The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-24 00:00:00

OLYMPIC.

Last night the burletta of Hugo Bambino was revived at
this theatre, and the part of the hero was enacted by Mr.
Farrel), with all the tact and vis comica which distinguish
his portraiture of odd, old, honest, simple, enthusiastic—
and what may, with propriety, be termed original characters.
Hugo is the respected schoolmaster of a little village in the
vicinity of Ferrara, whose artless patriotism aspires to serve
his country in a station nothing less than that of Minister of
Finance. The acting of Mr. Farren was throughout most
excellent. The house was frequently convulsed with laughter,
and between times deeply touched with sympathy. He was
the lion of the piece, and (as Mr. J. Bland pronounced him)
" the Alphar and Omegar of schoolmasters ;" so we need .say
nothing further of the piece than that it was enthusiastically
applauded. Madame Vestris introduced two songs, ono of
which, .6 The chiming of those vesper bells," entirely in the
minor key, had a peculiar effect—tenderly expressive of the
melancholy reminiscences to which the words referred—a
coincidence of sense and sound which we hear too seldom,
either on or off the stage. The performances concluded
with another admirable stirring burletta, which we have
not hitherto had the opportunity of introducing to our
readers, and called (by way of astonishment) A Quiet Day 1
And such a day ! Poor Keeley (Mr. Augustus Somerday)
who has just come in for a small country estate, with a great
expectancy of peaceful and quiet days, is exposed to a morn-
ing's martyrdom that would have totally excruciated the pa-
tience of Siged, Emperor of Ethiopia. His friend Richard ( Mr.
Kcrridge) first rushes in, to be hid, after shooting somebody in
a duel, and dictates a letter to his lady-love, explanatory of
his forced absence, which, as his arm has been disabled, he
insists on Keeley writing- for him. While the latter is thus
engaged inditing and repeating the tender message to " My
dear Emma" he is overheard by his wife (Mrs. Keeley, of
course—'twas charmingly appropriate), who soon affords
him sufficient reason to conclude that he bad been too
precipitate in promising himself " a quiet day." Meantime
a married lady, Mrs. Bryan O'Reilly, who had been
watched by the scandalous eyes of Mrs. Clack, in the pru-
dential act of recovering some love letters from a former
lover, retreats unobserved into Mr. Keeley's summer-house (it is
useless to call him Mr. Augustus Somerday, be must be Keeley
to the end of the chapter.) Here he is discovered by his
wife, and the fire of jealousy flames forth fiercely in continua-
tion. The puzzled husband, to extricate himself, tells a fib,
that the lady is Miss Emma Venture, who has run away from
her guardian, Stately. " The injured wife," to make all sure,
locks her up, and sets about writing her grievances to her
brother the lawyer, and her cousin the physician. To add to
Keeley's quiet, Mr. Bryan O'Reilly enters, grieving for his
lost wife, and threatening to pulverize the delinquent who
seduced her. The real runaway, Emma Venture, now appears
in the disguise of a young officer (escaping from the persecu-
tion of her guardian, who wanted to wed her himself), and
faints in the arms of Keeley, as Stately's voice is heard in
pursuit. In this position she is discovered by Mrs. Keeley.
Mr. Bryan O'Reilly discovers his wife, and rushes forth, to
pulverize the man of quiet, when he is appeased by a plausible
explanation, which Keeley, in the extremity of his fright, and
the urgency of his ingenuity, concocts on the instant, and the
other proofs of his innocence are at length admitted, even by
his wife, to be so undeniable that she forgives him ; or, as he
states it, " No, my dear, 'tis I must forgive you." The rapid
convolutions and evolutions of plot and counterplot were
almost enough to throw even a stager like Keeley into a stage
fever.