THE stage, at that period, was in a low condition. Macklin had played Shylock with applause, and Quin was, beyond all doubt, a most excellent performer. Mrs. Pritchard and Mrs. Woflington shone in genteel comedy, and mrs. Clive made the province of hu...
THE stage, at that period, was in a low condition. Macklin had played Shylock with applause, and Quin was, beyond all doubt, a most excellent performer. Mrs. Pritchard and Mrs. Woflington shone in genteel comedy, and mrs. Clive made the province of humour entirely her own. She deserved to be called the Comic Muse. And yet the drama was sunk to the lowest ebb: in tragedy, declamation roared in a most unnatural strain; raut was passion; whining was grief; vociferation was terror, and drawling accents were the voice of love.