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Article THE MIRROR OF THESPIS. ← Page 3 of 3
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The Mirror Of Thespis.
December n . ALBERT AND ADELAIDE , or THE VICTIM OF CONSTANCY , a grand heroic romance , was this evening brought forward ; it is only another translation ( by Mr . Cobb ) ofthe piece from which the CAPTIVE OF SPILBURG was taken , with alterations and additional scenes from a popular French drama . With respeft to the scenery and dresses , it is got up in a more attractive style than at the rival house ; but the musicthough highly respectable , is not of that grand
, and impressive order . The action accompanying the overture is a piece cif buffoonery unworthy the patronage of an English audience . Notwithstanding the disadvantage it laboured under , of having been anticipated at Drilry-Lane , ALBERT AND ADELAIDE was Well received , and bids fair to become extremely popular .
December 15 . A Mr . Turner , a barrister , made his debut this evening , in ' the arduous and dragging character of Macbeth .- The law and the drama have been asserted to be more closely interwoven and connected with each other than , at a first glance on the subject , we should be inclined to believe . A lawyer , from the nature of his profession , has ample opportunity for the study of men and manners ; and , if we search our dramatic records , we shall find that the majority
of our . most popular authors have been educated or intended for the bar . We thought that this opportunity of studying men and manners mi ght also have assisted an actor in his theatrical portraitures , and . we attended Mr . Turner ' s first appearance in expectation of witness- * ing a powerful display of the various passions by which Macbeth is supposed to be agitated . It certainly is no pleasant task to recordthe failure of an attempt which , had it succeeded , must have
established its author in the first walk of the drama . " On the present occasion , however , truth prompts us to declare that Mr . Turner is totally inadequate to the representation of this character , or , apparently , of any other in the tragic line . We cannot give our readers a better idea of his performance than by calling . to their recollection one , of those annual plays got up at public schools . _ Mr . Turner , walked throug-h the partand recited the dialogue in the exact man- ?
, nerof a school-boy . ¦ It is whispered that he possesses eminenteomic talents ; if so ,-surely his friends were extremel y reprehensible in indul ging and flattering his partiality for a character so diametricall y opposite to his genius .
If we were ever dissatisfied with Murray ' s acting it was on the present evening . His Banquo possessed a certain kind of inflation which it is difficult to describe : it entirely destroyed the feelino- requisite for the character . Mrs . Johnson ' s Lady Macbeth was respectable , N . B . Wanted a certain quantity of discrimination , force , and feeling . Pope ' s Macduff' was delivered in the tiue spirit ofthe poet . The chotusses went off well , excepting where Townshend nad
forgotten both the music and the words . ¦ ALBERT AND ADELAIDE closed the entertainment of the evening . « Would be an improvement in this piece were the dialogue in the ..Jangeon scenes to be curtailed ; this would ' expedite the grand coup 'ceil of Albert and Adelaide ' s deliverance , and shorten the impatience ° f the spectators . VOL XJ p
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Mirror Of Thespis.
December n . ALBERT AND ADELAIDE , or THE VICTIM OF CONSTANCY , a grand heroic romance , was this evening brought forward ; it is only another translation ( by Mr . Cobb ) ofthe piece from which the CAPTIVE OF SPILBURG was taken , with alterations and additional scenes from a popular French drama . With respeft to the scenery and dresses , it is got up in a more attractive style than at the rival house ; but the musicthough highly respectable , is not of that grand
, and impressive order . The action accompanying the overture is a piece cif buffoonery unworthy the patronage of an English audience . Notwithstanding the disadvantage it laboured under , of having been anticipated at Drilry-Lane , ALBERT AND ADELAIDE was Well received , and bids fair to become extremely popular .
December 15 . A Mr . Turner , a barrister , made his debut this evening , in ' the arduous and dragging character of Macbeth .- The law and the drama have been asserted to be more closely interwoven and connected with each other than , at a first glance on the subject , we should be inclined to believe . A lawyer , from the nature of his profession , has ample opportunity for the study of men and manners ; and , if we search our dramatic records , we shall find that the majority
of our . most popular authors have been educated or intended for the bar . We thought that this opportunity of studying men and manners mi ght also have assisted an actor in his theatrical portraitures , and . we attended Mr . Turner ' s first appearance in expectation of witness- * ing a powerful display of the various passions by which Macbeth is supposed to be agitated . It certainly is no pleasant task to recordthe failure of an attempt which , had it succeeded , must have
established its author in the first walk of the drama . " On the present occasion , however , truth prompts us to declare that Mr . Turner is totally inadequate to the representation of this character , or , apparently , of any other in the tragic line . We cannot give our readers a better idea of his performance than by calling . to their recollection one , of those annual plays got up at public schools . _ Mr . Turner , walked throug-h the partand recited the dialogue in the exact man- ?
, nerof a school-boy . ¦ It is whispered that he possesses eminenteomic talents ; if so ,-surely his friends were extremel y reprehensible in indul ging and flattering his partiality for a character so diametricall y opposite to his genius .
If we were ever dissatisfied with Murray ' s acting it was on the present evening . His Banquo possessed a certain kind of inflation which it is difficult to describe : it entirely destroyed the feelino- requisite for the character . Mrs . Johnson ' s Lady Macbeth was respectable , N . B . Wanted a certain quantity of discrimination , force , and feeling . Pope ' s Macduff' was delivered in the tiue spirit ofthe poet . The chotusses went off well , excepting where Townshend nad
forgotten both the music and the words . ¦ ALBERT AND ADELAIDE closed the entertainment of the evening . « Would be an improvement in this piece were the dialogue in the ..Jangeon scenes to be curtailed ; this would ' expedite the grand coup 'ceil of Albert and Adelaide ' s deliverance , and shorten the impatience ° f the spectators . VOL XJ p