Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-03-19
Ut INI ISTFI
THEATRE.

THEATRE.
On Wednesday evening we visited The Theatre
10 see The performance Of Milman's Tragedy OF
"Fazio.' With this play, though we never be-
fore saw il OH the stage, We have been long ac-
quaine,, and have regarded il as by far The bes
of that writer's dramatic works. Minan Is
undoubtedly poet, though not Of a very high
order He is man OF fine lasle, and Vi con
siderable imagination but he wants that warmth
and vyidness OF feeling which is essential TO The
dramatic spirit. Hence most OF his poeIical
writing is tame and forced, and most OF his dra-
mas OF little account. But Fazio is an excep-
ton Indeed the story upon which il is founded
is so striking, that any play formed from il mus
necessarily be fine one. II is that OF Grimaldi,
which may be seen, extracted from The first vol
ume OF the "VarIelies Of Literature mo tic nu-
nual Register Tor 1925, page 1873 (amons ihe
Mis-. esq Milman has simply dTamat,Zfd ms
srafariShsc arb Inc deaE 81 The wife and in
making the Adelaide Of the narrative, The lady
Aldabella and person Of high rank in Florence
The play reads we'll, and acts we'll Indeed We
do moi think we know OF any piece whatever, in
which an actress has better opportunity 10 dis
play her talent for Tragedy.
With its performance al our Theatre we were
upon the whole, quite pleased. The cas-. wa
in our opinion by no means udicous one; bat
the part OF Blanca was performed by Mrs. Ma
son in very beautiful manner, and fortunately,
the effect oilhe piece depends almost entirely up
on that part We had seen this lady the eve
ming before in the Jealous Wife" and although
we were then pleased with her acting, we were
moi prepared Tor the power and expression which
she displayed on lhi, OCCASION II was indeed
very well done and caused the whole play 10
pass of well, and The character wh;eh she assumed
to work powerfully upon The sympathies Of
the audience. For The resi-, il was poorly sup
ported As We have already said, the cast
was an inudcious one, and it was particular
ly unfortunate in The part OF Aldabella. The
person who played il, however well she might
do in Madame Descha pelles, was simply incapa-
Bile Of The part allotted her on this occas on
And with regard 10 The other star, Mr.. Wheat
ley, we have been greatly disappointed in him.
He is but poor performer. When Souihey was
a very young man, he presented some OF his ~
vcnie performances 10 Mr.. EdgewoHh. The
pieces were OF very serious and melancholy
character; but EdgewoHh returned Them with the
remark, "rake my word for il, sir, The ben, oi
your genius is for comedy" II we had seen Mir
Whcaley in the part OF Fazio only, we would
in like manner tell him that the ten, oi his genius
was decidedly for comedy hui unfortunately il
was also our LOT 10 see him in Oakley and Georgs
Gossamer.
This Winter we have na1 Dy lar ne pest i nea-
ire that has been opened in Richmond Tor some
years past, and We have been told by those who
ought to know, that il is the best since 1912. But
The best actors in this company, Messrs. Jamison,
Blake, and Perry, have mol been very oiien on the
Stage auery. II Jamison, who is really very
good actor, had taken hr part OF Fazio on his oc-
casion. the play would have told with great effect
upon The audience MIR Blake. il is true, made
his appearance in the character oil Bonus, and
was received with long and uproariocs applause
And his subsequent acting deserved ii. The
character suiled him, and he PLAYED il in man
ner which was admirable. GEOFFROY.