The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-02 00:00:00

STRAND.

This snug little Theatre opened for the summer sea-
son last evening. Mr. Hammond has secured the ser-
vices of Mrs. Waylett and of Mr. W. Bennett, in ad-
dition to his company of last season : two new vocalists,
Miss Harrington and Mr. J. Binge, also made their
debia last evening. Miss Harrington poss,!sses a voice
of much richness and considerable power, and her lower
notes are peculiarly mellow. She had little to do, but
that little she did excellently well, and with attention she
bids fair to occupy a high rank in her profession. Mr.
J. Binge's voice is a tenor of great sweetness, but it
struck us as being rather deficient in power ; however,
it is hardly fair to pronounce an opinion on this subject,
as he was evidently suffering from the nervousness neces-
sarily attendant upon a first appearance ; his shake is
very good, and he sings with taste ; he was received
throughout with great applause. The performances
commenced with a new burletta from the pen of the
author of the Court of Old Fritz, entitled A Lesson for
Gentlemen." Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree (Mr. Attwoed
and Mrs. Seroy), Mr. and Mrs. Lovewill (Mr. Melville
and Miss Pettifer), together with Mr. Antimony (Mr.
Bennett), are on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Easy (Mr. G.
Cooke and Miss Daly) ; Lovewill is a hen-pecked hus-
band, and Crabtree a despotic one, and in his despotism
is encouraged by Antimony, who, albeit a bachelor, bath
formed strictest plans of matrimonial discipline. In order
to settle a dispute as to whose is the best plan, it is
agreed that Antimony shall inform the ladies that
their husbands have all been drowned on a fishing
excursion, and from their behaviour on receiving the
intelligence, which their husbands are to witness from
the adjoining room, the dispute is to be decided. Mrs. Easy
and Mrs. Crabtree have in the meantime received intel-
ligence of the plot from the servant, Susan (Mrs. Mel-
ville), who has ove-heard it, and accordingly, after a few
feigned hysterics, Mrs. Easy retires to her boudoir, hav-
ing ordered her milliner ; and Mrs. Crabtree and Mrs.
Lovewill follow her example, the one having ordered
her lunch and the other her poodle. The gentlemen
are in agonies when the ladies again enter, and by their
conversation make their husbands jealous of Antimony,
who is turned out of the house. Lovewili deter-
ninei to show more spirit, and Crabtree less ty-
ranny ; mutual explanations take place, and all ends
happily. The weight of the piece falls almost
entirely upon Attwood, who, by his admirable act-
ing in Crabtree, contributed mainly to the success
of the piece, which was received with loud applause
throughout. This was followed by a new burletta, by
Mr.:Selby, entitled The King's Gardener ; or, Nipped
in the Bud. From its construction we presume it to
be a translation. Mademoiselle Louise de La Valliere
(Miss Harrington), to avoid the pursuit of Louis
XIV., has taken refuge, disguised as a peasant girl,
in the house of Gallochard (Mr. W. J. Hammond),
the King's gardener„whose wife (Mrs. Waylett) is also
named Louise. The poor gardener's house is conse-
quently beset by courtiers, and he takes a letter from his
wife, beginning—" Idol of my affection, my adorable
Louise ;" finding that this is from the King he is in
a paroxysm of perplexity between jealousy and loyalty.
This part is most judiciously acted by Hammond ; he
is almost the only actor of the present day who can
be exquisitely humorous' without, at the same time
being vulgar. The mistake being at length explained
the poor gardener is rendered happy. The author,
however, has taken some liberties with history in his
denouement, for instead of giving La Valliere to Louis
XIV., he restores her to the arms of the Chevalier de
Bussy (Binge), her admirer. The piece was given out
for repetition every night with unanimous consent.
Being, therefore, instead of " nipped in the bud," in
full blossom, we think a judicious application of the
pruning knife would tend materially to its producing
fruit in due season. The National Anthem followed,
and then came the popular burletta of, The Four Sisters, in which' Mrs. Waylett sang toe beautiful
ballad of " Kate Kearney" as she alone can sing it.
entitled Popularity, from the pen of _
The evening's performances concluded wthaerieff burlesque
Ationlts
di If plot that can be called which plot is none,"
consists in subjecting to the judgment of Puff (Att-
wood), Popularity (Mrs. Selby), and Truth (Miss
Daly), the different novelties which have been produced
us Theatres,
(Hammond).an d who
There pie:
e severallyis
duceduchatthe bWyinAtelorm
too lengthy ; the hits, though good, and not few, are
yet " too far between ;" and Topularity must undergo
considerable curtailment to become extensively popular.
The house, we were happy to see, was crowded.

ST. JAMES'S. •
The propitious occasion of Easter Monday was se-
lected by the enterprising manager of this theatre for
the first appearance of what is described in the bills as
Hera Heinrich Schreyer's veritable troop, forty-five in
number, of monkeys, dogs, &c., which have created so
great a sensation in Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Ber-
lin, and all parts of the Continent." The performances
of these mimickers of human nature were certainly curious
enough—always evidencing great perseverance and
ability in the training of the animals generally, mani-
festing considerable ingenuity in the four-footed per-
formers themselves—often exceedingly grotesque, and
sometimes irresistibly ludicrous. It is but justice to say
that they are quite different, arc of muchgreater variety,
and of a more remarkable character than the tricks of the
monkeys which that most dextrous of managers—Yates
—" started in opposition." Mr. Hooper's monkeys sit
at tablo, and drink wine with ludicrous gravity ; and
turn spinning wheels with most amusing antics ; exer-
cise with sword and gun—even to firing ; scrape the
violin—better than some of their human prototypes, and
dance on the tight rope with no ordinary skill. The
dogs, dressed in female attire, mimic admirably the
gait of affected ladies, and promenade in a variety of
laughable " steps." One of the monkeys, dressed as a
lady, rides in a carriage drawn by dogs, and driven by a
monkey, and the whole affair upsets, to the immeasur-
able delight of the audience. Then there is a grand
military spectacle, Taking of a Fort, and a grand
tableau ; altogether a very amusing display, and
greeted with loud and repeated applause.