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Article PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Page 1 of 1
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Public Amusements.
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS .
THEATRE-ROYAL , HAYMARKET . Julyzi . A NEW Play in five acts , written b y Mr . Cumberland , entitled £ \ . DON PEDRO , was brought forward at this theatre . The story of the piece is as follows : , * Don Pedro , called El' Diabolo , is the son of a Spanish Nobleman ; but having been discarded by his family , on account of his libertine principles , and the savage ferocity of his character , he joins a gang of robbers and
be-; ing of a temper more daring and mischievous than any of the crew , is raised to the dignity of being their leader . Henrique , his younger brother , who is as amiable and gentle , as Pedro is barbarous and untameable , passing near the haunt of the banditti , is ensnared and stabbed by Pedro , and left , as the latter supposes , dead . Pedro then , getting possession of the effecfs of Henrique , professes to be bis brother , and gains admission to the house of the Count de Valdesoto , his uncle ; who , believing that lie is the amiable Heiir
. rique , is on the eve of granting him the hand of Celestina , cousin of Pedro , and daughter- of the Count . The daughter Celestina is in the habit of dreaming ; and , by the aid of her inslinBive visions , she is acquainted with the . artifice of Pedro , and his supposed murder of his brother . The Count , fully relying upon the appearances in favour of Pedro , treats the supernatural intimations of his daughter as the idle suggestions of a disordered fancy . An inquiry is ' made bthe Inquisition into the circumstances of the murder of Henri
y que , and a man is condemned as guilty . Pedro makes' an affe & ed parade of tenderness , and appears as ' a witness before the Solemn Tribunal . It appears , however , that Henrique soon overcame the consequences of the wound lie received : he repairs to the house of the Count ; and , after a satisfactory
inquiry , the guilt of Pedro is made apparent , and Celestina is allotted to the humane and generous Henrique . ' We have so often had reason to admire the productions of Mr . Cumberland , that we are sorry , on the present occasion , not to be able to give that tribute of praise which we have formerly bestowed on several of his other performances . His genius is too often employed in dramatic works , to give time for his imagination to produce an original fableany striking noveltyor
, , force of character ; or even to work up , with sufficient care , the materials which he must necessarily derive from the stories of other writers . Upon the present occasion , Mr . Cumberland has been indebted to a gloomy , but vigorous , offspring of the German Muse , entitled " The Robbers , " and even to O'Keelfe ' s well known Opera , " The Castle of Andalusia . " The fable is not ill-conducted , on the whole ; but as the audience must unavoidably feel the resemblance we have suggested , it is not calculated to excite much
curiosity , or awaken any powerful interest . It is , however , but justice to say , that the language is , with a very few exceptions , neat , forcible , and elegant . The Prologue was from the pen of thz . author of the Play , and the EpTfogue from that of Mr . Column . The latter was neatly delivered by Miss De Camp . Palmer was the hero of" the p iece , and his Don Pedro one of the most masterly performances we ever witnessed . The audience did not manifest much activity of praise or censure during
the nrogress of the piece ; but , towards the conclusion , the fiat of Public Criticism seemed to be rather of a hostile kind . However , the Play was announced for a second representation ; and we are of opinion that it may have a tolerable run .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Public Amusements.
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS .
THEATRE-ROYAL , HAYMARKET . Julyzi . A NEW Play in five acts , written b y Mr . Cumberland , entitled £ \ . DON PEDRO , was brought forward at this theatre . The story of the piece is as follows : , * Don Pedro , called El' Diabolo , is the son of a Spanish Nobleman ; but having been discarded by his family , on account of his libertine principles , and the savage ferocity of his character , he joins a gang of robbers and
be-; ing of a temper more daring and mischievous than any of the crew , is raised to the dignity of being their leader . Henrique , his younger brother , who is as amiable and gentle , as Pedro is barbarous and untameable , passing near the haunt of the banditti , is ensnared and stabbed by Pedro , and left , as the latter supposes , dead . Pedro then , getting possession of the effecfs of Henrique , professes to be bis brother , and gains admission to the house of the Count de Valdesoto , his uncle ; who , believing that lie is the amiable Heiir
. rique , is on the eve of granting him the hand of Celestina , cousin of Pedro , and daughter- of the Count . The daughter Celestina is in the habit of dreaming ; and , by the aid of her inslinBive visions , she is acquainted with the . artifice of Pedro , and his supposed murder of his brother . The Count , fully relying upon the appearances in favour of Pedro , treats the supernatural intimations of his daughter as the idle suggestions of a disordered fancy . An inquiry is ' made bthe Inquisition into the circumstances of the murder of Henri
y que , and a man is condemned as guilty . Pedro makes' an affe & ed parade of tenderness , and appears as ' a witness before the Solemn Tribunal . It appears , however , that Henrique soon overcame the consequences of the wound lie received : he repairs to the house of the Count ; and , after a satisfactory
inquiry , the guilt of Pedro is made apparent , and Celestina is allotted to the humane and generous Henrique . ' We have so often had reason to admire the productions of Mr . Cumberland , that we are sorry , on the present occasion , not to be able to give that tribute of praise which we have formerly bestowed on several of his other performances . His genius is too often employed in dramatic works , to give time for his imagination to produce an original fableany striking noveltyor
, , force of character ; or even to work up , with sufficient care , the materials which he must necessarily derive from the stories of other writers . Upon the present occasion , Mr . Cumberland has been indebted to a gloomy , but vigorous , offspring of the German Muse , entitled " The Robbers , " and even to O'Keelfe ' s well known Opera , " The Castle of Andalusia . " The fable is not ill-conducted , on the whole ; but as the audience must unavoidably feel the resemblance we have suggested , it is not calculated to excite much
curiosity , or awaken any powerful interest . It is , however , but justice to say , that the language is , with a very few exceptions , neat , forcible , and elegant . The Prologue was from the pen of thz . author of the Play , and the EpTfogue from that of Mr . Column . The latter was neatly delivered by Miss De Camp . Palmer was the hero of" the p iece , and his Don Pedro one of the most masterly performances we ever witnessed . The audience did not manifest much activity of praise or censure during
the nrogress of the piece ; but , towards the conclusion , the fiat of Public Criticism seemed to be rather of a hostile kind . However , the Play was announced for a second representation ; and we are of opinion that it may have a tolerable run .