The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-28 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE,

Mr. George Vining commenced his summer sea-
son last evening in a very spirited manner, and we
are pleased to announce that his new drama, " Court
and Camp," was a complete and entire success. The
piece is an adaptation from the French by M. Paul
Meurice ; and, from beginning to end it abounds
with the most telling and strong incident. The
scene is laid at the court of Louis XV., and so
far la we are able to follow the author the several
incidents are the results of intrigues amongst cour-
tiers who have a rather unwholesome ambition for
place and power, and are not over-scrupulous as
to the means of its acccomplishment. The
great
desire of the principal plotters is b secure the
downfall of the Duchess du Barri, a beautiful and
accomplished lady, possessing an overwhelming in-
fluence with the King ; and to arrive at such a
result the Duke de Maurepas and Count Salviata
descend from their position as noblemen and become
the unscrupulous enemies of the lady. Salviati, in
order to secure the fall of the Duchess, finds it
necessary to look out for a soft pliant tool to
work out his designs, and fixes upon a bold,
bluff carabineer named Bibi, as the instrument to
work with. Bibi soon discovers the drift of the
Count, and determines to baffle all his schemes and
save the lady. After a great many exciting situa-
tions, be succeeds in his task. He is rewarded by
the Duchess with the hand of Guillemette, his
sweetheart, accompanied with a handsome dower,
and Count Salviati is marched off to the Bastile to
contemplate the failure of all his deep-laid plans.
The foregoing is merely a brief outline of the plot,
but, it will be seen, there is ample room for many
capital "situations." Mr. George Vining supported
the principal part, that of Bibi, the carabineer, with
great effect. It suited him to a nicety, and his
brave and dashing escapades elicited the most un-
bounded applause. Miss Amy Sedgwick, as the
Duchess du Barri, acted with grace, dignity, and true
womanly feeling, while Miss Lydia Thompson made
a pretty and fascinating waiting maid. The other
characters in the drama, although of trifling im-
portance, viz., Marshal Saxe, Angelus, and Ram-
ponneau, were well sustained by Mr. H. Marston,
Mr. Warde, and Mr. Belmore.

We have to speak in the highest terms of praise
of the scenery and dresses. Amongst the former
we have some of the most splendid specimens of
scene painting ever witnessed even in these days of
sensation dramas. "The Moonlight Gardens at
Versailles" with its hundred sparkling fountains
and myriads of coloured lamps, "the explosion of
Lawfeld Mill," and " the Fete at Versailles," in the
style of Watteau and Lancret, were perfect tri-
umphs, and the painter, Mr. Lloyd, had to acknow-
ledge the enthusiastic applause his magic pencil had
created. The costumes were superb, and taken as
a whole, " Court and Camp" is a deserved, decided,
and triumphant success.

The house was crowded in every part long before
,he rising of the curtain.

HANOVER SQUARE ROOMS.

Yesterday afternoon a grand coucert was given
here in aid of the funds of the London Fever Hos-
pital, and the Hospital of Incurables, Great Ormond-
street. The programme was an exceedingly attrac-
tive one, and the solo singers, artists of the highest
eminence. Amongst the latter we had Madame
Lemmens-Sherrington, Madame Weiss, Mdlle.
Florence Lancia, Madame Elwood Andrea, Mr.
Swift, Mr. Inglis Bervon, and Mr. Vernon
Rigby ; Mr. Weiss was to have taken part
in the concert, but to the regret of all illness
prevented him fulfilling his engagement.
The concert commenced with one of Beethoven's
magnificent overtures, and this was succeeded by a
solo by Madame Sherrington, " Gratias agimus,"
the music being by Guglielmi, the words forming
part of the ecclesiastical hymn " Gloria in excelsis."
Next followed Haydn's quartett and chorus, "Lord
of mercy," which was given with great precision;
but perhaps the piece that produced the most tell-
ing effect was Ottavio Pittoni's soli chorus, " Dies
Irm," by Mesdames Weiss and Andrea; Messrs.
Swift, Kimberley, Bervon, and Brady. The
sulo gems of the concert were Ch,-rubini's
" Ave Maria," Weber's " Agnns Doi," and Huta-
met's "Alma Virgo." The first-mentioned piece
was given with the moat exquisite tenderness by
Madame Sherrington, while Madame Andrea exe-
cuted the second with the taste of an accomplished
musician, and in a manner worthy the magnificent
composition. Miss Florence Lancia sang the other
so beautifully that she quite enraptured the audi-
ence; and, with very few exceptions, the remainder
of the programme elicited the greatest satisfaction.
The directors are under great obligations to Madame
Andrea for the handsome manner in which she,
without the slightest preparation, came forward to
sing many of the pieces, which must otherwise
have been , omitted, owing to the disappoint-
ment which we have alluded to above. It
would be an injustice did we close our brier
notice of the concert without awarding our
meed of praise to Mr. I. F. Barnett for his piano-
forte solo, " Mount St. Bernard and the Return of
Spring." It was extremely well played, and fully
deserved the applause it elicited.
The concert, which was under the most distin
guished patronage, gave entire satisfaction to a very
numerous and brilliant audience. We trust it
will also be satisfactory to its benevolent and gene-
rous promoters, and to the two meritorious insti-
tutions which confer such benefits en suffering
humanity.