The Express.
London, England, 1867-06-10 00:00:00

1101.1101 IN,

A ti.:atna, in three good solid net.", by Mr. Tons
Taylor, called The Antipodes: or, the Ups.gad Doyle, of
.Life, which may not he unfairly deseriLed no a mixture of
It is Nene too Lille to Mend and red, was pro-
dead at this house on Saturday night with perfect sue.
01111.4. Those who are willing to Uhl-sae improbable inci-
dent-, :and more improbable characters, for the make of
eb 'er literary dialogue and the drain..t, ~.eitement that
era he got out of revolvers, may wituese this new work of
a prolific and accepted playwright wth the certainty of
being amused. The wealth, the entei prim!, the wit, and
the talent of London have only beer. :JAL: some years
past to produce two dramatists—M.. and the
writer of the present piece—who riltcruately hold permea-
tion of the principal theatres. They arc both men of
great ability and greater industry, Mr. Boucicault having
decidolly the advantage in stage tact rind constructive power.
We believe that in some remote corrnr of the metropolis
there is a mouldy club of bygone writers called the
Dramatic Authors' Society, butthissaociation contributes
very little to the theatrical market beyond sn. dl farces and
burlesques—the mere padding of our metropolitan play.
If Mr. Tom Taylor and Mr. Ito...cicialt were to strike
to-morrow our theatres might be at once turned into
chapels or music-halls, and our actors and actr...a.es might
look out for more preemie occupation.
On Friday night, at the Holborn Thettre, about half-
past eh ven o'clock, Mr. Ekoucicault departed with the
well-worn drama of klyino Scud, and es Saturday night,
at the same theatre, about ten minute., to eight, Mr. Tom
Taylor entered with the new drama of Ti, A aupodes. The
short period allowed between the outgoing of one tenant
and the incoming of another may account fur the
fact that certain fixtures belonging to Mr. loud.
vault were appropriated by Mr. Taylor. The " &ioni-
sing" of a horse formed the backbone of Plying
Sc.l4, and so it does of The Aof le one piece Miss
Charlotte Saunders appears as a
_Milt y, in the other she
appears as a tiger—a distinction without a difference. The
criminal classes divide the honours of the evening with the
members of an impossible aristocracy in one dram., and so
they do in the other. The chief swindler in out, piece is a
"swell," and so he is in the other. The dialogue is full of
turf slang in one piece, and so it is in the other. The
public were satisfied with Plying &ad for seven we eight
months ; but will they be equally satisfied with the other!
The Antipodes, so it seems to us, is overloaded with un-
necessary complications. There was a time when a good
strong serviceable drama could exist upon one lung loot
child who finds its rightful parents by accident ; hut The
Antipodes has two of the .c characters. The author has
been too bountiful. There are clever people who can play
two or more games of chess at one time, but it requires
equally clever people to follow and appreciate therm Mr.
Tem Taylor bas too high an opinion of the capacity of a
theatrical audience. People who go to a theatre for mere
atuusemeat, as all people do now-a-days, have not the in-
plivation, to say nothing of the ability, to unravel • too
intricate plot. If two long-lost children are liberally
given, such an audience will unquestionably snake • 'elec.
thrn ; the pit and gallery will probably turn its attention
to a young and delicate child like Miss Ellen Terry, and
the stalls and boxes will " take to" a slangy castaway like
Mr. Emery.
The main story of the Antipodes, told as belay as
possible, is as follows :—A returned convict who has made
• fortune in Australia has married a " stuck up" wife,
adopted an impulsive girl, and lives on the hanks of the
Thames at Putney, where he reaeives " society." A
match between his adopted daughter and a stagey
" honourable," who reminds us of Sir Charles
Coldstream, is about to be arranged, when horse.
hocussing and ill-advised speculations appear to being
ruin upon everybody, and the characters all depart in a
body for Melbourne, Australia, as naturally as they could
to Boulogne, or any other Whitecreeastreet Super-Mare.
Is Australis' the swindlers of Putney become the banded
ruffians of Ballarat, the lisping " honourable "turns out
to be not such a fool as he looks, and benne acquired a
remarkable gift of the gab (it is imposeible to avoid slang
in noticing this class of drama), he uses it to moralise on
everybody and everything. The adopted child of the re-
turned convict turns out to be the 'laughter of a white-
haired general, who visited the convict at Putney
without discovering this interesting fact ; and the con-
vict, now • grog-chop keeper, tries to console himself
with • long.loat child of his own, an amusing criminal, dis-
covered in England and brought over to Austrilia. As
most of the characters qualified in England for a free
government passage to her Majesty's penal settlements, it
is not easy to see why they should have emigrated at their
own expense, but that is one of many difficulties which the
drama presents to a too inquiring mind. Mr. Tom Taylor
has not disgraced his literary reputation by the writing of
this drama, and it is the dialogue and the acting that raise
it above the New Cut level. Mr. E. Price, who
played the honourable alluded to above, is one
of the most easy, pleasant, and promising young
actors on the London stage. He made hie first ap-
pearance at the Strand Theatre about two seasons ago, sad
has been for a short time at the Lyceum. He is a great
acquisition to Mr. Sefton Parry's company. Miss Ellen
Terry (Mrs. Watts) made her first appearance at this house
in the character of the convict's adopted daughter, and
played with great animation and naturalness. Mr. Emery,
the convict's long lost child, described in the hills as
" Duck-fingered Joe," though a little too tuature-leoking,
performed with all his broad humenr and feeling. The cha-
racter, are mostly effective from • stage point of view, and
the actors generally make the most of them. There is a
detective of a type we are getting heartily tired of—cool,
collected, and supernaturally clever—very unlike the
detective of real life. He was represented by Mr. B.
Thorne, a new member of the company ; Mr. (Auden, a
very useful actor, represented the General, and Mr. Vol-
taire, a most artistic and humorous octal., was not so
well fitted as usual as the convict grog-shop keeper. Mr.
Telbin has supplied one very excellent scene—a rock and
waterfall picture with real water—and the rest of the
scenery was respectable. The drams and the chief actors
were very warmly received, although three acts, lasting
nearly four hours, were calculated to try the patience of an
audience. A few protesting hisses were beard now and
than, but they only served to increase the applause.

C121:•TAI. PALACE. —There was a very large at-
tendance on Saturday, from the ccrnbined attraction of
the opera oonctrt and the fireworks (postponed from Wed.
aside, last). Upwards of 20,0110 visitors were present,
sad from o'clock until long after dark the Palace was
densely crowded- The concert passed otf with great
mimeos, the principal artistes being from her Majesty's
Theatre, sad the display of fireworks was of the most
brilliant description the lighting up cf the fountains being
unusually aucceisful. In the interval between the concert
marl the fireworks the lawn and gardens at Rock Hills were
thrown open to promenade ; here thousands of visitors
were congregated listening to the band of the Coldstream
Chian's, and enjoying the beautiful prospect. Within the
Palace, at half-past 7, a performance of trained animals
was given by Herr Liphaw' who has been brou‘ht from
Berlin expressly for the Whitsuutide bohday-seekers.
With a variety of other holiday attractions the Palma bids
high for popW.arity duriog Mitsun week. During the
day the ticket offices were throng"! for the issue of ticket.
for the great musical festival to be Le!d on the 2Gth, under
the patronage of bisraijosty and the Prime of Walmi.