186 
THE DRAMA. 
[Nature aiul Art, Noueinber 1, 18GG. 
the theatric season, which may be said fairly to 
commence in September. 
The new Surrey Theatre, which is a monument 
of how little people really know of their own busi- 
ness, opened early in September, the Upper Gal- 
lery and a greater part of the Upper Boxes having 
been rebuilt, as it was found, after the theatre was 
opened, that half the peo] tie in this portion of the 
building could not see the stage. This blunder 
having been rectified, the managers tried to rectify 
some of their own mistakes ; and finding that 
grandiloquent Byzantine dramas did not interest 
the public, they purchased (not of the author, but 
of the committee of the Dramatic College) the 
grand Prize Naval Drama, which had obtained 
Mr. T. P. Cooke’s singularly absurd prize of one 
hundred pounds. Mr. Slous, known as the author 
of some half-successful blank verse and otherwise 
blank dramas, after the old model in five acts, Avas 
the winner, — not fortunate, we should say, — of the 
£100, because the drama went to the benefit of 
the Dramatic College, and the price of a very long 
four-act drama, which has any success, has not yet 
come doAvn to £25 an act for entire copyright. 
Mr. Boucicault’s loAvest price, out and out, is 
£4,000, as we have been told. The piece thus 
curiously introduced to the public is entitled, 
“ True to the Core,” and represents a thoroughly 
sentimental and theatrical sailor of good Queen 
Bess’s time. As, however, he wears trunks and a 
tunic, instead of trousers and a blue jacket, he is 
not so popular as sweet William. Nevertheless he 
is so actively engaged against the Spaniards and 
other Popish invaders ; utters so many virtuous 
sentiments ; is so thoroughly self-sacrificing ; and is 
acted with so much energy by Mr. Creswick, that 
he makes way with his audience in spite of his 
outlandish-looking dress. Whoever expects that 
the play-bill, which is full of grand historic names, 
leads up to any neAV or eA r en old illustration of the 
destruction of the Great Armada, will be woefully 
disappointed ; and they must Avait till Mr. Proude 
arrives at this period of our history for a full eluci- 
dation of this momentous event. There is an 
effect of sea, however, which is worth seeing ; and 
“ the mirror ” is otherwise “ held up ” to certain cos- 
tumes and facts after the approved modern fashion. 
As this piece still keeps in the play-bills, we are 
sure that it is a treasury success. 
On the 1st of October the great Drury Lane 
Theatre recommenced operations under the sole 
management of Mr. P. B. Chatterton ; ' and Avith 
the same firm adherence to Avhat its admirers call 
the legitimate, historic, or Shakespearian drama. 
Mr. Phelps is still the chief tragedian, or rather 
comedian, in the old poetic sense of the term as 
defining an exemplifier of Iranian nature, both on 
its serious and its jovial side. He seems not to be 
imbued with the rancorous jealousy supposed to 
belong to theatrical monarchs ; for he alloAvs many 
not only to come near his throne, but to occupy it. 
liras Mr. Swinburne alternated chief parts with 
him last year, and now Mr. Barry Sullivan, re- 
turned, after a five years’ absence in Australia, has 
alternated “ Macbeth ” ; also playing Falconbridge 
in “King John.” This gentleman has not im- 
proved ; lias not retrograded; though he is more 
laboured in his utterances, and seems to suffer 
from a throat attack. His figure is commanding ; 
his attitudes impressive ; and could Shakespeare 
be acted Avithout speaking, he would pass for a fine 
delineator of his characters. He has, however, 
again passed aAvay, and needs no lengthened exa- 
mination. Another Macbeth has immediately arisen 
in the person of a Mr. Talbot, new entirely to the 
London stage, but popular in the North. This 
gentleman is remarkable for marked idiosyncrasies, 
which give an appearance of some originality to 
his performance. Neither his “ business ” nor his 
readings are new ; but he has a decisive kind of 
earnestness, sometimes expressed in vehement ges- 
ticulations, Avhicli recall the delineations of actors 
of the pre-Kemble school, and which may be sup- 
posed to have had their rise from the Garrick fire 
and energy. They seem a trifle old-fashioned now, 
but certainly smack more of the Kean than the 
Macready modes. Altogether, Mr. Talbot has a 
downright style and a voice that speak of the strong 
will and determination of the North. Amongst 
other performances which have challenged criticism 
is Mrs. Yezin’s (Mrs. Charles Young) depiction of 
the sorrows of the Lady Constance in “ King 
John.” It has gained much applause from the 
audience and other admirers, and doubtless it has 
force and feeling ; but it lacks the solemn grandeur 
and proud supremacy that should belong to it. 
We see none of that grandeur of grief which 
dwarfs kings and conquerors and all things earthly, 
and sits upon the eai’th as a supreme Niobe, Avho 
typifies the fate of all mortality. The mode in 
which the great middle-age plays are got up here is' 
excellent in scenery and supernumeraries ; their 
armour looking real and not new, and their bearing 
being in general martial and effective, though now 
and then a few of them of the wSst-dressed kind 
Avill linger and bring ridicule upon the rest. The 
Siege of Angiers, and the costly paraphernalia of 
the Pope’s legate ; and the admirable view of the 
exterior of SAvinstead Abbey, with its cold blue 
marshy mist, are admirable stage arrangements, 
and Avere never executed better, if so Avell. Before 
we are published, but not ere we are printed, the 
grand mystical, philosophical, and magical play of 
“ Faust ” Avill have been produced, so that Ave can 
only refer to the extraordinary efforts of adapter, 
scene-painters, costumiers, mechanists, and musi- 
cians, to make it one of the most striking plays 
ever produced. 
The Haymarket, which boasts itself as the home 
of legitimate comedy, although it ran for some six 
hundred nights a most illegitimate comedy, opened 
Avitli Oolman the younger’s old-fashioned comedy 
of “ The Heir-at-Law.” Possessing a little more 
of general human nature than these old pieces 
commonly do, it is not quite so removed from the 
present as many of them ; and thus not so repug- 
nant to modern tastes. Its production was cited as 
a proof of the lasting natxire of the drama of its 
