The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-29 00:00:00

TIM SURE LEY.

The entertainments at this favourite place of amuse•
ment, under the spirited auspices of Mr. Shepherd, the
sole lessee, were immensely enhanced yesterday evening
by the first appearance of Mrs. Nesbitt and her sister,
Miss Jane Mordaunt, under their engagement with the
present lessee of this theatre; and by the production, for
the first time, of an original romantic drama, called the
Lily of the Desert and the Arab Spy, written expressly
for this theatre by Mr. Edward Stirling, and brought
out under the direction of Mr. Emery, who sustains one
of its principal characters. It had been wonderful if
exertions so great ou the part of the spirited proprietor
in cateting for the public amusement at this holiday
season had been but lightly appreciated or esteemed by
the community. The result was far otherwise; and
whatever may have been the amount of patronage be.
stowed on his numerous rivals, Mr. Shepherd, we opine,
had no reason to complain of the share awarded to him last
night, for, from pit to pigeon-hole, his house was literally
crammed. To such a degree was this the case that the
piece at the outset was interrupted for some little time
by the noise of people struggling and clamouring for
places, which brought Mr. Shepherd before the curtain,
who, to still the uproar and to consult the convenience
of his patrons, intimated that to those who could not
find seats he would return their money and cheerfully
give them tickets for another night. This had the effect
of stilling the commotion to some extent; many availed
themselves of the lessee's offer and retired, making it
more comfortable for those that remained, and the per-
formances were allowed to proceed. The piece selected
for the occasion was Mr. Sheridan Knowles's celebrated
comedy of the Love Chase, in which Mrs. Nisbett
played her original character of Constance with so
onderful a degree of spirit and vivacity as to
give to her impErsonation all the freshness and
liveliness of an original effort of her genius, and
to earn for her, ever and anon, the enthusiastic
plaudits of a charmtd and admirieg auditory The
a n
wa
s re-echoed piece
scene in which she rallied and twitted Master Wildrake
by
yf
the irrepressible
anciher
(Mr. Shepherd) about the Widow Jones and his efforts
oaltagnehnetialritt
gentility
was
laughterwas
cachinations of her audience; In striking contrast to
this piece of coquetry was her fine natural bearing in
the scene which immediately followed, wherein, rapt
and
.strung to the highest pitch of female rage sad
jealousy, she exclaims to Master Wildreke, whom she
had shortly ago ridiculed and despised—" Send me no
bride's cake! send me no wedding gloves!" The imper-
sonation of Lydia by Miss Jane Mordaunt was given
with admirable taste and judgment, and it proved her to
be little, if at all, inferior to her accomplished sister.
Mr. Shepherd, as Master Wildrake, embodied that
creation of the author's fa• cy with singular tact and
discrimination; and not less felicitous and spirited
was the acting of Mr. Neville as Sir Wiliiam
Fondlove. Equally meritorious was the Widow Green
of Mrs. M. Brookes. At the fall of the curtain the house
reverberated with calls for Mrs. Nisbett and Miss Mor-
daunt. They immediately appeared, accompanied by
Mr. Shepherd, when a loud and prolonged shout of en-
thusiastic welcome, and a shower of bouquets tbrowufrom