New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-01-06
"TOUNG BACCHUS," AT LAURA KEENE S
THEATER.

AT Laura Kee1es Thester, last night, was produced
a dramatic nOndescrpt called Young Bacchus, or
Spirits and Water Ii was announced in the bills
with most aboious and lengthy series of rhetorical
houi.shes written in bad English, cOpiously inter-
spersed with worse Latin with all the puns and funny
parts deliberately display ed in capitals that the discern
ng public might not fail to the jokes, in the whole
Of which the writer thereof intended 70 be exceedingly
b,ila1t and smart, but only succeeded in achieving
sort Of piiable melanctolness The programmes were
q sad imitation Of those Of the Old Olympic, and
the piece was dismal reminder Of some Of the Old
Olympic buresques; if all life and vitality had been
killed out Of hall dozen OF those old relics, and the
ghatty cUrpses and dreary ghosts had been resusci
taed persuaded to stalk once again, and initiate with
spectral grimness the happier deeds they did in life.
As usual, Mount Olympus with all the gods is pressed
into the service, and the celcstals again do dismal
duty in tights and musins.
A bulesaue or extravaganza 10 take, must have,
Underneath all the extriDsic comic dialogue undery
al the absurdity mpossibily of incident, certain
aim; thele must be kind of a plot, however
slight as the vehicle Of all the satire and iunnysms;
the shafts of wit should not fly always aimessly a.
large but should converge toward focus some
where; in sbort, the play, even if the broadcast
burlt sque ought 10 mean something, and should
at least end in some place with slght
degree more of proprety than in any one other.
Tbs however, is not the case with Young Bacchus
az orformed last evening; it is 20 potess and point
lees that we venture to assert that might be played
backward before the audience that Witnessed Il
last night and not three persons in the house could tell
the difference. There is no beginning, middle or end;
there il neither plot plan, story nor catastrophe, and
the play might end in the middle Of any one OF the
scenes with more appropriateness than in the
spot set down in the book. For al hour AMI
half the expectaLt auditors YEARLY and patiently
wait for some spark OF wit, or some Hash OF Eat
ire After tie first hours disappointment many last
evening left the house, but a lumber waited Tor the
wec, me fiji IT, and then dsappontedy left the house
in very low spirits Occasionally the mention Of some
wenknown name or city locality excites moments
interest, dhd kinGlea vain hope that something good
is coming, but the interest soon fades and the nope
soon starves to death. The dialogue, which Is writ
ten in rhyme, is for the most part mesnns'
less and fat, and the words OF the songs
which are peptfuly scattered through this prosy psJ-
duction albeit the musc Is sometimes well chosen ana
well executed, are irrelevant and senseless Ihere is
great lack of individuality in the characters jupiter
talks exactly the same kind Of stuff that Venus usisi
Menus and Slenus are nearly alike IS the Two
Diomioe, and the only difference between Mars and
Juno is in the lergth ofthe pettc9ats.
The failure Of this play reefs not wholly Win me
actor although in piece OF the extravaganza schoo
nearly every thing depends upon the performers Dn' II
finds II, fr,t cause in the rredeemabe stupidity Of the
piece Itself liz beyond the power Of artists even Of
genius to ealvanze such alifress thing into fictitious
lie. Never was heather mythology 80 distracted and
bedeyiled and never Christian audience 20 cru
civ bored Some of the songs are very vel gwen,
and serve az an occasional tightening up to the p1n-
deroi, of tie scene but they are only the lightning
easbes which make the surrounding gloom the more
pelpable. -.-.
Whatever thecos'umer and the sosne-painter can 90
is dore aid the closing show-;cene is the one only
h ing coumendsble.
Young Becchus Is a humihatng dfanAuc oDr. ~,
II, and IL an interesting example Of the extent to which
a writer nav te stupid and yet survive hs Own dull