The Press. — 1856-05-03 (London, England)

PRINCESS'S THEATRE. ANOTHER of Mr. Kean's Shaksperian suffocations was presented to the public on Monday evening. We have not the smallest intention of following this mistaken and obstinate gentleman through all the wonderful details of his elaborate playbill. With not much trouble to ourselves we might produce a nfacciamento of one of these extraordinary documents, such as would fairly astonish our reader?, by the apparent profundity and extent of the antiquarian learning displayed in it; but the operation would be quite superfluous: it has been so successfully performed by most of our daily contemporaries that there is no need for us to repeat it here. Suffice it to say, that the drama which Mr. Kean has in this instance chosen for strangulation is The Winter's Tale, which is " put on," or rather "put out," with accompaniments—we beg pardon, we are unwittingly degrading the scenery, dresses, and dances to the second rank—surpassing in magnificence all that has ever been seen of a similar kind at the Great National Diorama. We do nut quarrel with the scenery ; it is, without doubt, magnificent, painted in the best st3le, and apparently drawn from the most authentic sources. Doubtless the " Pyrrhic Dance" is very classical, as it is imposing and inspiriting ; the " Banqueting Hall," with its elegant vases, and chastely-clad slaves, a model of tasteful gorgeousness, Sze. &c. d:c. All this is very true, but it only proves that the rope with which the strangulation is performed is a very beautiffil specimen of art manufacture, and does not excuse, in the slightest degree, the " shocking and barbarous murder" of Shakespeare's poetry, which actually becomes a mera accompaniment to its own back-ground and accessaries. We do not profess to criticise scenery and dresses; we have therefore an easy duty to perform in a case where they are obviously the main points of a " presentation." The acting (with the exception of Mrs. Kean's Herrnione, which is performed with a certain majestic sweetness and resignation, very refreshing in the midst of so much hollow rant and noise that surrounded it) is execrable. Mr. Kean, in Leontes, seems to think that a husband who could so far forget himself, need not remember his stops, and goes on running one sentence into another as if passion and punctuation were utterly incompatible : he raves, stamps about with his arms sticking out on each side of his head, as if he were temporarily insane and believed himself a windmill; and so outrageously violent was he in one of the early scenes, on the occasion on which we were present, that he threw poor little Mamilius fairly off his balance, and satin factorily established in the minds of the audience the fact that the child, pretty as he was, had certainly no claims whatever to the cherubic character. But we must postpone a more particular criticism of each actor until next week.  THE ADELPHI THEATRE will close in June, when the building will be taken down for the purpose of erecting a new theatre on the enlarged site. The new theatre will be entirely constructed of iron, and is now preparing at Liverpool for erection as soon as the site is cleared. Mr. Webster calculates on being able to reopen early in the autumn.  Issrmarios or