205
N: First performance of the season
R: Alter the usual doubts about the formation of a theatrical company for the season, two plays were given this evening. The theatre had been redecorated and there was a new drop scene, not quite to the liking of the critic though: "however picturesque and attractive the drop scene may be it ought not to absorb the attention of the onlookers to the exclusion of other objects quite as attractive and much more interesting". Considering how much stage furniture was normal at that time, this performance must have been very crowded!
One of the plays, Done on Both Sides, also came in for some sharp remarks, yet this time there was no public outcry in the Herald. But for the remainder the principal character, Henry Jasper (in A Bachelor of Arts) was most successfully personated by Mr. NEWCOME who greatly excelled his efforts on a former occasion and succeeded in placing himself in the foremost ranks of our genteel comedians. Not less finished and effective was the acting of Mr. PICKWICK, in the character of Mr. Thornton. It would, indeed, be difficult to conceive a more quiet and judicious representation of the intelligent, gentleman-like, elderly merchant and man of the world than this performer succeeded in giving. "Mr. PICKWICK as one of the new members of the corps, we look upon as a decidedly valuable acquisition". And of course there was that "first star of the galaxy" Mrs. NESBIT as Emma Thornton with her "astonishing powers of portraying the multifarious and often uncomprehensible traits of character which make up that delightful enigma 'woman'". In Done on Both Sides "our old favorite Mr. BRUSHWOOD appeared in the character of Pygmalion Phibbs, a veterinary Surgeon" (NCH 13.2.1858). For behaviour of some members of the public see Survey.
16.3.1858 (Tue)
J.H. PAYNE: "Charles the Second" (1824)
T: Comedy (2 acts)
H. LILLIE: "As Like as Two Peas" (1854)
T: Farce (1 act)
C: Amateurs
F: Music by Messrs Phu & Mor; a selection of overtures and operatic morceaux
Th: Theatre Royal (C)
N: Second performance of the season.
R: Again one of the pieces, As Like as Two Peas, was not quite up to the standards of the reviewer: "what was successful in creating laughter was due to the acting, certainly not to the play". Mrs. NESBIT got some competition tonight for an "actress of much promise made her debut before the Shanghai audience [Miss WALTERS – JHJ]. The lady-like manner and finished toilette of the new candidate created quite a sensation". Payne's Charles the Second was far more to the taste of Herald: "On this occasion the corps took a large step backward — not, we would for an instant wish to infer, in point of ability, but merely in point of time. Hitherto their efforts have been enlisted upon contemporaneous subjects upon the manners and custom of the present day (this was not quite true, see e.g. 21.4.1851 and 26.1.1852). Their characters have been taken from the sunny side of Regent Street or the genteel suburbs of Clapham and exhibited on the stage in the costumes to which the genius of living tailors has brought us, and which we, in our foolish vanity, may consider elegant and becoming, but which, it is mortifying to think, will furnish a subject of lively mirth and ridicule to our great-grandchildren. The comedy selected went back to the time of Charles II and was illustrative of the manners of himself and his court. The scenes were laid in Whitehall and Wapping; and the characters were the courtiers of the merry Monarch and the occupants of a hostelry. The mise-en-scene, considering the means the amateurs have at command, was very well arranged and the two royal and noble revellers, together with the attendant Page and Lady Clara, were dressed with great elegance and effect.
205
N: First performance of the season
+
R: Alter the usual doubts about the formation of a theatrical company for the season, two plays were given this evening. The theatre had been redecorated and there was a new drop scene, not quite to the liking of the critic though: however picturesque and attractive the drop seene may be it ought not to absorb the attention of the onlookers to the exclusion of other objects quite as attractive and much more interesting". Considering how much stage furniture was normal at that time, this performance must have been very crowded!
One of the plays. Done on Both Sides, also came in for some sharp remarks, yet this time there was no public outery in the Herald, But for the remainder the principal character, Henry Jasper (in A Bachelor of Arts) was most successfully personated by Mr. NEWCOME who greatly excelled his efforts on a former occasion and succeeded in placing himself in the foremost ranks of our genteel comedians. Not less finished and effective was the acting of M1. PICKWICK, in the character of Mr. Thornton. It would, indeed, be difficult to conceive a more quiet and judicious representation of the intelligent, gentleman-like, elderly merchant and man of the world than this performer succceded in giving. Mr. PICKWICK as one of the new members of the corps, we look upon as a decidedly valuable acquisition". And of course there was that **first star of the galaxy" Mrs. NESBIT aas Emma Thornton with her "astonishing powers of portraying the multifarious and often uncomprehensible traits of character which make up that delightful enigma "woman". In Done on Both Sides "our old favorite Mr. BRUSHWOOD appeared in the character of Pygmalian Phibbs, a veterr- r-renary Surgeon** (NCH 13.2.1958). For behaviour of some members of the public see Survey.
16.3.1858 (Tue)
—
J.H. PAYNE: "Charles the Second" (1824)
T: Comdey (2 acts)
H. LILLIE: "As Like as Two Peas" (1854)
T: Farce (1 act)
C: Amateurs
F: Music by Messrs Phu & Mor; a selection of overtures and operatic morceaus* Th: Theatre Royal (C)
N: Second performance of the season.
R: Again one of the pieces. As Like as Two Peas, was not quite up to the standards of the reviewer: "what was successful in creating laughter was due to the acting, certainly not to the play". Mrs. NESBIT got some competition tonight for an "actress of much promise made her debut before the Shanghai audience [Miss WALTERS – JHJ. The lady-like manner and finished toilette of the new candidate created quite a sensation". Payne's Charles the Second was far more to the taste of Herald: "On this occasion the corps took a large step backward — not, we would for an instant wish to infer, in point of ability, but merely in point of time. Hitherto their efforts have been enlisted upon contemporaneous subjects upon the manners and custom of the present day (this was not quite true, see e.g. 21.4.1851 and 26.1.1852). Their characters have been taken from the sunny side of Regent Street or the genteel suburbs of Clapham and exhibited on the stage in the costumes to which the genius of living tailors has brought us, and which we, in our foolish vanity, may consider elegant and becoming, but which, it is mortifying to think, will furnish a subject of lively mirth and ridicule to our great- grandchildren. The comedy selected went back to the time of Charles II and was illustrative of the manners of himself and his court. The scenes were laid in Whitehall and Wapping; and the characters were the courtiers of the merry Monarch and the occupants of a hostelry. The mise-en-scene, considering the means the amateurs have at command, was very well arranged and the two royal and noble revellers, together with the attendant Page and Lady Clara, were dressed with great elegance and effect.
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