14S THE DRAMA IN FRANCK. 



talents and his favourite characters of " Antony," and " Buridan," in 

 the "Tour de Nesle," would be faultless, could we reconcile ourselves to 

 the dramas. Lemaitre is known in this country by his excellent per- 

 formances in " L'Auberger des Adrets," and the sequel of which he is 

 the author. Lockroy is a rising actor, and more than respectable in the 

 character of AackmanofF in " Catherine II." of which he is partly the 

 author : Mile. George is almost without a rival at the present day in 

 tragedy, and though much praise has been bestowed upon her perform- 

 ances in " Perinet Leclerc," " Bergami," and " La Tour de Nesle," we 

 must confess we regret to see her in such pieces. As the director of 

 the Porte St. Martin has found this new class of dramas so much to his 

 profit, it is most probable they will continue to multiply. 



The great strength, however, of the French must be considered to rest 

 on their vaudevilles, and it cannot be denied that in these light and ele- 

 gant pi-oductions they are unrivalled ; the actors seem exactly fitted to 

 their parts, and move in them with an ease and grace that seems like 

 nature itself. The greater proportion of these pieces are intended as 

 moving pictures of the manners of the day, and any little incident that 

 attracts momentary attention is seized upon with avidity, and before the 

 recollection of the circumstance has passed away, it is attracting crowds 

 to the theatre which is lucky enough to be the first in the field — what a 

 host of talent is comprised in the names of Odry, Verner, Boufte, Arnal, 

 Perlet, Bernard L'eon ; Mesdes. Albert, Vertpre, Jenny, Cola, Allan, 

 Despreaux, and Dejaset — it is here we find what we are unfortunately 

 almost without, in England, comic actors, for a proper distinction is 

 drawn in Paris between the actor and buffoon, and the authors are care- 

 ful which of the two they intrust with their characters. 



This seems the favourite field with the authors, and one in which the 

 talents of Messrs. Scribe and his coadjutor Melesville are seen to the 

 o-reatest advantage, and to which the Chevalier de Rock transfers his 

 admirable novels with all their original freshness. M. Ancelot is parti- 

 cularly successful in this line of composition, and the care with which he 

 finishes his productions is deserving of every praise. 



It is a fortunate thing for us in England that the writers of vaudevilles 

 in France, generally construct their works upon such very slight mate- 

 rials, and that their success depends greatly upon the actors ; who 

 rarely fail to embody the author's conception most faithfully — since it 

 saves us from being more beholden at the present day than we are for 

 pieces at our miscalled national theatres. The English adapters consider 

 that, because a vaudeville has been popular at Paris, of course it 

 must be so in London, but that is by no means a just criterion. What is 

 " L'Ambassadeur," or " Le Savant," without Perlet — " Fortun6," in 

 " Le Bossu a la Mode," without Vernet, — or " La Femme de L'Avoufe," 

 without Jenny Vertpre ? The managers of some of our theatres can 

 tell us to their cost. A vaudeville requires very little plot, but much 

 care is bestowed in the delineation of the characters, and which by the 

 time they have assumed an English garb, have altogether ceased to be 

 what the author intended them, and the adapter has nothing to rely on 

 save the plot, and the consequence is a most vapid piece, discreditable to 

 the theatre that produces it and the translator who has bungled it. B. 



