( 19j ) 



THE DRAMA. 



Drury Lane. — " There is a tide in the affairs of men." So thei'e is 

 in the affairs of theatres. Shakspeare must, in the course of his some- 

 what extensive histrionic experience, have had abundant proof of this. 

 Mr. Bunn, we are sure, will bear his willing testimony to the fact. 

 That tide has set in in the case of Drury Lane Theatre, and Mr. Bunn 

 seems to have taken it at its fountain. Matters are getting on just 

 now swimmingly at this house. The present extraordinary prosperity 

 of Drury dates its origin from the bringing out of The Siege of Rochelle. 

 That opera was followed by another. The Jewess, no less attractive. 

 And before the theatre-going public had time to get cloyed with the 

 richness of these, Mr. Bunn, with admirable tact, introduces a little 

 pleasing variety under the title of The Bronze Horse. The house, con- 

 sequently, continues to " draw ;" and will, we doubt not, do so for 

 some time to come, by which time Mr. Bunn will unquestionably have 

 something new to administer to the public palate. The Bronze Horse, 

 which is the only new piece brought out at Drury I^ane Theatre since 

 our last appeared, being chiefly intended as a spectacle, there is no room 

 for dramatic criticism, in the sense in which that phrase is usually un- 

 derstood. It is got up with great splendour, and is sure to continue 

 its attractions for some time. 



Co VENT Garden. — The fortunes of this theatre have taken a sudden 

 turn, and, so far as present appearances may be depended on, it is 

 destined to see more prosperous days. Miss Faucit, the daughter of 

 Mrs. Faucit, the well-known actress, made her dehit on the boards of 

 this house early in the month. The character she assumed for her first 

 introduction to the public was that of Julia, in Sheridan Knowles's 

 play of The Hunchback. The event has proved that, whether she 

 selected that character for herself, or it was recommended to her by 

 some friend, the choice was a most judicious one. A more successful 

 debut has not been made for many years : that of Fanny Kemble was 

 the only parallel to it during the last quarter of a century. We are 

 satisfied that Miss Faucit is destined to fill up a chasm which has so 

 long existed, in the higher walks of female personation, of tragic cha- 

 racters. We are not ignorant of the fact, that many promising debuts, 

 on the part of females as well as on that of our own sex, have been made 

 within the last twenty years, which have soon after been followed by 

 decided failures ; but it strikes us that Miss Faucit, instead of being 

 drilled, as we know the parties to whom we refer were, into tlie 

 management of her voice and Ihe character of her action, by some old 

 stager, studies the part she has to perform for herself, and only em- 

 bodies her own conceptions in the way which appears to her most 

 effective. This is a point which will soon be set at rest ; the young 

 debutante will soon have to appear in other characters, and then the 

 public will see whether or not we liave exaggerated her histrionic 



