The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-18 00:00:00

OLYMPIC THEATRE.

Mr. Alfred Wigan's first appearance last night in the
capacity of a "manager" may almost be said to be a
complete triumph, for the two new pieces which formed
the bill of fare were both admirable productions, the
acting was of the first class, and the audience delighted
and uproarious in its praise. As an actor Mr. Wigan
has won golden opinions of the public. He is one of
those artistes who is always sure to please, because,
shunning all meretricious aids and clap-traps, which are
too frequently restorted to on the stage, he is content to
owe his success to the quiet, yet easy and graceful, dis-
play of that genuine humour and pathos which few in his
profession possess in so great a degree, and we were
therefore not astonished tp find his characteristic good
sense and judgment as an individual member of a drama-
tic corps exhibited in the higher and more responsible
position of a lessee and manager, or to see by the
crowds which flocked to the Olympic yesterday evening
that much was expected of him by his admirers in that
new sphere of his operations. It has now become the
custom to inaugurate the commencement of a new reign
at the metropolitan theatres by some light whimsical
trifle, disclosing a little of the reality of stage life behind
the scenes, and introducing the company and its head to
friendly acquaintance with their patrons, and it was in this
way Mr. Wigan and his small, but talented, army made
their debut at the Olympic, M. Planche's never-failing pen
having supplied the materials :wherewith each was
enabled separately to make his or her bow in the most
appropriate and telling manner. The title of the opening
extravaganza is the Camp at the Olympic : it is smartly
written, and abounds in puns and pleasantries, which
have the peculiar charm of novelty ; and when we say
the spirit of all was thrown into it, it will be unnecessary
to add that nothing could be desired in point of acting.
Mr. and Mrs. Wigan present themselves in propria per-
sonce on the stage, whose only decoration consists of old,
dirty scenes, unpainted canvass, and two broken chairs,
and allow us to overhear a private conversation, in which
the one expressly declares that having got the theatre,
they are "regularly in for it," and the other (the lady
of course) takes courage, as she knows "one friend" who
will take a stall. This dcies not augment the hopes of
the tyro manager, but appropriately remarking that
"one friend makes many"—a sentiment which is cordially
echoed by the pit, boxes, and gallery—he determines not
to despair, but he is puzzled how to hit upon a kind of
entertainment which shall please the taste of the
day. In this juncture, Miss P. Horton, whose en-
gagement here cannot fail to prove peculiarly
gratifying, starts up through a trap-door, in a
brilliant fancy costume, and proposes a general review
of the forces of the British drama, in order to discover
the most useful branches of the service. This produces
a series of lively dramatic sketches. Tragedy, Comedy,
Opera, Burlesque, Pantomime, Ballet, and Spectacle,
appear by their representatives, who put forward their
claims and debate their conflicting pretensions. Mrs.
Chatterley personified the stately pomp of the Siddonian
tragedy ; Mrs. Stirling the grace and dignity of comedy ;
and the other parts were very adequately represented.
The upshot is, that the manager resolves not to exclude
any branch of the drama, but to avail himself, to the
best of his taste and judgment, of what may be good in
them all. After this there was produced an entirely
new and original drama, in three acts, called Plot and
Passion, said to be by Mr. Tom Taylor and Mr. Lang,
and a more intensely interesting piece we have not seen
of late—every scene from first to last enchaining the at-
tention, and tending, by the continually increasing com-
plexity of the plot, to excite an anxiety in the fate of the
chief movers. The groundwork of this drama can be
told in a few words ; but it would require more space
than our columns would permit to describe with any
accuracy the various incidents which constitute, as it
were, the superstructure, and lead to the happy denoue-
ment of a most tragic beginning. The scene is Paris,
and the period that when the detested Fouch4 held the
portfolio of police under the first Napoleon, and when
his system of espionage extended itself throughout the
whole of society, and no family or individual was safe
from his machinations. A young royalist, Henri de
Neville, has published an anonymous pamphlet, giving
a true and particular account of Fouch4 and his prac-
tices ; and suspecting that he is the author, Fouchcl, who
is attired in the garb of a confessor, draws him into a
game at cards, and in " friendly" conversation alludes
to the unpalatable publication in terms of praise. Taken
off his guard at the frankness of his companion, Henri
avows the authorship, and launches out in bitter invec-
tive against the object of his attack. Fouche arranges
with his agents that, on leaving, Henri shaa enter a car-

riage whose destination is the prison of Vincennes ; but
there is a bitch in this plan, and by mistake he gets
into one which is charged to proceed to Prague,
and thus Fouch4 is baulked of his prey. Among
the rest of his paid spies is Madame de Fontanges, a
distinguished member of the old aristocracy and a great
beauty, but ruined by her passion for play. Fouch4
takes advantage of her necessities to snake her his tool
—an occupation which, though she loathes, she reluc-
tantly submits to when more money is needed for
gambling. He proposes to her that she should seek out
Henri in Prague, and captivate him with her charms,
and then decoy him back to Paris. This task she un-
dertakes, and succeeds in inspiring hint with a violent
attachment, but in return falls not less deeply in love
with him. Wretched from the feeling of her degrada-
tion, and unable to accomplish her treacherous mission,
she suddenly leaves Prague and returns to Paris, under
circumstances which rouse the lover's jealousy, as he
thinks she has gone off with a rival. He follows her
to Paris, thus rushing into the hands of his enemies.
He is immediately discovered by Fouche, by whom
be is arrested ; and the prospect of his approaching
fate is embittered by his learning the real character
and pursuits of the object of his passion. A scene of
agony ensues between them ' • he is unable to withstand
her tears and contrition ; all her faults are forgiven ; and
the reconciled pair are preparing, hand in hand, to
meet their fate, when they are saved by the sudden
downfall of Fouche's power, caused by the detection of '
some foul play in which he had been engaged against
the Emperor. It is impossible to speak in too high
praise of Mrs. Stirling as the heroine. Her acting was
beautiful and pathetic, especially in those scenes when
giving vent to her feelings of remorse at the thought of
loving and being loved by one whose destruction she
had almost too successfully brought about, and who
was ignorant of the gross moral debasement of her pre-
vious life. Mr. Wigan, first as the enthusiastic royalist,
and next as the desperate lover, was most effective ; and
indeed the last few scenes between him and Mrs. Stir-
ling were as fine as any we ever witnessed on the stage.
Mr. Emery was very careful and intelligent in the cha-
racter of Fouch6, pourtraYing the keen shrewdness and
reckless villany of the chief policeman of the empire,
with an adequate appreciation both of its salient and
more delicate points. Mr. Robson, who has achieved
such laurels in burlesque, appeared as Desmarets, Fou-
ch4's secretary, the minister's creature, and the agent
of his dark designs. Mr. Robson's performance of this
character was a most extraordinary display of power.
' Desmarets is a villain of the most mean and sordid de-
scription ; cunning, obsequious, with the cool compo-
sure produced by the consciousness of intellectual
strength ; and all this joined to violent passions, con-
strained by a powerful will. Robson, though naturally
with a little exaggeration, gave to this character an in-
tensity that sometimes was actually terrible. Several
times the audience seemed lost in astonishment, and
gave vent to their feelings in peal after peal of applause.
The curtain fell amidst the loudest marks of appro-
; I bation.

TICKET OF LEAVE CONVICTS IN ENGLAND.—The act
which permits the executive to grant tickets of leave to
convicts in this country, received its first execution last
week. On Friday and Saturday eight convicts were li-
berated from the Warrior convict ship, stationed off the
Woolwich dockyard. These convicts have each served
between three and four years of the period expressed in
their sentence, and return to their friends, or to any
employment they may obtain, unfettered with any re-
strictions save that of their avoiding the haunts of
thieves, or associating with bad characters, on pain of
being again taken up and sent to the hulks without any
further trial, where they will then be kept until the full
period of their original §entence eXpireo,