The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-01 00:00:00

DRAMA.

LYCEUM.

'llia theatre opened for the Petrol last night; and
the interest and cormaigy albs public were evinced by the
state of Iry house, which was densely crowded, from the
orchestra stalls to the ceiling.
Ihe performances began with A Curious Care; a little
piece which, though it has tot been acted for several res-
oles. nu loeg been familiar to the I.yr‘um audience. It
is, as our theatrical readers will temember, lively and
pleasant, constructed at very slight materials, bat with that
seam', and compactness which we tied in the light pieces
of the Parisian rage. The effect rests on Mr. Charles Ma-
thowa's performance of the principal port, Mr. Twiggletm,
a p►ying busybody, whose insatiable curios'ty in-
volves the people about him in misonderstand-
ing and confusica. Mr. Matthews, who wu most
cordially cheered on 6,1 entrance, acted with
all his accustomed viv:icity, bustle, and volubility, and bore
upon hi, shoulders almost the whole weight of the piece;
for there is very little in the other parts. We may observe,
hrwever, that Miss M. Oliver pleased greatly by her grace-
ful alio ladylike performance.
The principal entertainment of the evening was a piece de
eirconsbence, designed to introduce Mr. Wright to the Ly-
ceum eudienc:. Mr. Wright after having been many years
the pet of the Adelphi went last year to the Princess's.
Thera he found leitosolf transplanted to an uncongenial soil,
in which lie never took root; so that, after two or three
appearances he was completely shelved, and remained to
the end of his cngagemont absolutely without occupation.
Be has now transterred his services to the Lyceum, where,
we hope, he will tied employment, and success worthy of
his reputation.

The entertaiumsnt concocted for his inauguration was
made up of two pieces, the one serving as a sequel to the
other. The joint title of the two was " The Commence-
*trot of • Bad Force —which, hiwever (it is hoped) will turn
out to be— Wright of Lost." A farce—bad enough to be
sure—began and went on for some little time. Presently
some hisses were heard from the pi', the actors got into'
confusion, and Mr. Charles Mathews, in his own person,
Game leeward in a great flurry and appealed to the audi-
ence for protection, asseverating that the disapprobation came,
not from the public, but from a hired emissary of • rival
theatre. Called upon to name, he named the Prineess'a and
Mr. Weight. Hereupon Mr. Wright started up in the
stalls, and denied the charge. The colloquy went on with
vieseity, and a good deal of humour; Wright's quaint way
of turning riund *way now and then, end addressing the
audience, raising roars of laughter. Ile bestowed smart hits
en some of the theatres and their managers, not excepting
the Lyceum itself. Mr. Mathews insisting that be wee Mr.
Wright of t►e Princess's, he denied t►at he war, and said that
bad Mr. Mathews not spent so much of his time in trans-
lating French books and writing French pamphlets, he
would not have forgotten his owls langusge so much as not
to know that of the Princees's and from the Princess's were
different things. "At the Princess's" he said, "I was
engaged to play all the great tragic parts; but I played
only one, and that was the Stranger." At length Mr.
Mathews began to talk of making up matters, and proposed
that Wright should engage with him. After some more ,
jokes en Ibis subject, Wright stepped upon the stage, where
he was warmly welcomed by the perfumers. It was proposed
that he should play something extempore, on the spot,
The actors retired to get ready, and so ended the
Ant piece, or prologue. The sequel was of the
broadest and most extravagant kind. Wright appeared in
his own person, as on a provincial engagement, and got
involved in farcical serapes and dilemmas which served to
bring cut his peculiar vein of humour. lie revelled in his
old Adelphi fun and drollery, partly acting and partly
Slain( to the audience, who were often unab:e to resist
his whimsical sallies, and showed by their laughter how
muds they enjoyed them. But this sort of amusement
mut be brief. Cofortunately it was protracted • great
deal toe long. The audience gat weary of laughing, and
the piece flagged sadly befire its close. There were,
indeed, moods of disapprobation mingled with the applause
which accompanied the fall of the curtain. We hope that
the hint will be taken by Mr. Mathews and Mr. Wright.