The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 25, 1858.

Johnny and us safe to the Calender's house at the
latter locality. There is no res; however, for
the wicked Johnny, or for our own aching
sides. 'lack we tear to the shop again, and
here the "grand mechanical transformation scene"
awaits us. The broad fun of the piece is thrown upon
the stalwart shoulders of Messrs. Hildebrand as Har-
lequin, Croueste as Clown, and Lopino as Pantaloon
Miss Jenny Hayman doing that fast and fantastical
young lady, Columbine. All that follows may safely
be supposed first-rate where such a reputation has to
he kept up and such ability is brought to the task.
The denouement, " The Dazzling Halls of Splendonr
unit Realms of Fascination," will, we suspect, take
the shine out of many a rival, anti confirm the judg.
ment of the playbill, which pronoutices it " unsur-
passable."

THE LYCEll3l.—T;iis house, so famous for its
burlesques, comes out with one by Mr. Robert B.
Brough, entitled The Siege of Troy. Alter the pro.
Logue we have a view of the Grecian camp and fleet
anchored before Troy, with the chiefs assembled in
council. The council is suddenly interrupted by
Chryses in search of his daughter, who has been
taken prisoner by Agamemnon. The latter refuses
to give her up, upon which Chryses calls down a
pestilence of heat upon them from Apollo ; the
Greeks find it rather" hot"—even the redoubtable
Ajax giving way for once to the melting mood. No
less a person than Homer, who appears under the
nom de plume of " our own correspondent," threatens
to leave soma of them out of his new work if they
do not behave well. Tile scene opening, we arrive at
—" The Pleasaunce of the Immortals, and Lake of
Gold on Mount Olympus," which is expected
to prove one of the most gorgeous Lyceum
effects ever witnessed. This scene concludes with
a grand ballet by Iris and the twenty.four houris.
The original story is adhered to as to the rescue of
l'aris by Venus. "The breach of the truce and first
battle'' of Homer are made the work of Cupid.
Hector snatches a moment from the fight in order to
make his first appearance ins chariot drawn by four
real horses, but seriously damaged about the armour.
The conjugal teteli.tite is interrupted by yEneas, who
informs Hector that the Greeks are getting the best of
them, and implores him to come back to the field.
The giant horse is introduced, and rashly accepted by
Hector as a present. The Bth and 9th scenes are
devoted to the excitement of the sacking of Troy.
The piece is interspersed with a great many songs
and choruses. Die cast is unusually strong. Mrs.
Keeley, as Hector, is certainly not inaptly described
as " the leader of the Trojan Hosts, and for that
matter a host in himself;" there are no less than
five " principal comedy p Arts " for the gentlemen—
Messrs. Einery, Young, El lerton, and Barrett. Miss
Talbot in propria persond will represent Achilles, and
Miss Julia St. George will doubtless play to the life
that daugerous little demigod Cupid.

STRAND.—The Christmas extravaganza here is
the joint production of Messrs. Andrew Halliday and
Frederic Lawrence, and is entitled Kenilworth ; or,
ye Queene, ye Earle, and ye Maydenne, following, of
course, the historical novel of Sir Walter Scott. The
principal incidents of the story afro taken from the
scene between :he Earl of Leicester and Amy Rob•
sart at Cumnor place, the meeting between Queen
Elizabeth and the rival Earls of Leicester and
Sussex at Greenwich Palace, and the festivities at
Kenilworth. The two grand scenes in the piece are
those at Greenwich and Kenilworth, where all
the personages in the story appear on the stage.
The fascinating Leicester is represented by the
fair lessee, Miss Swanborough. The imperious
Elizabeth finds a fitting representative in Mrs.
Selby ; while 'tiny Robsart, in the hands of Miss M.
Oliver, will nattually make herself agreeable to
everybody but her husband. Sir Walter Raleigh
could not find a better representative than Mi.s
Marie Wilton. Mr. J. Clarke has the villainous part
of Varney assigned to him, and that, picturesque
vagabond, Wayland Smith, airs his tatters and eccen-
tricities upon the shoulders of Mr. Bland. Miss
Charlotte Saunders plays the forlorn lover Tresilian,
while the Duke of Sussex is represented by Miss
Lavine; Tony Foster, otherwise Fire the Fagot, by
Mr. Poynter, and the rollicking Mike Lambourne by
Mr. Turner. The piece has been got up on a scale
of great magnificence.

ASTI.F.Y.S.—A new edition of the veracious history
of Baron Munchausen, by Messrs. Cooke and Nelson
Lee, is to delight children of all ages at this favourite
theatre. The adventures of the Baron, so celebrated
for his achievements in drawing the long bow, and
his celebrated horse—one of the most celebrated of

Mr. Cooke's remarkable stud—will doubtless furnish
ample materials for one of the funniest of panto.
mimes. Mr. Forrest is the Clown.

SURREY.—At this house the Christmas piece is
written by Mr. C. J. Collins, called Harlequin
Father Thames ; or, the River Queen, and the
Great Lord Mayor of London. The Surrey bas
always been celebrated for the gorgeousness of its
pantomimes, hut the present one we understand is
to surpass all its predecessors. The opening is a
burlesque.extravaganza, similar to those whil.h of
late years have been produced at the Lyceum. It is
entirely original, the action of the piece being made
to turn upon a kind of War of the Roses between
Father Thames and all his tributary forces and the
River Queen and her commander in-chief Sanita, the
Goddess of Health. The grand transformation is to
be most magnificent.

THE ALHAMBRA.—The Miser of Bagdad, founded
on the celebrated Eastern story, is to be the subject
of the pantomime at the Alhambra.

THE PRINCESS'S.
The Jealous IVife, one of the productions of the
elder Colman, was revived at this house on Satur•
day, in its curtailed form. Mr. C. Kean has too
nice a perception of the duties of a manager, too
high an appreciation of modern taste, to have repro-
duced, in its full development of five acts, a piece
which, with all its merits, is remarkable for its
inequality. The objectionable characters in the
comedy are happily disposed of, and by this judicious
curtailment The Jealous Wife in three acts becomes
admirably suited to the playgoing folk of present
times. If we required additional proof of the versa.
tilitS of true genius we should find it in the imper-
sonation of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean as Mr. and
Mrs. Oakley. Sudden as was the transition from the
accustomed role of these most accomplished ornaments
of the British stage, we were prepared for a renewed
success, but hardly for such a triumph as followed the
performance on Saturday. As the husband, henpecked
and uxorious—as the wife who, with all the spirit of
the virago, turns every imaginary wrong into a
weapon of offene.e and defence—Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Kean's delineations are inimitable. So cleverly has
Colman sketched the more salient passages in a long
domestic strife, that we might almost think that a
salutary experience bad dictated each scene from
the starting post of submission on the part of Mr.
Oakley to the goal, when his triumph is secured by
the assertion of his tights. Mr. Charles Kean's
delineation of the character is of the higest order,
for it brings, for the moment, conviction of sufferings
meekly borne and patiently endured. Mr. Oakley
is like a man perpetually standing on the edge of a
volcano, and endeavouring to comport himself, with a
due regard to his immediate danger. By every
means in his power he seeks to avert each succeed-
ing difficulty and to parry each coming attack, until
at last human endurance reaches its utmost limits,
and he stands forth boldly to assert his prerogative
as a husband and his dignity as a man. As the
Jealous Wife, Mrs. Charles Kean's conception of the
character is based less on a yielding to, than a desire
to use the monster which her own suspicions have
created for the purpose of founding a domestic
tyranny ; and regarding it from this light every phase
in the impersonation is artistically worked out. We
note the real motive in the brewing of each storm,
in each gust of passion, and in the final outbreak
of the whirlwind. Every little action serves to fill
up the portrait of the Jealous Wife, as sketched by.
Mrs. Charles Kean, with a thorough appreciation of
Colman's original. Altogether never were two
pictures more admirably portrayed than those
which stand out in such bold relief in this comedy
evidently written with a design to prove how small
beginnings may give rise to matrimonial discord and
eventuate in domestic purgatory.
The remaining characters were effectively filled ;
Mrs. Winstanley playing Lady Freelove with much
point, and Miss Heath representiog Harriet Russet
with commendable quietness and grace.
We may mention that The Jealous Wife, the last,
and certainly not the least, of the great histrionic
triumphs at this theatre, will be performed on Mon.
day next, with the uew pantoniime, of which we have
elsewhere given an outline.

MR. Ammer SMITH has reopened the Egyptian
Hall, with his amusing Chinese entertainment, made
up of scraps of his own collection, in his recent travels
through the Celestial Empire. Mr. Albert Smith
was most warmly received by a crowded audience on
his re-appLarance; and the inauguration of his ucw
subject was highly successful.