This Evening will be performed, the Tragedy of KING RICHARD III. King Henry the Sixth, Mr. Faulkner. Prince of Wales, Miss Murray-Richard, Duke of York, Master Stanley. Richard, Duke of Glo'ster Master G. F. Smith, The Duke of Buckingham, Mr. Pritchard-Lord Stanley, Mr. Lynch. Henry, Earl of Richmond, Mr. Calcraft. Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Mackay-Sir William Catesby, Mr. Wynn. Sir William Brandon, Mr. Denham-Sir James Plunt, Mr. Hillyard. Sir Robert Brackenbury, Mr. Smith-Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Mr. Duff. Sir James Tyrrel, Mr. Rae-Dighton, Mr. M'Gregor. Forest, Mr. Miller Aldermen, Messrs. Aikin and Power. Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Renaud The Duchess of York, Mrs. Eyre. Lady Anne, Mrs Stanley-Attendants, Misses Rae and J. Nicol. After which will be performed, for the 7th time in this Theatre, the CATARACT OF THE GANGES, Mordaunt, an English Officer, Mr. Denham-Mokagee, Mr. Mason. Officers, Messrs. Duff, Hillyard, Miller, Power, Aikin, J. Stanley, and M'Gregor. The Princess Dessa, Daughter to the Emperor, Miss Eyre. Matali, a Peasant, Mrs. Nicol Ulra, her Daughter, Miss Nicol. Zamine, the Rajah's Daughter, Mrs. Stanley. EQUESTRIANS, BY MR. COOKE, Messrs. Woolforde, Evans, Bell, Buck, Thomson, Crossman, Caledonian Theatre. This Evening will be performed, WITH A VARIETY OF OTHER ENTERTAINMENTS. Dramatic Review. "...Good, my Lord, will you see the Players well bestowed P My Lord, I will use them according to their desert." SHAKSPEARE. No. CCCLII. SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 1824. Vol. VIII. Theatre-Ropal. RICHARD THE THIRD. It occurs to us, that a boy, however prodigious his talents may be, in aspiring to a lofty character, labours under disadvantages which are not experienced by an actor of very inferior powers; and this notion has been forced upon us by observing Master G. F. Smith's Richard of last night. It certainly. is necessary to the success of any piece, that a certain degree of illusion be produced, which cannot be when there is a wide disproportion between the appearance of a performer and that of the character represented, such as the audience must conceived it to be. Trifling, and even considerable differences may be got over by an actor of superior genius, as Master Smith fairly surmounted those which he had to struggle with in the part of Douglas; considering his success in which part, we could have wished to see him in Achmet, or even in Romeo, in preference to a character so intellectually robust as that of Richard. Mr. Garrick himself, with Master Smith's appearance, could not have produced illusion in the character; Master Smith certainly did not; and such being the case, imagination was asleep, and the reasoning faculty, which, as applied to theatricals, may be called the critical faculty, exerted itself with uncontrouled force and wanton activity. We have noticed a disadvantage under which Master Smith obviously labours in the part of Richard; and we must state an objection to his assuming such a character. A boy of his years may comprehend the part of Douglas; but we would dispute the possibility of even an Admirable Crichton, at Master Smith's age, under a standing the profouud and tortuous policy of Richard, and, consequently, of his conceiving aright the feelings of Richard in their utmost intensity, with the modifications occasioned by circumstances; still more would we dispute the possibility of his fathoming the deep philosophy of Shakspeare, embodied in the still scenes in which Richard is made to figure. A man can only be initiated into the secrets of that philosophy by a familiar and thorough knowledge of mankind; and any notion which a boy may entertain of it must be reflected, and, of course, exceedingly faint. If a boy, therefore, ever succeeds at all in such part as Richard, according to the theory we have stated, it must be by a successful exercise of the imitative faculty; which faculty boys possess in a higher degree than their seniors, for reasons abundantly obvious. In the part of Douglas Master Smith displayed a buoyancy of mind, an elasticity of spirits, a promptitude of feeling; all which combined, made his Douglas an equally perfect and effective performance. It was obvious, however, that his Richard was imitative not of Kean's exactly, but imitative of Kean and other great models; and it was no less obvious, that every attempt at originality was, upon the whole, puerile. We do not mean to decry the performance, for we consider it to be extraordinary-only imitative. Master Smith is a phenomenon of early talent; and in that point of view only he ought to be considered. His Richard, supposing him to have had the due proportions of a man, might have graced any boards, so far as its success depended upon attitude, gesture, and action; and in the scenes peculiarly horrible, such as that where the ghosts visit him, the countenance of Master Smith (to us, at least, who occupied a seat in front of the pit,) was powerfully expressive, so far as a boy's features can express such feelings, of consternation and remorse, and an active pugnacious courage putting to the rout every better feeling. Master Smith received but faint applause in the course of his performance; but, at the close, the applause was tumultous, owing, we suppose, to a wish upon the part of the audience to procure a repetition of the piece. With a very high respect for Master Smith's abilities, which are only nascent, we would recommend him to be rather sparing of, and select in his exhibitions to study every character, but not to adopt any one which is not peculi arly adapted to him. Pritchard makes an exceedingly good Buckingham, and Calcraft makes a highly respectable Richmond. Mrs. Renaud's Queen Elizabeth is about the best piece of acting in the line of heavy tragedy we have yet seen; and Mrs. Stanley's Lady Anne was scarcely less so. The only remark we have to make upon the following Letter is, that Mrs. Siddons' Licinia is the only performance of that Lady which ever provoked a severe stricture from us. We esteem her talents so highly, that we would gladly see our opinion refuted. But our Correspondent forgets, that Mrs. Siddons ought to have acted the part "as set down for her" by the author. We declare, that we thought she did not act at all, but rather smiled with scorn upon the whole performance, which made us suspect that she as little liked to see a brother near the throne," as notoriously she dislikes to see a sister near to it. Her comparatively languid performance of Cora confirmed our suspicions. TO THE EDITOR OF THE DRAMATIC REVIEW. Edinburgh, 17th Feb. 1824. SIR, I am not sure but that more than I are wroth at Verus for his remarks on Mrs. Siddons' Licinia. He ought, in justice, to have stated, that Licinia, as drawn by the author, is perhaps faulty-a mere whimperer, rather characteristic of English softness than Roman heroism. I confess that Mrs. Siddons did not, in the part of Licinia, give way to the melting passions, in which she so often shews herself highly finished; but, personating a Romish dame, there is hardly room for question that she was judicious in giving the character a contemplative cast, such as it admitted of. Licinia has little to do with the drama, farther than being the wife of Gracchus; yet, I am inclined to think, that Mrs. Siddons' parting, when Gracchus is called to his army, is one of the finest pictures of conjugal tenderness we have on the stage. I regret that your opinion is against mine; but it would have been but fair in Verus to have given a criticism. I saw the play acted. Mr. Knowles, who understands the stage excellently, has made a very clumsy exit at the end of one of the acts; I allude to the one ending where the two Tribunes descend from the Forum after proposing laws to the people. It is, no doubt, a difficult matter to dispose of a group at the end of a scene; and, in this instance, they depart like as many sheep. Gracchus, when he discovers his colleague's intrigue, should expostulate with the people-they ultimately leave him. He should then descant a little with himselfExit. The curtain would thus fall much better. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AN AMATEUR SKETCHER. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. We only refrain from publishing "A Constant Reader's," from an idea that it may do more harm than good. A Title page, &c. (gratis) to Volume Seventh, is delivered with this day's Number. This Evening will be performed, the Comedy of THE BELLE'S STRATAGEM. Sir George Touchwood, Mr. Pritchard. Hardy, Mr. Mackay-Flutter, Mr. Murray-Saville, Mr. Denham. Characters in the Masquerade, Messrs. Lennox, Glover, Dornoch, Lady Frances Touchwood, Miss Halford-Mrs. Racket, Mrs. Eyre. After which will be performed, for the 8th time in this Theatre, the Melo-Dramatic Spectacle, originally produced at the TheatreRoyal, Drury Lane, and entitled, The CATARACT OF THE GANGES, Mordaunt, an English Officer, Mr. Denham-Mokagee, Mr. Mason. Officers, Messrs. Duff, Hillyard, Miller, Power, Aikin, J. Stanley, and M'Gregor. The Princess Dessa, Daughter to the Emperor, Miss Eyre. Messrs. Woolforde, Evans, Bell, Buck, Thomson, Crossman, Caledonian Theatre. FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. H. JOHNSTON. This Evening, 28th Feb, will be performed, " WITH A VARIETY OF 1 |