The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

MAR YLEBONE.

The Easter attraction provided by Mr. Wallack for the
patrons of this neat and comfortable little theatre; bears
the designation of The _Magic Brand& and the Golden Glories
of Fairy Land. The auth~r is Mr. Frederick Daniel Collis.
Thepiot is very simple. King Blowenaup (Mr. G. Cooke),
whose exchequer isiu- a very sad state, forms the project
of replenishing it by marrying his daughter Brilliant (Miss
F. Garthwaite) to some wealthy suitor, but the lady, who,
entertains the idea that she ought to be allowed to choose
for herself, exhibits strong symptoms of rebellion, and
escapes from the paternal authority, with the romantic in-
tention of enrolling herself in the militia. In the course of
her rambles, she falls into the power of 13rimston-sulphurio
(Mr. W. Shalders), a gentleman whose name is as attrac-
tive as his appearance, for his distinguishing ornament is a
'prodigiouslong tail,which generally trails along the ground,
but which for the sake of convenience be sometimes
carries under his arm. From the castle of this demon the
damsel is eventually rescued by Don Constant (Miss
Harriet Gordon), whose efforts nothing can withstand,
seeing that he is an especial favourite of Radiant, the
Fairy Queen (Miss Mullane) ; and the headstrong monarch
eventually abdicates in favour of the young couple, con-
ferring on them the, sovereignty of an undiscovered city.
The parts were well sustained, particularly these of Miss
Gordon and Miss Garthwaite, and many of the allusions
to the principal events of the day were fully understood
and appreciated. Many of the scenic effects were more
than usually brilliant, and the audience were so highly
delighted with one of the fairy scenes that the call for the
manager was almost Universal. Mr. Wallack, after a little
delay, made his appearmice, and having acknoWledged the
compliment, the piece was allowed to proceed, and brought
to a successful conclusion. The author was then honoured.
with a similar call, and had every reason to be gratified
with his reception. The burlesque was preceded by
and followed by the-farce of The Secret. -- •

GREENWIOR • FAIR. - , -
A harsh -wind, . and an occasional monitory speck of
rain,
.although it did, not prevent the holiday makers from ~
crowding ,to Greenwich yesterday, yet had conSiclerable
effect in checking the anticipatory exuberance of spirits
Which is "went to exhibit itself on th-eroad On ..sunuy
Easter Monday mornings. Everybody wended towards
his or her pleasure with a serious, business-like air, as if
determined-to go through. with it, accordinuto rule, like
any other day's wotki but there was little volunteer sing-
ing of popular ballads on the part of the young men, and
hardly any of that display of gay costume into which the
sempstresses, 'soubrettes; and maids of all work of the
great metropolis are accustomed suddenly to blossom on this
their great annual holiday. The general impression left on
the mind of the philosophic observer was, that Greenwich
Fair was a declining institution—that marvels in ginger-
bread were gradually giving way before marvels in science
—and that even that inexhaustible witticism in tinaber,
" the fun of the fair," must before long perish under the
ban of heads of kindred material, but more 'solemn 'cha-
racter.. GTeenwich Fair is, in 'truth, certainly passing
away. RichardsOn's Was Present in name ; but in very
much diminished glory. The theatre had not. the Sy
compact look which, used to distinguish it in.the time
the great man, or even of his worthy successor. i .
lobe,
other corner stood a LillipUtian circus, front of which
an Athlete did gratuitous
pi hatically informed the
- wonders' on in
while's melancholy Merryman o p
crowd 4' that although the Outside of that theatre was
better than the inside of any other in the fair;' :4 ,
only thefaintest it gave
possible idea of the visual sensations that
withiu,." all for the small charge of one
might be realised
have
who filled the narrow avenue which is
penny;' The crowd.ilders left of the fair
now all that thebu .
_. . ground, were
of the lowet possible desoription. In the park the
crowd i"
was equally dense, A
very' little ' better in.
quality. , All the traditional forms of fun' were preserved,
ctlEttua'ttTto4lo27 of the day had departed.' People looked
through the pensioners' telescopes at the Observatory, but
showed no excitement at the wonders they disclosed.
"ley tiFew at the three sticks, but neglected to pnt up
he Pin Puihions when they wort ; and, although young
.adies who stood about' the gate invited the people to tea
n their Aisnal friendly wayothere was, 1110 that

about their hospitality which used to distinguish it. People
in short, crowdea the railways, the boats; and the busses;
to get to the fair,' and having zealously performed their
pilgrimage, crowded with equal zest' to get ',back again,
remirking, as a. bad. omen for Greenwich, that they had
not seen 'a single menagerie in the fair.