Passing through town from one country place to another. Sparse
attendance at club. Am regarded with surprise by the few members
present, all anxious to explain why it is they are not out of London.
"Autumn Session" splendid excuse for everybody generally. "Compelled
to stop in town, dear boy. Autumn Session, dash it!" "But you're not
in the House." "No," is the ready rejoinder, "if I were I would 'pair'
and fly to the moors. But business connected with the House" (this
given with that mysterious nod and wink which together, or apart, are
accounted as equally intelligible to a blind horse), "business, my
dear chap, detains me." Great chance for the club bore to get an
audience of one. The Ancient Mariner's time is in the dead season,
when he can stop the shootist _en route._ I am wary, and avoid him.
I will dine earlyish, and go to--let me see, what hospitable house
of theatrical entertainment is open? The Adelphi. Here I can see _A
Woman's Revenge_, as written by HENRY PETTITT. Quite so. Dine at 6.30,
and see it all out, as I hear the final scene, an Old Bailey Trial,
realistic to the last degree, is the great attraction. Clearly to
understand the pleadings on behalf of the prisoner at the Bar I must
be conversant with the details of the entire story. By 8.10 I am in
my seat, regretting the loss of ten minutes' worth of the plot. Regret
soon ceases on finding that I am among old friends acting a story more
or less familiar to every playgoer. The house is literally crowded in
every part, and this, too, on a far from cold night at the very end of
August. Town may be empty, but the Adelphi is full, and "The Heavenly
Twins," the Messrs. GATTI, must be rejoicing greatly.
For a cool, calm, calculating villain, recommend me to Mr. CHARLES
CARTWRIGHT, the very best of gentlemanly scoundrels of modern
melodrama. He is admirable: but directly the honest, outspoken Adelphi
audience nose his villainy he has a bad time of it, as no matter what
he may say or do, no matter whether he speaks slowly or quickly, runs
off, saunters off, lounges in or hurries in, he is at once met, and so
to speak "countered," by a storm of fiercely indignant hisses. Surely
an actor whose _role_ is sheer villainy of the deepest dye must be
able to command enormous terms, seeing what a long training it must
require to arrive at taking cursing for compliments! An Adelphi
audience personally hate and detest the stage villain, but for all
that, they couldn't do without him, any more than can the melodramatic
author or the Messrs. GATTI.
After _the_ villain, who certainly holds the first place in popular
unpopularity, comes the Heroic Boy, CHARLES WARNER, all heartiness and
simplicity, a very "bounding Achilles;" and next to him, the suffering
heroine who defends herself with a revolver, who is finally charged
with murder, and gallantly defended by the Heroic Boy, who, attired in
wig, gown, and bands, appears in the last scene of all that ends this
eventful his'tory as Counsel for the Defence, pleading for his
wife before a full court, much less crowded than is the Old Bailey
generally, and apparently far loftier, and much better ventilated. The
case does not attract considerable public attention, as there is only
a sparse attendance of nobodies in the gallery. Throughout the drama
Mr. GARDINER and Miss FANNY BROUGH capitally represent the comic
interest, which is brightly written, and "goes" uncommonly well.
The other scoundrel is only young in his villainy--a mere amateur as
compared with Mr. CHARLES CARTWRIGHT, and were it not for the things
he does and says, he might at any moment be taken for a comedian
neither light nor eccentric, but a fairly all-round and superior
sort of "CHARLES his friend," whose lines fall in pleasant places as
feeders. Poor Junior Scoundrel! from the first he has no chance of
appearing either gay or light-hearted, as he is invariably at the
mercy of the Senior Rascal, and is finally shot by his own revolver
which, after being used against him on several occasions, for the poor
Junior Rascal never has a chance with it himself, falls into the hands
of aforementioned Senior Rascal, and so he goes to his dramatic grave
without having had one solitary opportunity of making a light and airy
speech, or doing anything to bring down the house. He comes in for his
share of the hissing, poor fellow! as does also Miss ALMA STANLEY, in
the costume of a kind of Madame Mephistopheles--a female villain of
the deepest scarlet and black dye. She, too, is one of the trio only
created to be hooted at by an enthusiastically virtuous public. This
monster of female depravity, however, is not a bad sort, and shows
some signs of repentance--a repentance not too late, though it is
deferred till 10.50, when it just comes in time to assist the plot and
unite two loving hearts.
There is a clever child in the story; far and away the best child
I remember to have seen, since the child in _A Man's Shadow_ at the
Haymarket, who also figured in a trial and gave evidence against a
father (or mother, I forget which). There was another wise child who
did much the same sort of thing and got its own father convicted in
_Proof_, also at the Adelphi. As to the trial scene (which seems to
lack SULLIVAN'S setting of GILBERT'S words), it seemed to me that Mr.
WARNER was counsel, witnesses, prosecutor, and defender, all in one,
and, even considering the peculiar circumstances of the case, anyone,
from a purely professional point of view, would be inclined to blame
the presiding judge, Mr. HOWARD RUSSELL, for such an exhibition of
Job-like patience, and for his quite unexampled toleration of an
advocate's irregularities. However, his summing up was a model of
conciseness and brevity, as it took for granted the jury's perfect
knowledge of facts and law, and its delivery occupied just about
a couple of minutes. Had Mr. WARNER been the judge, and Mr. HOWARD
RUSSELL the counsel, the above-mentioned allotment of time would,
probably, have been reversed. The jury, an intelligent-looking set
of men, utterly belied their appearance by acquitting the prisoner in
face of the most damning circumstantial evidence. But as it was
close on ten minutes past eleven, and as the author had provided no
sensational incident to follow, and had given no Fifth Act to finish
with, the decision of the Jury was much applauded by the crowded
audience in the auditorium, which then began to clear out, highly
satisfied with the excellent bill of fare provided for them by
Messieurs GATTI, the worthy restaurateurs of the old Adelphi Drama.
* * * * *
AN M. P-ERRUQUIER.--M. CHAUVIN, the theatrical perruquier, the
CLARKSON of the Theatre Francais, has been recently elected Deputy for
St. Denis. He will not neglect his business, but will get up all the
heads of his parliamentary discourses in the afternoon, and be ready
to "get up" the heads of the house of MOLIERE in the evening. To
those who oppose him in political matters he is prepared, without any
hair-splitting, to give a regular good wigging all round. Should "our
Mr. CLARKSON" stand for some constituency and be elected, he would of
course appear in the House as the representative of the old Whigs.
* * * * *
HIS TWO RELIGIONS.--Though "Mr. G." is a sound Church-of-England man,
yet has he recently shown himself an uncommonly strict Muzzle-man.
* * * * *