Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1846-04-04

Italy! land OF love and maccaronl,
of pathos and puppets-tomb OF Ro-
meo and Juliet--brth-placc OF Punch
and Judy-region of romance-coun,
try Of the concentrated essences OF all
thesc;-carniyals--I, Punch, the first
and last, the alpha and omega OF iun,
adore thee. From the moment when
Twas cast upon thy shores, like We
nus, out Of the sea, TO this sad day,
when I am forced TO descend from my
own stage to mere criticism, have l
preserved every token that would en-
dear my memory to thee! My nose
is still Roman, my mouth-organ plays
the "gcnteelest of" Italian tunes
my scenes represent the finest OF ltai-
ian yillas--in choice Italian doth my
devil swear -to-wit, "Shal-la-bella!"
Longing to be still more reminded
of thee, dear Italy, | threw large
cloak over my bunch, and huge PAIR
OF spectacles over my nose, and en-
sconced myself in box at the Hay
market theatre, to witness the fourth
appearance Of my rival puppet, Chas.
Kean. in Romeo. He is an actor.--
What a deep voice-what an inter
esting lisp-what charming whine
what vi gorous stamp, he hath! How
hard he strikes his forehead when he is
going into rage--how fat he falls up
on the ground when he is going to die!
And then, when he has killed Tybalt,
what an attitude he strikes, what an APP
palling grin he INDUCES his gaping
admirers withal!
This is real acting that one pays
ones money to see, and not such an
unblushing imposition as Miss Tree
practises upon us. Do we go to the
play to see nature1 Of course not; we
only desire to sec the actors playing at
being natural, like Mr.. Gallot, Mr.
Howe, Mr.. Worrel, or Mr.. Kean, and
other actors. This system OF being
too natural will, in the end, be the
ruin Of the drama. 1t has already
driven me from the stage, and will, l
fear, serve the great performers | have
named above in the same manner. But
the Haymarket Juliet overdoes it; she
is more natural than nature, for she
makes one or two improbabilities in
the plot of the play seem like every
doy matters OF fact. Whether she
falls madly in love at first glance,
agrees TO be married the next alter
noon, takes a sleeping draught, throws
herself lifclcss upon bed, or wakes
in the tomb to behold her poisoned
lover, still in all these situations she
behaves like a sensible, high minded
girl, that takes such circumstances, and
makes them appear to the audience
quite as matters Of course! What, let
me ask, was tho use of the author
whose name, believe, was Shaks-
peare-purposely contriving these I'M
probabilities, if the actors do not make
the most of them2 | do hope Miss
Tree will no longer impose upon the
public by pretending to act Juliet. Let
her try some OF the characters in Bull
wer's plays, which want all her help
to make them resemble women OF any
nation, kindred, or country.
Much rs | admire Kean, always
prefer the acting Of Wallack; there is
is more variety in the tones OF his
ly as my long drummer sets his drum,
TO one pitch; but as to action, Wal
lack-moro like my drummer-beats
him hollow; he points his toes, stands
a-kimbo, takes off his hat, and puts it
on again quite as naturally as if he be-
longed to the really legitimate drama,
and was worked by strings cleverly
pulled TO suit the action TO every word.
Wallack is an honest performer, he
don't impose upon you, like Webster,
for instance. who, as the Apothecary,
speaks with a hungry voice, walks
with a tottering step, moves with
helpless gait, which plainly shows that
he never studied the part-he must
have starved for it. Where will this
COMPOUNDED naturalness end?
The play is got up as we managers
call it, capitally. The dresses are SUI
perb, and so are properties. The
scenery exhibited views of different
parts of the city, and was, so far as |
am judge. well painted. have on
ly one objection to the balcony scene.
Plagiarism is mean and contemplate;
desplse it. l will not apply TO the
Vice Chancellor for an injunction, be-
cause the imitation is so yilely carica-
tured; but the balcony itself IS the