Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-08-16
From tie Rihe,l3tlnl
THE DRAMA.

.H,mlf-Good my ord, will you see the players
well besscwedi Do you hear, let them be well used
.POt,sius My lord, win use them according to
their desert
First, in tradegy, there are in the foremos,
rark. Mcssrs Kran, Young, Maeready. and
CHARLES Ken.be. Now, for our own parts, we
a,rno great admirers oil Mr.. kean; bur, IN gen
eral estimation, hs undoubtedly stands as nigh
as almos, any Of his predecessors, except 1ar>
rick. We have sad that we do not much ad'
mre Mr.. Kean, and our reason u.s. thai we .nink
re,s praise him than almost any actor We ever
saw, We never can be reconciled TO those
tricks OF voice and manner which so invariably
call down a thunder Of applause, because il is
ALWAYS on the surface that they are tricks--be-
cause they appear TO US to be any thing but a
reprcsentation of the fleets Of human passion,
or Of the shades Of human character. Some OF
those snd1en droppiuss Of the voice, from a
whi.lwi Of fury To low growl or whine, do
seem TO US 10 be as little calculated to express
any state of ling or passion, as if Mr. Kean
were 10 Jump through clock IN the manner OF
HARLEQUIN. In no situation in nature, however
full Of tragic interest, agi,ating passion, did
we ever see any human beins act thus; nor did
we ever meet with any body who had. And
until we can bring ourselves 10 believe that such
things are in nature, we cannot admire MIR.
K,an's acting We think Mr.. X an is playing
better this srason than we ever saw hlm-be>
cause his physical feeblenrss deprires him OF
M. mower o play his usual pranks; and, there
fore. while his admirers are lemenling his de-
,.r,or,,ion, we are, for the first time, beginning
IN think him eadurable We trust that when
we have occ asion 10 speak OF Mr.. Keah's indi
yidu Il performances, land, as this lsiannounced
TO be his last season, we shall critcise his prin
IL.
impar,iality But we thi,k it fair TO premise
that our general opinion is ,nus againi him.
Neither do we very much admire Mr.. Young
If Kesn have the FAULT Of extravaganza, Young
has those OF formalty lie is gentleman, a
scholar, and a man Of talents; hot Of genius. He
has a beautiful voice bu, he has not much feel
ing. He is generally an admirable ceclaimer,
but he portrays passion coldly. He never does
any thing very wrong; he Is never, by any
chance, ridiculous, never cxtravagant. He
does many things excelen,ly, most things well;
but he has not the spark from Heaven; he has
not mat which no study can supply, The warm
and strong feeling which makes the simulated
passion blaze forth as though j, were real, which
places before our eyes the man uggling with
love, jealousy, hatred, revenge, remorse; not the
accomplished speaker who is finely reciting an
other mans fine verses. Young has not this.
We next come To Macrcady, ana we WISH we
could pass over the name, for we do think him
man Of genius, but man Of genius totally &
irreuie, ably spoiled. We think he might have
been the hrst actor Of his day, he will now new
er be good actor at all. He has been spoiled
BY monstrous, egregious and intolera5le affec-
tarion; by displaced praise, and over weening
self, estimation. Some years ago, he was, in
deed, of high promise-for his merits were
many and great, and his faults, 1t vas to be
hoped, would wear out with time. He had ta>
ken, ss we think, just medium between the
TOO great coldness OF the Krmole school, The
wildness aud extravaganza Of Kesn. He was
gifted with a magnificent voice, and he was a
man Of education and accomplishment. But
all these advantages has he wasted. His voice
he has injured in,rinsically, besides The hide
business Of the trick itself, by the consran! use
of that pumping roar with which he interlards
all passages Of passion, and In similar way, he
has heightened and increased every one Of his
faults, and, insisting upon their being beauties,