New-York tribune., 1876-06-03
THE LONDON STAGE.
oo,rcs or THE DRAMATIC SEASON.

-, ,croRs IN LoSDoN-MIss KATE FIELD AT
~ o.RrY-MIss ABBOTT IN RETIREMENT
a, RyeULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
1o,,nox. Nav 1s.-Signor Salvini has returned 10
IN and ia once more acting Othelto, the play In
INL his Greatest trinmphs were won. lie Is at the
60 Tbeater. 1t does not appear that there ls
S.h;ro navy in his performance. His OfheHo Is the
- Otbello as last year. He makes no concessions
A.. the crtics-sll less replies to them' as hosSi oi
Tho nolicy of reply is more than doubtful oienoi
Posi- certainly thinks himself hardly treateu DS 'u0
rnclish but if he cannot convince them oy MS ao0
-, ho ,,,;l1 NOT convince them by argument. Mean
.;me he acts to half empty houses anu Poop'9
--onder what it was that led the frencn " 0A'0i
him 40 highly. Nobody doubts that No mas eioa'
entities that he has studied hard, or ,na' n.o
tornance ls worth seeing. The dlincui'' 10 ~
cannot get his Shakespearean views acceP'0u pS 'n0
people for whom, and in whose lansuas' s'.s"r.
- ,,rote In France he had quite ulneIene
80 ,",s on oosier one. He did not bring himself
n .'A' 1t conflict with the traditions ana
nv e .,vo centuries of dramatic life. But
- that Signor ROssl would hnd 1t no
sosv matter to persuade French audiences that nc
understood Racine and Corneille better than they
40 Salyin, who had the great advantage OF pre-
cedng Rossi in London, convinced NOBODY tnaV
Obello ought to cut his throat instead OF stapDlng
hinself He convinced nobody that the sensual side
Of the Moor's character ought to be dsplayeu so
nrominently He convinced nobody that the brutal
aide ought to be displayed in such way as he dls-
played it forinsance, by dragging OesdemoRd aoouI
The stage and buffeting her with violence that, Oft
tbe stage, might make him acquainted with police
MAGISTRATE He wounded the susceptlbllitles ana
.rtyaoed the convictions of his audience in every
act ~ the play Yet he had the touch OF genius
bcb atoned for all and carried the town with him.
Ross also. has touch of genius, but of kind so
much more alien from the English that his season is,
comparatively failure. 1t is quite possible that
he would be far better liked in America where the
air and the temper of the people are lighter.
He NAV by way of consolation keep in mind
the fact that the theaters generally are having but
moderate degree of prosperity Nobody seems 10
know why. Madame Janauschek, highly praised az
abe was by some, proved unattractive that she
was quickly superseded by Miss Nelson, that lady
abandoning or postponing her provincial and Ameri-
can tours to return to the stage she had but just
omitted. "Oueen Mary" expired at the Lyceum on
Saturday night last with little prospect of ever be-
ing revived again. Mr.. Irvings Rich4iea, by no
means his best part, does not quite tll the house,
and is to be succeeded next week by that red-hot
melodrama "The Bells" which is already under
lined and which appeals to a public very different
indeed from that which for 200 nights and more
went to see his Hamlet But 1.-THE Bells" had an
extraordinary in its time, and may have another
The effort to keep Mr. ByTon's Wrinkles" on the
Prince of Wales boards has been wisely abandoned,
and Mrs Bancroft has fallen back on Mr. Robert
sons Ours - one Of his most characteristic plays,
bnt also one Of his most familiar, and one in which
Mr.. Hare will be much missed. The Gascon" at
the Olympic, with Mrs. Rousby as Marie Stuart, is
eking out its last nights with the novel attraction
of Baronet as author and actor of farce Sir
Randall Roberts is the Opera, opera boufe,
and melodrama seem to do better than any
thing else The latest highly moral and not
unamusing work of Lecocq, LA Petite Mariee,"
has made its way past the stern portals of the Lord
Chamberlain's Office, and is given nightly in Lon
don. But IT has lost good deal of the flavor which
pleased the palates of the Parisans. / heard il
there the other day and thought it sparkling enough
certainly should not dream of going to sec it here
though given by a company which is now In Brus-
sells Brussels is only provincial Paris at best, and
London is not even that.
The struggle to give French plays here IS con-
tinued, but the quality was never poorer com
pany which does not contain single name known
in Paris is playing worn-out ive-act Palas Royal
farce lie Reveillon." to much of an audience as
can be gathered in the smallest theater in London
the Royalty-Or the smallest but one. have heard
Oh excellent authority that the Incompatible com
panv of the Theatre Francas are coming next year
10 LondOn-not all at once, of course for TO close
the first theater of Paris would create revolution.
They come, however, under their own manager, NJ.
Perrin and the only question is whether a suitable
tbeater can be procured in London ut a
suitable price. If it can be made fash
ionable, this enterprise viii succeed; if
not it will fail. 1t is sad thing to say, but 1t is
very doubtful whether in the largest city Of
Chrisendom there is paying audience for the finest
Il.
here during the gloomy days of 1S70-71. They
play nightly in Paris to audience composed Of
all that is most brilliant in the most brilliant capital
OF Europe. They played in London 10 audience
composed mostly of pastrycOOks and hairlTessers.
The English taste in acting will bear good deal OF
educating shall never forget hearing leading
English critic pronounce Descl6e brilliant
failure"-the one actress whom Sarcey and SAINT
Victor and the other dramatic critics OF Paris had
begun to talk of as Rachcs successor, not long be-
fore her premature death. 1t is with some disnay
that one hears of translation of "LETangere" " |
rs shortly to be brought ont. As given III Paris al
the Theatre Francais, Dunas's latest drama is worth
ajourney to Paris to Whatever you may think |
of the play, you must think the acting Of it simply
perfect. had been told it was "dull." found it
anything but that, and it is difficult to sec how
such word can be applied to a piece which
leaves you at the end of the fourth act full
of curiosity and completely unable to conjecture
how the knot is TO be united in the fifth 1t has
made its way steadily in popular favor against the
opinion of the cI1tics and in spite of the shock to
French sensbties and notions of the decorOus,
wantony given by NJ Dumas in certain scenes
don't the immortality of it, but the defiance of
certain conventionalitcs. That Gerard should make
love to the Duchess of Septmonts surprises and
shocks nobody. That he should make love to her
under her husbands roof, after a challenge has