The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-28 00:00:00

OLYMPIC.

This little theatre, which has been untenanted for
some time past, was re-opened last night under the
management of Mr. Davidson. The new lessee has
made great alterations in the internal arrangements ;
and the present condition of the house will almost
bear eimparison, for comfort and elegance, with its
state under the tasteful management of Madame Ves-
tris. The interior has been entirely re-painted, and
the decorations, which are altogether new, are ex-
tremely neat and elegant. The public boxes have
been re-lined, and chairs have been substituted for
benches in the two front rows. The private boxes
have also been re-fitted ; a row of stalls has been
formed immediately behind the orchestra ; the pit
seats have been covered, and—to add to the comfort
of the visitants of this part of the theatre—back
rails have been fixed on each alternate bench.
The house is illuminated by a brilliant Bude-light,
placed in the centre of the dome, and by a number
of small gas chandeliers depending from the
front of the gallery. Indeed, a complete trans-
formation has been effected in the internal appear-
ance of the edifice. The performances commenced
with Sheridan's comedy of The Rivals, the " Na-
tional Anthem" having previously been sting by the
company. The cast included several names familiar
to the playgoers of the metropolis, and some which
are altogether new in connexion with the London
stage. It would be ungracious, on the first evening
of the commencement of a theatrical c mnpaign by a
new company, and especially on " Bax;ing night," to
subject them to the ordeal of criticism ' • but it is only
just to say that the play was, on the whole, very
evenly and effectively performed. Mr. W. Davidge,
of the Manchester theatre, who made ilia debut as Sir
Anthony Absolute, was very favour; able received.
Mrs. Malaprop found an amusing rep :resentative in
Mrs. Brougham ; the parts of Captain Absolute and
Faulkland were efficiently supported by • Mr. H. Holl
and Mr. Stuart (both from the Haymarl Let); and Mr.
'Conquest's Acres was a quiet and easy • performance.
The scenery was almost entirely new, and great
attention had evidently been paid t e the dresses
and appointments. The pantomime, which is an-
nounced as by Mr. Horace Mayhew, is called the
Plum Pudding Pantomime • or, Harlequin and the
British Lion. We must plead guilty to utter ina-
bility to unravel the mysteries of the " introduction,"
which was of somewhat tedious length. All we can
say is, that it consisted of a successior t of scenes, in
which " John Bull" and the " British I ,ion" are per-
secuted by a mischievous demon "Par lac," and that,
after varied adventures by flood e ad field, the
British Lion triumphs, Panic is overthrown by fairy
intervention, and the usual pantomim is transforma-
tions take place. Mr. Montgomery was an active
4iprlequin, Miss Laidlaw a pretty ' and graceful
I.tolumbine, and the clown (Jefferini) won the good
graces of the pit and gallery by the i 'eadiness with
which he responded to their call for " I lot codlings,"
~qf which, by the way, he gives a newt version. The
dicks and transformations were of the ordinary cha-
miter, and there were as few failure: ; as could be
expected on a first night. The scener '3, was good ;
'told the curtain fell amid general applause,