KING JOHN
Covent-Garden Theatre.
Covent-Garden Theatre.
Covent-Garden Theatre.
Covent-Garden Theatre.
Shakspeare’s tragedy ofKing Johnwas acted last night at this theatre. Miss O’Neill performed the part ofConstance; and though everything undertaken by this excellent actress must have alarge proportion of good in it, we think that she is less successful in this than in most of her other characters: for this, physical causes, her youth for example, may be assigned; and her perfect delineation ofConstanceis, perhaps, reserved to the maturity of her age and her talents. She did not convey to us that warmth of temper, that susceptibility to grief and anger, which mark this injured Princess. Her speeches on the conclusion of the marriage withBlanch, which admit great variety of expression, were simple declamation, without passion and nearly in the same tone: but we would rather dwell on beauties than defects. Two or three lines at the end of the scene just mentioned made amends for all; when she says,
‘To me, and to the state of my great grief,Let kings assemble.’
‘To me, and to the state of my great grief,Let kings assemble.’
‘To me, and to the state of my great grief,Let kings assemble.’
‘To me, and to the state of my great grief,
Let kings assemble.’
she utters the passage with beautiful feeling, and leaves nothing to be wished. The burst of indignation when Austria endeavours to silence her, subsiding instantly into a tone of the keenest contempt, was no less striking. Her very best effort was on quitting the stage, when, having uttered those pathetic exclamations for the loss of her son, she goes out in all the wildness of despair, as if occupied by no other thought than to seek him through the world. Young was a little too violent in some parts of the character ofKing John; but, on the whole, it may be considered a fine piece of acting: the two scenes withHubert, and his ‘dying scene, were excellent.Faulconbridge, the bastard, is one of Charles Kemble’s happiest hits; his manly figure, and martial appearance, well bear him out in his scoffs at theDuke of Austria; he is no sooner knighted, than he seems made for his rank, and leads outQueen Elinorlike a ‘lordly gallant.’ Some of the nobles ofJohn’scourt did not convey the idea of much dignity either in their dress or persons: we wish that the managers, who have the power of issuing patents of nobility at pleasure, would consider whether the general effect might not be improved by a little more attention to this point.