7HB DRAMA IN FRANCE. 147 



Comparisons are at all times invidious, but in the present instance, it 

 has been provoked, because we are certain, that little as the drama is 

 now esteemed in this country, there is still talent in one of our national 

 theatres to cast a tragedy or comedy stronger than at the " Theatre 

 Francais," devoted as it is solely to the higher walks of the drama. 



The old plays are rarely attractive at Paris, excepting Ma'mselle Mars 

 performs, and she rarely fails of attracting an audience ; but when 

 novelty is the order of the day, the Director has no reason to find fault 

 with his speculation. The performance of " Bertiand et Raton," 

 " Les Enfants d'Edonard," " Le Tyran," and recently " Don Juan 

 d'Autriche," liave given him no cause to complain that the public will 

 not patronise sterling dramas ; and credit is certainly due to the Direc- 

 tor for the manner in which the pieces are produced ; they are not con- 

 sidered as dead weights for " off nights" and brought forward with every 

 disadvantage to the author, by vexatious alterations and readings by 

 the actors, of which he is wholly innocent, but are produced only after 

 very frequent rehearsals, and then with the minor parts well cast, so 

 that there should be no want of harmony to prevent its playing smoothly. 

 Great praise, too, must be given for the beauty and fidelity of the cos- 

 tumes, which, in many instances, are magnificent ; the principal 

 performers being obliged to find their own dresses. 



The last production, " Don Juan d'Autriche," has been very successful, 

 and deservedly so, although the last act is very weak and defective ; 

 but this is by no means an uncommon fault with the French Dramatists, 

 who generally make the conclusion of their pieces so unsatisfactory, that 

 you are hardly aware when it is finished. 



At the Porte St. Martin a new dramatic school seems to have sprung 

 into existence, and we are rather at a loss to assign it a title. A few 

 years since the French were most fastidious with regard to the nature of 

 their performances for the stage ; and any author who presumed to 

 diverge from the beaten track was certain of the fate that awaited his 

 production. The taking away life on the stage, in what shape soever, was 

 against every acknowledged rule of propriety, and these little matters, 

 out of regard for the delicate feelings of the audience, were arranged be- 

 hind the scenes, the actor's word being considered sufficient that it had 

 been done ; and great was the surprise, not to say indignation, of the 

 spectators wlren the Espglish company were playing at the " Salle Favart," 

 to find Othello ruthlessly slaying the unhappy Desdemona. But now 

 the opposite extreme is all the rage, and what a few years ago would 

 the same audience have thought of such pieces as " Dix Ans de la Vie 

 d'une Femme," " La Tour de Nesle," " Antony," " L'Armurier de 

 Brientz," " Lucrece Borgia," &c. &c. The first of these is by Scribe, 

 and has at least the merit that a good moral may be drawn from it — 

 though the incidents and situations are revolting in a very high degree ; 

 andinone scene in particular, where the paramour of the unhappy woman 

 compels her to write a letter after his dictation, the audience even of the 

 present day generally express their disapprobation, and consider it a 

 little too much. The principal performers at this theatre are Boccage, 

 Lemaitre, Lockwy, and Mile. George, so well known as the rival of 

 Duch6snois; these actors are considered in France as belonging exclu- 

 ^vely to the " new school." Boccage is indisputably a man of superior 



