buttrto anti Itusir.
New pieces have been abundant during the week. Indeed, an altera- tion has taken place in the bills of nearly every theatre. This is strange, considering the near approach of Easter, and may be set down among the facts that prove the diminished importance of the spring festival as far as dramatic amusements are concerned.
At Drury Lane, there is a new piece of intrigue, redolent of the morals that were in fashion at the commencement of the last century. The gentlemen wear swords and swagger ; the ladies are willing to pardon infidelity in their husbands if their own ingenuity can be displayed in its detection. The plot turns on the futile endeavours of three gallants of different sizes, ages, and temperaments, to seduce a harmless little milliner, and the successful operations of a barber, secretly her husband, to preserve her honour. Virtue triumphs in the end, but we fear that her victory causes less amusement than the freaks and follies of the merry rogues who represent the cause of vice. To the practical drollery arising from escapes in sedan-chairs, concealments in presses, meetings with undesirable parties, and suchlike eighteenth-century pleasantries, is added the spice of a vivacious dialogue ; for the composition of which much credit is due to the author, Mr. Stirling Coyne, who in construct- ing his plot has worked on a French foundation. The title of this piece, which depends less upon acting than upon action, is The lore-Knot.
According to the custom of farce, when one gentleman pretends to be another and that other makes his appearance, the sensation of fear and annoyance is on the side of the former. This order of things, how- ever, is reversed in a farce by Mr. J. M. Morton, produced at the Olym- pic, with the title Ticklish Times. Here a Jacobite of the days of Sir Robert Walpole pretends to be a loyal and peaceable citizen of Wey- mouth in order to save his neck, and when the loyal and peaceable citi- zen comes home bullies that worthy individual out of his identity. Under these circumstances, the man of Weymouth loses himself in every sense of the word ; and the representation of his rage and vexation by Mr. Robson causes all the mirth for which the piece is responsible, and this—the mirth—is by no means slight. The details of scenery and costumes are marked by an elegance and a regard to propriety which are not universally found in the case of such trifling productions.
This last praise is likewise due to the manner in which the Adelphi novelty is put upon the stage. The piece is entitled An Hour in Seville : and the stage represents the interior of a Spanish inn, with an exceed- ingly pretty prospect visible from a large window. By-assuming eight different characters, an American lady, personated by Mrs. Barney Wil- liams, succeeds in preventing an erratic lover from going astray too far. To the versatile talent displayed in these numerous assumptions, and to the brilliancy of some of the disguisings, this last work of Mr. Selby mainly owes its great success ; but the author himself may be commended for the skill with which he has combined a motley succession of French, Italian, Spanish, and Yankee types, into a plot not thoroughly devoid of interest. Generally, in pieces of this kind, a rapid change of character and dress is all that is considered : here, however, motives come in for a share of attention.
A new farce at the Lyceum, called The Birthplace of Podgers, is only worth mention on account of the very natural manner in which Mr. Toole gives a picture of the London working-man. Sharp in appetite,
endowed with a strong sense of his rights, slightly surly in manner, irascible when goaded too much and goodhumoured when sufficiently pleased, the specimen he gives of a really numerous class shows a care- ful study of nature. Three or four characters equally well done will raise Mr. Toole to a high position indeed.
Mrs. Wilkins, officially described in the bills as the widow of the late Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, has made her appearance at the Haymarket as Widow Green in The Love-Chase. She looks the part admirably, and plays it like a sensible amateur.
Mr. Lumley's company—minus Spezia and Belletti—have been giving very successful performances at Glasgow, and are now, we believe at Edinburgh. Next week they must be again in London, for their tree last cheap nights at Her Majesty's Theatre. The company, without two of its chief members, must be of the weakest; but Piccolomini and Giuglini are sufficient attractions in the country.
The Birmingham Musical Festival is to be held this year on the 31st August and the first three days of September. The Earl of Dartmouth has accepted the office of President. Arrangements are in progress for the production of several interesting new works, among which is an ora- torio by Mr. Henry Leslie.
It is now known that the new Covent Garden Theatre cannot be opened for the Royal Italian Opera earlier than the month of June. Among the expected musical stars of the season is Kapellmeister Bott, of Meinengen, a violinist, and quondam pupil of Spohr ; who, in a letter mentioning Bott's intended visit to England, describes him as "probably the first performer in Germany." He will probably make his debut at a Philharmonic concert.
Signora Lancia, a young Englishwoman, has made a great sensation at Turin by her debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The jour- nals speak rapturously about her, and call her a " young and charming daughter of Albion," but do not give her English name.
PARISIAN TazarracaLs.
The aggregate receipts of the places of public amusement in the month of February amounted to 1,448,198f. 45c.; being 41,076f. 90c. less than those of January. However, the apparent decrease is a real increase, the February amount exceeding what must be assigned to twenty-eight January days, although falling short when compared with the receipts of the whole thirty-one.
M. Alexandre Dumas having travelled to Marseilles with a new drama in his pocket, intending to give the Southern city the preference to Par* found that his idea had been forestalled by two Belgian dramatists. No- thing discomfited, he has written another drama for the Marseilles theatre within the space of five days, and this is now in rehearsal.
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