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Article STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Page 1 of 2 →
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Strictures On Public Amusements.
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS .
MAY 29 . A ONE-ACT Piece , called " ST . ANDREW ' S FESTIVAL , " was brought for"ward at Drury-lane Theatre , for the benefit of Mr . R . Palmer ; in which Mr . Bew , a son of the late bookseller of that name , made his debut as a French Count ; but the audience being displeased with the piece , it was abruptly broken off , and the candidate for public favour ( who manifested some abilities ) was deprived of a fair trial . At Covent-Gardenthe same eveninga Musical Farcecalled " THE POOH
, , , SAILOR ; or , LITTLE BEN AND LITTLE Bon , " was presented , and received considerable applause . June 3 , Anew Drama , entitled "THE SECRET TRIBUNAL , " wasperformed , and received throughout with applause . Mr . Boaden , who dramatized Mrs . Radciiffe ' s charming Romance so successfully , has again presented a play , taken from the German novel of Herman of Unna . It is certainly not unusual , when a novel of strong interest is produced , to
mould it into the form of a drama , and heighten the passion by all the aids of personification , scenery , dress and action . The eloquence of the writer may be thus improved to its highest point of attraction , by adding to it the illusion of the Theatre ; and though the dramatist has not to boast of original design , he has difficulties to conquer , which entitle him to fame upon success . It requires peculiar delicacy to overcome the prepossession which thespectators feel in favour of that which has charmed in the closet , and where prejudice , which we frequently mistake for taste , will not suffer the daring hand of
alteration ; tut above all it demands nice skill to compress a story , in which the interest has arisen through a thousand incidents , within the limits of a regular . drama . Thus , though the description ' of the Secret Tribunal is unquestionably the finest pait of the novel , yet we are led to it so gradually , that the interest depends very much on the ceremony with which it is introduced . On the stage it must necessarily be more abrupt ; and accordingl y it appears to be too feeble for a play . It is a grand scene when it comes ,. but there is not enough to engage the
affections through five acts . —The author seems lo have been sensible of this want of matter , and has therefore , with great address , made his acts short , and has not striven "to spin the thread of his discourse finer than the staple of his argument . " -Wc have no dulness of declamation ;—no violent intrusion of foreign episode ; •—he adheres closely to his author , and if he does not dazzle us with novelty , he aims to convey a striking story with genuine pathos . 9 . The Haymarket Theatre opened for the season . The first piece was the Mayor of Garratt ; after which a new occasional Drama , in one act , was represented ( said to come from the pen pf Mr . Colman ) , entitled , " NEW HAY AT THE OLD MARKET . "
The first scene exhibits a room in the manager ' s house , where an actor is represented aslegp in an elbow chair , which he had occupied for five mornings , and an author sitting by him , both waiting for an audience of the manager . Bannister , Jun . is the actor , and Suett the author , between whom a very laughable scene takes place , which it would be impossible adequately to describe . There is in it a hit which , though fair perhaps in the court of Wit , we should deem questionable in that of Equity . The supposed poet , in ridicule of the moral tendency iof some late admirable dramas , in which a Jew ai ) d a Cynic are made objects pf gppjause , denominates his tragedy " The Humane flighwayman . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Strictures On Public Amusements.
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS .
MAY 29 . A ONE-ACT Piece , called " ST . ANDREW ' S FESTIVAL , " was brought for"ward at Drury-lane Theatre , for the benefit of Mr . R . Palmer ; in which Mr . Bew , a son of the late bookseller of that name , made his debut as a French Count ; but the audience being displeased with the piece , it was abruptly broken off , and the candidate for public favour ( who manifested some abilities ) was deprived of a fair trial . At Covent-Gardenthe same eveninga Musical Farcecalled " THE POOH
, , , SAILOR ; or , LITTLE BEN AND LITTLE Bon , " was presented , and received considerable applause . June 3 , Anew Drama , entitled "THE SECRET TRIBUNAL , " wasperformed , and received throughout with applause . Mr . Boaden , who dramatized Mrs . Radciiffe ' s charming Romance so successfully , has again presented a play , taken from the German novel of Herman of Unna . It is certainly not unusual , when a novel of strong interest is produced , to
mould it into the form of a drama , and heighten the passion by all the aids of personification , scenery , dress and action . The eloquence of the writer may be thus improved to its highest point of attraction , by adding to it the illusion of the Theatre ; and though the dramatist has not to boast of original design , he has difficulties to conquer , which entitle him to fame upon success . It requires peculiar delicacy to overcome the prepossession which thespectators feel in favour of that which has charmed in the closet , and where prejudice , which we frequently mistake for taste , will not suffer the daring hand of
alteration ; tut above all it demands nice skill to compress a story , in which the interest has arisen through a thousand incidents , within the limits of a regular . drama . Thus , though the description ' of the Secret Tribunal is unquestionably the finest pait of the novel , yet we are led to it so gradually , that the interest depends very much on the ceremony with which it is introduced . On the stage it must necessarily be more abrupt ; and accordingl y it appears to be too feeble for a play . It is a grand scene when it comes ,. but there is not enough to engage the
affections through five acts . —The author seems lo have been sensible of this want of matter , and has therefore , with great address , made his acts short , and has not striven "to spin the thread of his discourse finer than the staple of his argument . " -Wc have no dulness of declamation ;—no violent intrusion of foreign episode ; •—he adheres closely to his author , and if he does not dazzle us with novelty , he aims to convey a striking story with genuine pathos . 9 . The Haymarket Theatre opened for the season . The first piece was the Mayor of Garratt ; after which a new occasional Drama , in one act , was represented ( said to come from the pen pf Mr . Colman ) , entitled , " NEW HAY AT THE OLD MARKET . "
The first scene exhibits a room in the manager ' s house , where an actor is represented aslegp in an elbow chair , which he had occupied for five mornings , and an author sitting by him , both waiting for an audience of the manager . Bannister , Jun . is the actor , and Suett the author , between whom a very laughable scene takes place , which it would be impossible adequately to describe . There is in it a hit which , though fair perhaps in the court of Wit , we should deem questionable in that of Equity . The supposed poet , in ridicule of the moral tendency iof some late admirable dramas , in which a Jew ai ) d a Cynic are made objects pf gppjause , denominates his tragedy " The Humane flighwayman . "