " The hvdropathic cure," "The
!irtist's chamber of magic pictures," &c. This production
is quite equal to last year's—which was admitted to be the
best of the season, either in or out of the metropolis.
The Keans take their benefit to-night, playing Benedict.
and Beatrice, in " Much ado about Nothing."