The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-11 00:00:00

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE,

The story of Faust and Marguerite has been
se ected by Mr. Burnand as a subject for burlesque,
and it is not at all surprising that but a very ques'
tionable result has attended his efforts. The tale,
as told by one of the greatest philosophic poets, is
one of the most profound and serious subjects that
the human mind can recognise; it is no less than a
disquisition on the origin and progress of evil in the
soul of man ; therefore, it is no wonder that drama-
tists should have seized upon it, but that burlesque
writers should have done the same is peculiar. The
story, alter it as you may, cannot be made funny,
and with such a drawback it is not surprising that
Mr. Burnand's effort is net a success, although we
must at once confess that the laughter it evoked was
quite as loud and hilarious as attends the produc-
tion of burlesaucs in general. The produc-
tion, when measured by its own standard,
does not come up to mark, because had the
materials been sufficient there would have
been no occasion to introduce effects and incidents
from " Romeo and Juliet," and " Leah." The Luther,
however, it must be said, has been very careful in
avoiding vulgarisms, and although we have a bur-
lesque somewhat distasteful, we have one that
makes " the unskilful laugh." Mr Burnand trans-
forms Marguerite into a servant girl with a decidtd
taste for the sensational drama and Cremorne ;
Faust is an old chemist and druggist, distantly re-
lated to the Haunted Man of the Polytechnic;
Mephistopheles retains his form as a cynical fiend,
redolent of sulphur; Valentine, Marguerite's brother,
is a sergeant in the A division of police, with crime
son knickerbockers and the new regulation helmet;
Siebel is a fat boy undergoing Mr Bauting's pro..
eess ; and Martha is a she vampyre in the form of
a lodging-housekeeper. In addition to the above We
have a motley crowd of policemen, German rowdies,
demons both male and female, with dragon wings
shooting from their shoulders, which form as strange
a combination as ever figured in the bewildering
mazes of a modern burlesque. Of the general style
in which Mr. Burnand has treated his topic it will
saffiee to say that while preserving, though in a
distorted form, some of the features of the original,
he has introduced a parody on the garden scene in
" Romeo and Juliet," and one from " Leah." Mrs.
Charles Mathews eustained the part of Marguerite
with amazing spirit and energy. Her imitation of
Mdlle. Stella Colas and Miss Bateman was excellent,
and when she uttered the traveetie on the famous
malediction, she gave it with such vehemence A 5
to positively impart a dignity even to nonsense.
Mr. C. Mathews, as Mephystopheles, sings a couple
of "patter songs" in his own peculiar Style, and Mr'
Clarke as Martha, the duenna, gave us a finished
portrait, original and forcible in design, and sin 4
gulavly truthful and characteristic in detail. Mr'
Ashley as Faust, and Mr. Eburne as Siebel, both
lacked the requisites for burlesque acting. The
Y !Janson, is really beautiful, and the
e2n es
dresses,
music, and appointments are all in the best
taste.
Bdere

The applause was loud and general at the fall
)f the curtain,
and therefore the burlesque muse be
pteuounced a success.