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Article STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Strictures On Public Amusements.
Men Woodbine , the heroine of the piece , and her widowed mother , appear t ° have been dispossessed of their estate , by the fraudulent conduct of Rapine , their steward . The family mansion having been destroyed by fire , and several writings of value supposed to have perished in the conflagration , Rapine releases himself from all the obligations to which he was liable by those writings , and becomes the oppressor of the family he formerly served . Ellen Woodbine , in this , reverse of fortune , resorts to Oakland , father of Captain Oakland , an officer in the navy , * and acquaints
him that the Captain had honoured her with his addresses , and as , from her loss of property , she might not be considered so approveable a match for his son , begs his interposition to terminate the courtship .- —This Oakland endeavours to effect , but is foiled in his attempt by his daughter Lucy ; and M'Scrape , an Irish fidler , who besides follows the occupation of Village Barber , assists in the plan . Captain Oakland , thus assisted , prevails on Ellen to give him an interview , near the ruins of Netley Abbey , to which place she is conducted by Catherine , the waiting maid of Miss Lucy Oaklandwho assumes on the occasion a jacket and trowsers
, , Kerc they are surprised by old Oakland : but his anger does not long continue ; as the brother of Catherine , who is just returned from a cruize , relates that he had some time before be-. n in a skiff , which was cast away under the cliffs of the Isle of Wight , and that his two shipmate ' s , seeing certain death at hand , confessed they had been the plunderers of Mrs . Woodbine ' s dwelling ; but that , although the mansion was
destroyed by fire to prevent suspicion of the robbery , the property still remained concealed in the recesses of NETLEY ABBEY . In consequence of this discovery , the writings of value and other property are recovered . Miss Ellen being restored to her fortune , no longer feels a scruple to admit the addresses of Captain Oakland ; and the consent of his lather is in consequence readily granted . . The music and scenery of this piece are good ; but it certainly has not , as a whole , equal merit with " Hartford Bridge . " 21 . The New Drury-Lanc Theatre was opened for the first time with Theatrical
Performances , to an audience which completely overflowed long before the curtain arose , to the disappointment of a much greater number than were gratified with a view cf the superb spectacle which it presented . A Prologue , spoken by Mr . Kemble , turned chiefly on the fostering shelter which the freedom and tranquillity of this country so happily give to the liberal arts . —The erection of that Theatre was properly represented as a monument to tlie Genius of Shakespeare . More suitable " Than the proud Pyramid's unmeaning mass . "
It concluded with a panegyric on the Tragic and Comic Muses , and with professions of gratitude on the part of the Managers , for that public Patronage , which enabled them to erect a Theatre ,. in which their favorite amusements could be exhibited to the best effect .
The Pieces performed were MACBETH , and THE VIRGIN UNMASK ' D . The Tragedy was represented with great magnificence of decoration , and With many novelties both in the conduct and machinery of the fable . The scenes were all new - and they are extremely beautiful . —Of the novelties in the management of the play the following are the most striking -. — The Ghost of Banquo does not enter in the scene of the festival ; but Macbeth bends his eye on vacancy—an alteration in which every classical mind must agree with Mr . Kemble . The hih-crowned hats and lace of the witches
g aprons were properly discarded . They were represented as preternatural beings , adopting no human garb , and distinguished only by the fellness of their purposes , and the fatality of their delusions . Hecate ' s companion spirit descends on the cloud , and rises a ^ ain with him . In the Cauldron Scene , new groups are introduced to personify the black spirits and white , blue spirits and grey ; and here one would have imagined that tlie Muse of Fusel ! had been the director of the scene . The evil spitits had serpents writhing round themwhich had a striking effectand they would be if '
, ; more so they were elastic . On the whole , the play has been prepared with so much care and taste , that it is a magnificent spectacle . Mr . Charles Kemble , the youngest brother , made his first appearance ; he has the family voice ar . d manner : his figure is good but short . VOL . H . Rr
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Strictures On Public Amusements.
Men Woodbine , the heroine of the piece , and her widowed mother , appear t ° have been dispossessed of their estate , by the fraudulent conduct of Rapine , their steward . The family mansion having been destroyed by fire , and several writings of value supposed to have perished in the conflagration , Rapine releases himself from all the obligations to which he was liable by those writings , and becomes the oppressor of the family he formerly served . Ellen Woodbine , in this , reverse of fortune , resorts to Oakland , father of Captain Oakland , an officer in the navy , * and acquaints
him that the Captain had honoured her with his addresses , and as , from her loss of property , she might not be considered so approveable a match for his son , begs his interposition to terminate the courtship .- —This Oakland endeavours to effect , but is foiled in his attempt by his daughter Lucy ; and M'Scrape , an Irish fidler , who besides follows the occupation of Village Barber , assists in the plan . Captain Oakland , thus assisted , prevails on Ellen to give him an interview , near the ruins of Netley Abbey , to which place she is conducted by Catherine , the waiting maid of Miss Lucy Oaklandwho assumes on the occasion a jacket and trowsers
, , Kerc they are surprised by old Oakland : but his anger does not long continue ; as the brother of Catherine , who is just returned from a cruize , relates that he had some time before be-. n in a skiff , which was cast away under the cliffs of the Isle of Wight , and that his two shipmate ' s , seeing certain death at hand , confessed they had been the plunderers of Mrs . Woodbine ' s dwelling ; but that , although the mansion was
destroyed by fire to prevent suspicion of the robbery , the property still remained concealed in the recesses of NETLEY ABBEY . In consequence of this discovery , the writings of value and other property are recovered . Miss Ellen being restored to her fortune , no longer feels a scruple to admit the addresses of Captain Oakland ; and the consent of his lather is in consequence readily granted . . The music and scenery of this piece are good ; but it certainly has not , as a whole , equal merit with " Hartford Bridge . " 21 . The New Drury-Lanc Theatre was opened for the first time with Theatrical
Performances , to an audience which completely overflowed long before the curtain arose , to the disappointment of a much greater number than were gratified with a view cf the superb spectacle which it presented . A Prologue , spoken by Mr . Kemble , turned chiefly on the fostering shelter which the freedom and tranquillity of this country so happily give to the liberal arts . —The erection of that Theatre was properly represented as a monument to tlie Genius of Shakespeare . More suitable " Than the proud Pyramid's unmeaning mass . "
It concluded with a panegyric on the Tragic and Comic Muses , and with professions of gratitude on the part of the Managers , for that public Patronage , which enabled them to erect a Theatre ,. in which their favorite amusements could be exhibited to the best effect .
The Pieces performed were MACBETH , and THE VIRGIN UNMASK ' D . The Tragedy was represented with great magnificence of decoration , and With many novelties both in the conduct and machinery of the fable . The scenes were all new - and they are extremely beautiful . —Of the novelties in the management of the play the following are the most striking -. — The Ghost of Banquo does not enter in the scene of the festival ; but Macbeth bends his eye on vacancy—an alteration in which every classical mind must agree with Mr . Kemble . The hih-crowned hats and lace of the witches
g aprons were properly discarded . They were represented as preternatural beings , adopting no human garb , and distinguished only by the fellness of their purposes , and the fatality of their delusions . Hecate ' s companion spirit descends on the cloud , and rises a ^ ain with him . In the Cauldron Scene , new groups are introduced to personify the black spirits and white , blue spirits and grey ; and here one would have imagined that tlie Muse of Fusel ! had been the director of the scene . The evil spitits had serpents writhing round themwhich had a striking effectand they would be if '
, ; more so they were elastic . On the whole , the play has been prepared with so much care and taste , that it is a magnificent spectacle . Mr . Charles Kemble , the youngest brother , made his first appearance ; he has the family voice ar . d manner : his figure is good but short . VOL . H . Rr