The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-27 00:00:00

ADELFHI.

The Christmas fare provided at this theatre consisted
of the drama of Pierre the Foundling, followed by a new
eccentric extravaganza, entitled Zigzag Travels of Marrs.
Danube and Pruth, With numerous cuts. The first
scene introduced the audience to the bed of the Danube,
with the spirit of that river (Miss Woolgar) reposing
amid her attendant naiads and elves, Rumours of war,
however, destroy the quiet of this submarine retreat,
au the spirit of the Pruth (Mrs. Keeley) next ap-
pears, having been driven from her river residence by
the approach of the Russians. The spirits of the
Baltic and the Black Seas (Miss Keeley and Miss Wynd-
ham) soon join in the wailing chorus. Civilisation de-
scends in A diving bell and acquaints the assembled
spirits that two mighty nations, England add France,
have taken up arms in her defence, and invites the dis-
lodged spirits to ascend to earth to witness the gallant
seeds of the Allies. The suggestion is accepted, and
the Danube assumes the garb of a Quaker, while the
Pruth adopts the dress of a Polish Prince. Thus, with
the two seas in company, they commence their travels,
and the first adventure bangs them to a Wallachian
village, where the inhabitants are compelled to con-
tribute to a voluntary loan first their money, then their
clothes, and, finally, are themselves draughted into the
Russian army. This cruelty is revenged in the next
scene by the women of the Village, who unite and beat
the Cossacks left to protect them, which scene termi-
nates the first act. The next gives us the assumed mode
of manufacturing Russian despatches, by converting
defeats into victories—a process which the wandering
rivers are engaged in admiring when the Russian gene-
ral, at a loss fer proofs of the success of which he is
boasting, orders them into custody as foreigners, and
forwards them as prisoners of war to St. Petersburg,
whither they arrive in the character of a Chasseur de
Vincennes and a Scotch Highlander. The next scene
is laid in the Aland Islands, showing the fraternisation
of the allied armies, which is followed by an attack
upon, and, of course, defeat of, the Russian force.
Thence we proceed to the Black Sea, where a
novel chorographio performance takes place, a na-
val combat, minus the firing, being depicted by means
of ballet, each ballerina bearing as headdress the
model of a man-of-war, with which they go through
the evolutions of a sea fight. The piece concluded with
the return of the wandering streams to their proper
element, and the curtain falls upon a well-arranged
tableau, representing the union of the two great Wes-
tern nations in the cause of the world. The extrava-
ganza was quite successful, but we think it will be
greatly improved by curtailment, the performance of
the two acts last night occupying no less than three
hours. We must not omit to mention some really ex-
cellent dancing, especially by Mademoiselle Maraquita,
of the Th6atre do l'Opera, Paris, who made her debut in
this country last night, and whose performance elicited
the warmest applause of the audience. The scenery was
very good, as were the dresses, and, upon the whole, the
piece was admirably mounted. A. new act drop, repre-
senting the statues of the Duke of Wellington and the
Emperor Napoleon I. saluting each other, was very
warmly received. The house, of course, was crowded to
suffocation.

ST. JAMES'S.

The Christmas piece at this theatre is entitled
Abon Hassan; or, the Hunt after Happiness. As may be
readily inferred from the name, it has it- --4.4^ in the far
East, and the costume and extravagance of the dialogue
must be acknowledged to maintain throughout a remote
resemblance to " the country of childhood," as the East
has been not inappropriately designated. How far very
distinct reference to the question of " material gua-
rantees" may interfere with the desirable unities of
time, as recommended by Aristotle, is not perhaps a
very material question ti Christmas critics. Provided the
roast beef and plum pudding be satisfactorily mixed, the
evening audience of Boxing-night will not very ener-
getically inquire about the mixture of tho Czar Nicholas
and Haroun-al-Raschid in the same piece. " The
Sleeper Awakened," a well-known tale, has furnished
the " ground idea " of the present extravaganza. The
first scene introduces the audience to the Fairy Court of
Quarter Sessions, and the night cases on " the sheet "
having been disposed of, Miss Equanocta, or Nightmare,
is commissioned to execute a fairy assault upon the rest
of Abon Hassan, who thereupon conceives such " cha-
teaux en Espagne " as one would suppose utterly incon •
ceivable in the case of a person in such reduced circum-
stances. Equanocta is relegated, like a fallen angel,
from her place in Fairyland, till she has undone the evil
she has brought upon the poor merchant. In order to
accomplish her task she puts the caliph and vizier in
motion. These most respectable people visit the house
of Abon Hassan, and to them he discloses his ardent de-
sire for better company than his own domestic circle
and his wife Gulnare can afford him. The great ministers
wish to gratify the desire of the poor merchant, and to
this end they give hiin a sleeping potion, during the
effects of which he is borne off to the palace, and clothed
in ail the paraphernalia of vizirdom. In accordance with
the maxim that "familiarity begets contempt," our
dreamer becomes supremely disgusted with power and his
new wife, the viziress, who, however, is no other than our
merchant's wife, Gulnare, effectually disguised. He is so
pestered with petitions of the most contradictory nature,
that he is willing to find any outlet from the pre-
miership to privacy. He would, however, wish to try
the caliphate before resigning his power. His wish is
gratified, and again he repents of his choice, convinced
at last that in contentment alone is true happiness to be
found ; upon which discovery Equanocta again returns
to her sisters in Fairyland. The piece was interspersed
with the allusions appropriate to the passing time, and
Miss Marshall, who
played the principal part (Abon
Hassan), was extremely effective in her part. The ex-
,ravaganza was completely successful.