The Theatres.

THE THEATRES .

Princess ' s . —The strange title that haa excited the cnnosity of Mr . Willing ' s readers , with those also who study Shakespeare and who remember Hamlet's" What devil was't That thus hath cozened yon at Hoodman Blind—"

foresaw in the new play the working out in suffering of a story of hnman delusion . Mr . H . A . Jones , whose masterly study of hypocrisy in " Saints and Sinners" made him—like the author of Tartnffe—an object of pious horror , with the aid of Mr . Wilson Barrett as collaborates , havo set themselves to give , in modern dress ,

and the speech of daily life , the story of the love , the devotion , and the trust of an Othello , who turns to mad jealousy and madder ra « e nnder the promptings of a seeming virtuons friend . In none of Mr . Barrett ' s modern plays has he fonnd a part so thoroughly suited to his prifts ; the grief and brightness , the careless happiness of the first

act surprised even his fondest admirers . His scene with Kridge , the land agent to whom his farm is mortgaged , was singularly eloquent in its manly anguish , as he compels himself to ask pardon for an earlier offence , only to learn it was demanded bnt as a new humiliation . Our readers are doubtless acquainted with the story ; how

Lezzard , the lago of the piece , avails himself of the resemblance between the vagabond half sister of the hero's wife to convince him she is faithless . The scene where Jack Yeulett is conducted to the pretended rendezvous by Lezzard is one of the features of the play . Jack ' s wild fury and despair is splendidly realised by Mr . Barrett ,

ancl his fnnons onslaught on his supposed rival had a shuddering reality in it that fairly startled the house . The subsequent scene with his wife was singularly fine ; when Jack upbraids and reproaches her ; then entreats her to confess , and bo forgiven ; then , at her bewildered denial , grows tho more enraged , and flinging her from

him rushes from his desolated home . The third act is the weakest in the play ; throngh the first and second we are hurried , with the interest rising thi-ongh each successive scene . We are now in London ; Nancy , our Desdemonn , is living in a poor lodging with her child ; and here she and the audience are mnch cheered by the arrival

of Ben Chibbles , an old village friend ( Mr . George Barrett)—whose genial humour gives a delightful relief to the tragic tension of the story . The next scene is a glimpse at London misery in its extremest depths . Down by the river we find a poor crippled child ( Miss M . Clitherow ) , living in an empty cask , and Jack Yeulett has found

in the poor waif an interest that still holds him . back from selfdestruction . Here Mr . Barrett ' s unaffected tenderness with children was very louuliing , and perhaps justified a scene that scarcely aids the development of the story . We nexfc como to Twite ' s Cosy , a kind of thieves' kitchen , very clever and realistic , perhaps too much so ;

however , it gives Miss Eastlake a fine opportunity . We see her now as tho vagabond sister , pale and wan , desperate in the sense of abandonment by her gipsy lover . He mocks hor white face and weakness , and there is a weird pathos in her struggle at gaiety . She laughs and dances ; he mocks her the more ; she

denounces his cruelty , in the madness of hor misery , whilst the crowd , in pity , attempt to pacify hez * . She staggers from the room , " to seek peace where it is always found . " Miss Eastlake has made a most careful study of her dual part ; she keeps voice , gesture , bearing perfectly distinct all throngh . The

gipsy—Mr . Hudson—whose Vindex mnst be in every one's recollection—was excellent in the coarse humour and picturesque daredevil bearing fitting the part . Mr . 0 . Cooper's old usurer was well characterised ; entirely different from his Father Christmas . His make np was good , but it would be excellent if toned a little . Miss

Eastlake , as the happy wife in the first act , was really charming ; warmly we congratnlata her on the great improvement which has marked her style ; attributable perhaps to the discipline demanded by her classic study for Lucretia . The whole cast is good ; we might go throngh each of the thirty-two members

and award to all commendation , if space permitted , but we must not omit acknowledgment of the poignant reality of Mr . Fulton ' s acting as tho dying man in the first act . The paralysed lips , and glazed eyes , the drawn features , made a terribly , weird study . Mr . Price , too , as the detective through -whom the great wrong is

righted , and Desdemona restored to her husband and happiness , played with perfect sincerity and with the true Scotland-yard air of superiority . Great as was the applause accorded to Mr . Wilson Barrett , assuredly no less was given to his coadjutor Mr . E . S . Willard , whose Mark Lezzard is certainly one of the finest studies the ,

melodramatic stage has seen . We seem to see hate in its intensest and cruellest embodiment , and yet with complete absence of exaggeration . So admirable is the acting that as his crimes recoil we almost despise ourselves for desiring to ask mercy for this man , whose voiceless terror at the awfal retribution prepared for him for ,

the moment makes ns forget that virtne wields fcho sword of justice . Never lias fcho stage seen a more thrilling scene than when Mark Lezzard clings to tho feefc of the man he has betrayed , only to be thing to the infuriated mob . We conld have wished the authors could have seen some other outcome to the scene . For snch wrongs

no vengeance bnt Heaven s would be sufficient punishment . The scenery is all we have been accustomed to at the Princess's , and Mr . Hann has almost excelled himself in tho wonderful beanty of "The Silent Highway , " with the calm moonlight sky over the

sleeping city . Mr . Ryan ' s Village Cvoas is very lovely in colour , and a wonderful effect ; of perspective has beon here achieved . We may safely prophesy crowded houses for many a night to come , with added honour alike to authors and actors in this the most striking of all the melodramas produced under Mr . Wilson Barrett's management .

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