DRAMATIC NOTES.

ABOUT the middle of September, when the days draw in, and the evenings become chilly, the theatrical world awakens and grows busy. The re-opening of Drury Lane, which took place this year on the 21st ult., is generally regarded as the commencement of the season, and from that date to the end of October the industrious seeker after novelties will have quite enough on his hands. Already, in addition to the two large theatres, the Court, the Prince of Wales, the Adelphi, the Princesses, the Lyceum, and the Royalty, have entered into a new season with vario is success; and, during October, the Haymarket, Globe, Olympic, St. James's, and the Opera Comique, will swell the number of advertisements over the leading articles in the daily journals. When to this list is added outlying theatres, as the Surrey, Sadlers Wells, the Victoria, and others, it will be seen that the competition for public favour will be hot and keen. As we are writing a few days before the end of the month, and are therefore unable to notice the important novelties at the Lyceum and the Queen's, we have no means at present of judging whether this season is likely to be marked, as was the case last year, with any striking and genuine success. If we are to give an opinion from what is already before us, we are compelled to state that the prospects of the drama are not hopeful; for only one play, The Son of the Soil, at the Court theatre, worthy of dramatic art, has been produced; and the two leading play houses are given up to unmeaning, dull and expensive spectacle.

Let us see what it is that Covent Garden and Drury Lane provide for the crowds which flock to their doors in search of instruction and amusement. Mr. Boucicault, now the lessee of Covent Garden, presents Babil and Bijou, which he styles "a fantastic musical drama, in eighteen spectacular scenes, divided into five acts." He has, apparently, postponed for the nonce his announced intention of regenerating the British drama, and it would therefore be a waste of time and words to attempt to criticise Babil and Bijou from any point of view in connection with art. In fact, it is beneath criticism, and it is also beyond explanation. Its eighteen spectacular scenes are a confused and jumbled mess of ingredients taken from every known dish in the theatrical kitchen. It is not an honest English joint, any more than it is a neat French entrée, but a hotch-potch of every incongruous item in the bill of fare. Pantomime is popular: Mr. Boucicault therefore gives us the opening to a pantomime, with spirits, imps, animated vegetables, and talking lobsters. Alhambra ballet is popular, with its crowds of gorgeously attired women: Mr. Boucicault produces two hundred women, and a ballet half an hour long. Amazonian women are popular: Mr. Boucicault provides one over six feet in height. All these things, leavened with the music of opera-bouffe, which is also popular, combine to make the indigestable lump of food called Babil and Bijou, and to attract nightly an immense but apathetic concourse of spectators. It is possible, after all, that Mr. Boucicault's notion of regenerating the drama was to "dish the Whigs," the Whigs in this case being represented by Mr. Chatterton, of Drury Lane.

Mr. Chatterton however is not so easy a man to dish; for, should the pressure of Mr. Boucicault from without, and the proprietors of Drury Lane (desirous of raising his rent) from within, compel him to retire from that theatre, he has his inner line of defences, in the shape of the Adelphi and Princesses, to retire upon. Besides, as he comes after Mr. Boucicault, he has the opportunity of trumping some of that gentleman's best cards. If Babil and Bijou has a long title, the Lady of the Lake, which is the last Chatterton-Halliday-Beverley mangling of Sir Walter Scott, has a longer, being styled in the bills as a "new, grand, romantic, spectacular, poetical and musical drama." If Mr. Boucicault selects his music from Hervè, Clay and Rivière, Mr. Chatterton lays under contribution the greater names of "Meyerbeer, Weber, Verdi, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Bishop." And if at Covent Garden there is an aerial voyage to the moon, there is at Drury Lane a moving panorama of the Scottish lakes, which to any but Scotchmen, perhaps, is more familiar than lunar scenery. For all that, the Lady of the Lake is entitled to greater condemnation than Babil and Bijou, for it is more pretentious, and withal more dreary. The Drury Lane autumnal spectacles have never been much to our taste; but whilst in previous ones there have been one or two points of interest, the present attempt is unutterably tedious and dull. The ability of Mr. Phelps and the picturesque appearance of Miss Neilson rendered King o' Scots, Amy Robsart and Rebecca tolerable; but in the Lady of the Lake there is not an incident or character in which the audience can feel the smallest interest. The four acts terminate respectively with the moving panorama aforesaid, an incantation scene, the sudden appearance of Roderic Dhu's clansmen, and the festivities at Stirling Castle; and the spectators sit in weary patience during the intervals between the unfolding of these splendours. Either the game is played out, or the cunning of Messrs. Beverley and Cormack have this year failed them, for the customary applause is not given to their setting of the Lady of the Lake. The deluded playgoer will leave the theatre with nothing pleasant to call to remembrance, except the singing of Miss Russell, and the pleasing and ingenuous performance of Miss Kathleen Irwin, as Blanche of Devan; and he will arrive at the conclusion that the antics of the Vokes family, unchanging and unchangeable though they are, are the best part of the evening's entertainment.

It is to be regretted that Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Adelphi should be three out of the four representative theatres of London. Against the fourth-the Haymarket-we have no complaint to make, for

Mr. Buckstone marches, in a great measure, with the times; but the swarms of provincial and American visitors, and the merely occasional London playgoers who exclusively patronise these four theatres cannot derive much satisfaction from their experience of the three former ones. What is to be seen and heard at Covent Garden and Drury Lane we have attempted to describe; and at the Adelphi, repaired and redecorated at last, is presented Madame Celeste, who is also, we doubt not, repaired and redecorated for the occasion. And yet if our friend the casual playgoer, who is unfortunately a most obstinate person to deal with, would venture out of his accustomed circuit, he would find at more than one theatre enjoyable and intellectual recreation. Let him go to the Vaudeville and the Prince of Wales', and he will see the School for Scandal at the one and Money at the other so well acted that it would be invidious to pick out any particular impersonation for praise; or let him go to the Court, and see how well Mr. Herman Merivale has adapted M. Pousard's play of Le Lion Amoureux, under the title of A Son of the Soil. Mr. Merivale has contrived to retain the interest of the story without inflicting upon us those long yarns which the French dramatists so much love; he has written his dialogue in good and vigorous English; and in Mr. Vezin and Miss Dyas he has secured able representatives of his Republican hero and aristocratic heroine. Actresses, in the true sense of the word, are very scarce just now, the majority of our lady performers being either stolid or impudent in appearance and indistinct in utterance. It is therefore a treat to listen to the clear articulation of Miss Dyas, and to watch her intelligent action and by-play. Nor could a better representative of the hero than Mr. Vezin be found. Earnest in face, declaiming with passionate emphasis, and in glowing periods, he presents us with an impersonation to which little, if any, exception can be taken. The success of the play must be attributed wholly to the author, Mr. Vezin and Miss Dyas, for they are very feebly supported. Nothing can be more annoying than the perpetual squeaking and smirking of Mr. W. H. Fisher, or the melancholy demeanour of Mr. Bishop, who, as General Hoche, seems to be constantly debating in his mind the respective advantages of a Republic and a Monarchy, without being able to find a solution of the difficulty. In spite of these disadvantages the play is a success, and nothing could be a more marked example of the contrast between drama and spectacle. At Covent Garden and Drury Lane some thousands of spectators watch the proceedings with listless apathy, whilst the two or three hundred contained in the Court are roused by Mr. Vezin to a display of healthy and vigorous enthusiasm.

We must allude, but as we hope and believe for nearly the last time, to burlesque, which is struggling convulsively in the throes of dissolution. Lacking even the small attractions of spectacular gorgeousness which are put forward in such productions as Babil and Bijou and the Lady of the Lake, it owes what little vitality. it possesses to the constant repetition, by particular performers, of certain tricks and capers which have been found to be popular in previous attempts. Christabelle, which is now removed from the programme at the Court, was tolerated merely for the lively humour of Mr. Righton. The Very Last Days of Pompeii at the Vaudeville is kept alive by certain humorous acrobatic capers with which Messrs. James and Thorne were accustomed to amuse the audiences at the Strand some years ago. A burlesque has been produced at the Royalty, which we have not had the courage to go and see, but which is declared on all sides to be the acmé of feeble misery. At the Strand itself, the birth-place and head-quarters of modern burlesque, there was lately presented a concoction entitled The Vampire, which we should be glad to believe, though we can scarcely do so, was written for the express purpose of putting an end to this nuisance. The performers-themselves incapable enough—were unable to impart any meaning to a story which had neither beginning nor end, neither purpose nor consistency. For all this, and though nobody in the audience either laughed or applauded, every dance and song was encored. The liberality of the executive at the Strand is such, that if one of the officials of the theatre expresses his delight by clapping his hands, the songs and dances are repeated for his benefit. At the Gaiety Mr. Hollingshead presents his patrons with two burlesques on the same evening, one a three act play by Mr. Byron, entitled Good News, the other a new version, by Mr. Reece, of Ali Baba. In the former, Mr. Toole's burlesque of pathos and his representation of a repentant shopboy must be considered a failure; in the latter, his appearance as Mr. Toole, surrounded by admiring satellites, giving an entertainment, is amusing, but it does not constitute the general notion of a play. On second thoughts we are inclined to think that Mr. Toole in Ali Baba shares the favour of the audience with Miss L. Wilson. The gentleman undoubtedly possesses the ear of the majority, but the eye of a powerful minority is fixed on the lady. On no other supposition can we account for her presence on the stage.

By the time these pages are in the hands of the reader, Mr. Irving will have appeared in a new play by Mr. Wills; a new play by Sir Charles Young will have been produced at the Queen's, and Mr. Phelps will be at the Princesses. Before another month is over, the Haymarket, the Globe, the Holborn, the Charing Cross, and the Olympic will have re-opened with new plays or revivals, and the Opera Comique and the Philharmonic with opera bouffe. Of the quantity of dramatic food there is thus no doubt; the quality remains to be proved.

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The Westminster Papers.

Ist NOVEMBER 1872.

THE CHESS WORLD.

"The whisperings of our petty burgh."

THE past month has been an unusually dull one in Metropolitan Chess circles. Not that we have to record any falling off in the attendance of devotees at Caissa's various shrines-the St. George's, Westminster, and City Clubs, or Simpson's, Gatti's and Purssell's-but that the fare provided for the Thracian nymph has been literally barmecidal, so that our readers, as well as the goddess, must be content, like Pope's man and wife, with a "frugal cruet," to pass at once for vinegar and wine." They must not, however, lay the blame of this enforced abstemiousness at our door. We suffer from a thirst for "news" which neither vinegar nor wine can promote or satiate; but if our Chess leaders will not lead, and, like Wellington in Portugal, display their genius in "masterly inactivity," they drive us "out of town," and leave us only, as the poet observes:

"The spacious North

And all the teeming regions of the West,"

-that is all. But, even in the winter of our discontent, it would be ungenerous to ignore the successful effort of the Committee of the City Club to enliven the general gloom. The members of that body, although almost all of them distinguished for their great skill in the game, have not heretofore, in their corporate capacity at all events, enjoyed a reputation for humour, but their latest exploit-a resolution to allow the combatants in the club tourneys to handicap themselves--is a contribution to the facetiæ of the age which commands at least our tribute of admiration and applause. It is also an ingenious device for smoothing the thorny path of pretenders; when a man is his own handicapper, even the desire to win is likely to prove weaker than self-conceit; and if the principle should be universally adopted we shall not for the future be so frequently shocked by the. contemplation of mediocrity.

BLACK.

The Huddersfield College Magazine is a new monthly journal, established to "cultivate a love of literature, and to promote the power of writing" among the pupils of that Institution. The first number contains, besides other amusing and instructive matters, a Chess department, which will be found deserving of attention from children of a larger growth than the pupils of Huddersfield College. It is edited by Mr. John Watkinson (an "old boy" of the establishment), whose great reputation is a satisfactory guarantee that the work he has undertaken will be well done. From the first number we cull the end game from actual play given in the margin, in which Mr. Watkinson (white) announced mate in three moves. The Magazine will be published on the first of every month, the price is threepence, and we predict for it a career of usefulness and prosperity.

100

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The formation of a Scottish Chess Association is announced from Glasgow, and it is said that the preliminary arrangements have been completed for the assemblage of a Grand Congress of Chess players in that city during the first week of the new year. There will be a tourney, open to all comers; a tourney for the championship of Scotland, and a handicap for members of the Association. This is stirring news indeed from the "Canny North," and we shall expect to see every Scottish player at his post : "As chief who hears his warder call,

To arms the foemen storm the wall."

WHITE.

The match between Messrs. Dynari and Lintscrawl, referred to in our last number, has been won by the former. Two games were played simultaneously at each sitting, Dynari in one playing sans voir, and in the other giving the odds of Q Kt over the board. "This manner of playing a match," writes a correspondent, "conduces to economy of time and of mental labour." We should not have supposed that playing two games under any conditions or circumstances could possibly be less laborious than playing one, but if, as the immortal

66

Artemus remarked, "this is indeed thus," why not reduce the labour to a minimum, by playing six games instead of two? My pain is great," exclaims the tragic hero, "because the wound is small." "Then it would be greater were there none at all," is the logical conclusion.

La Strategie contains a letter this month, referring to a recent article of Mr. Wisker's, upon a new move in the Allgaier defence. The French writer takes exception to Mr. Wisker's 14th move of white (Kt takes R), and points out that R takes R instead wins for the attack. The same journal notices the visit of Mr. S. Hamel, of Nottingham, to the Café de la Régence, and informs us that he contested several games successfully with M. Meisels, a young Polish amateur, whose play is highly spoken of in Paris Chess circles.

We learn from the Vienna Schachzeitung that a new German translation of Vida's Ludus Scacchorum will be published at Berlin, in January next. The last German version of this famous poem appeared in the Berlin Schachzeitung for July and August 1871.

The Western Advertiser (London, Ontario) announces the probability of a Chess Congress being held at Hamilton during the Provincial Fair week. The wonderful spread of Chess in the Dominion during the last two years is no doubt owing to the influence of the excellent Chess articles which appear from week to week in the Advertiser and the Toronto Globe.

During the past month the New York Chess columns have been devoted to the games played in the matches of the late tourney in London.

The Spirit, Turf (if there was a little more of Mr. M'Kenzie) and Clipper are all excellent examples of what newspaper Chess columns should be, but we must confess that the last-named is our favourite; and, being the particular organ of American composers, it should be seen by every Chess player interested in the problem variety of the game. We have rarely seen a weak problem, and never a bad one, in the New York Clipper, and if we may judge from the editor's correspondence, every position undergoes an extraordinarily rigid and critical examination from his readers.

In the Dubuque Journal Mr. Carpenter's "Review of Alexandre" is continued to the end of the three move problems; there is an excellent photograph portrait of Mr. F. W. Martindale, a young American problem composer of great promise, and a second instalment of the games played in the recent Congress at Cleveland.

How many of our readers are there, we wonder, who could point out upon a map the precise situation of Honolulu. We were unable to do so ourselves a few days ago, and were obliged to console ourselves with Milton's reflection that there is no wisdom in "knowing of things remote"--of course we know a great deal of Honolulu now, and could, among other things, tell of its being the capital of the kingdom of Hawaii, better known as the Sandwich Islands, only it may possibly be more to the purpose to inform our readers that we have received therefrom three copies of a new monthly journal, named the Hawaiian, which devotes a portion of its space to our "Royal Game." The Chess department appears to be well and carefully edited, and the numbers received contain several excellent problems in illustration of an original story, entitled "Outnumbered or Outwitted." The receipt of this interesting message from the "wide Pacific" has given us infinite pleasure, not only as an indication of the universality of the game, but of the world-wide diffusion of its literature.

What can we say of Australian Chess that has not already been said in these pages. So busy are the members of the Antipodean Chess world that a special number would be necessary to chronicle the "story of their lives" from month to month; indeed, the selection of extracts has always been a stumbling-block in our path from our desire to find space for everything. We can assure our readers that genuine pleasure is to be derived from the study of Australian Chess, and we shall next month find space for a few flowers from that cultivated garden.

Fullarton, W. j.

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O IO

CAPTAIN EVANS' FUND.

Masters, J.

Simpson, A. M.

Dumas, V.

Beyer, A. H.

Brooke, H.

Catlow, E. J.

Klisser, C. L.

Charlick, H.

. Lo 10

Hindmarsh, J.

O IO

O IO

N. B.
Evans, J.
"Gambit

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9000

Less Bank discount on draft.

£8 8 6

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