The Sun. — 1849-03-13 (London, England)

PRICE SD.  HAYMARKET THEATRE.  Last night the tragedy of Othello was played with the principal characters reversed—that is to say, the floor was acted by Mr. Kean, logo by Mr. Wallack, Desdemona by Mrs. Kean, and Emilia by Miss Laura Addison. As might have been expected from the style of Mr. Bean's recent acting, he made especially prominent the tender and pathetic side of the Moor's character. The address to the Senate, and all those earlier scenes in which love for Desdemona is to he exhibited, were given in the best possible spirit. The courteousness of the noble warrior was rendered with easy grace, and the indications of deep affection were evident without being exaggerated. During the interview with lago, Mr. Kean most excelled where Othello is still in a state of doubt. The intense sorrow of his countenance when suspicion was first awakened, and his honest clutch at a hope, when he exclaimed, " I do believe that Desdemona's honest," were touching in the extreme. The return to sorrow in the last act, when rage had done its worst, and he had only to mourn for its consequences, was exquisitely pathetic. It was surprising that one fine touch was overlooked by the audience. This was an acknowledgment of a participation in the attempted murder of Cassio, expressed in the look by the monosyllable " Ay," and illustrated by Mr. Kean with a movement of countenance in which sorrow and shame were finely concentrated. The devotion of Desdemona to her husband, and her agony of grief when her fidelity was suspected, were, of course, finely rendered by Mrs. Kean, who, moreover, " looked" the character to perfection. Miss Laura Addison brought back to the stage the stormy Emilia, whom Mrs. Kean had removed, and the energy, which she certainly did not lack, called forth all her peculiarities of declamation to a striking degree. Mr. Wallack's lago is .infinitely better than his Othello. Both characters are mere conventional interpretations, but the " ancient" gives less scope foi extravagance than the " noble Moor." A new farce, by Mr. Stirling Coyne, called Separate faintenance, concluded the evening's entertainment, amid roars of laughter. It is wondrously extravagant and improbable, but Mr. Coyne has the knack of uniting extravagancies and improbabilities with a spirit of genial " fun" that renders them most palatable. A husband and wife who lead an existence of small bickerings agree to divide their house between them, the large central room in which the action takes place being cut in two by the seam of the carpet, so that each may possess a half. The emancipated husband talks of amusing himself at the Casino, and the "femme libre," to awaken his jealousy, entertains asmall party of female friends, dressed as young officers. Finally both pretend to commit suicide, and a most comical scence is produced by each mistaking the other for a ghost, and confessing his and her peccadillos. Of course, the scene leads to a discovery and a reconciliation. The reader has only to fancy Mr. Keeley in a perpetual state of annoyance, Mrs. Keeley as a lady standing up for her rights, and Mrs. Humby as a housemaid, half-stupid wonderment and half-cunning, to be aware of the perfect manner in which this little farce was performed. The house was crowded.