The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-27 00:00:00

HA YMA RKE 11 THEATRE.

The Loving Woman, Ring Rene's Daughter. and
a new fairy burlesque entitled The Ninth Statue ; or,
the Jewe's and the Gem, constituted the entertain-
ment provithd by Mr. Webs'er ''or his boxing night
friends. Contrary to usual boxing•night custom,
the two first pieces were not interrupted by the un-
seemly calls from the gallery fur the burlesque. Nut that
there was a deficient attendance of gods, on the con-
trary, Olympus was crowded to excesa and with en
ordinary boxing-night audience ; but the dramas
which preceded the novelty were full of interest,
were not of tiresome length, and were admirably
performed. The gods listened will' attention, thFy
became interested, their enthusiastic applause was
bestowed with no niggard hands, but it was ale ays
properly bestowed, and among the many
triumphs of Mrs. Charles Kean not the least
is the one she achieved last night of fas-
cinating even a boxing night audience into
decorum, and from the chaos of a boxing night assem-
blage creating an orderly, an attentive, an enthusiastic
audience, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean and Mr. Wal-
lack were enthusiastically applauded, and never was
applause more richly merited or more liberally
bestowed. The burlesque, which is styled by the
play bill " a piece of kijouterie," is founded on the
story related in the " Arabian Nights," of Zeyn
Alasnam and the King of the Genii. The subject is
well suited for dramatic treatment, and the authors
have, in constructing the action of their piece,
adhered as closely as po!sible to the leading incidents
of the fairy tale. Zeyn Alasnam (Miss P. Horton)
is the " fast" young King of Balsora, who, since his
father's death, has plunged into every species of ex-
cess, and brought his kingdom to the verge of a
national bankruptcy. But he has an unknown,
though powerful, friend in the King of the Genii
(Mr. J. Bland), who had promised his father to
watch over and protect Zeyn, and who reveals to
him in a dream the existence of a vast treasure
concealed beneath the palace. With the assist-
ance of his private secretary, Loosfisch (Mr.
Muayard), Zeyn discovers a subterranean
grotto, in which he finds gold and jewels
enough to pay off all his debts, and provide him wi•h
an ieexhaustible civil list, besides eight diamond
statues, each standing on a pedestal of solid gold, im-
ported by the latest arrivals from California. On a
ninth pedestal lies a paper, which informs Zeyn tint'
all this wealth is bequeathed to him by his father ;
but that there is in the world a statue worth infinitely
more than ell the rest of his possessions put together,
and that his future happiness depends upon its acqui-
sition. While Zeyn is trying to solve the mystery
involved in this communication, the King of the Genii
" rises `from the trap) to explain," and promises to
give him the ninth statue on condition that
Zeyn shall procure for the " Genii Museum" a
young lady who can be warranted perfect in every
respect. To aid him in his search after this rather
uncommon specimen, Zeyn is furnished with a
magic mirror, which grows dull when a wo-
man with any kind of bodily or mental defect locks
into it. A " grand exposition of the (young lady)
products of all nations " is accordingly held in the
palace, and after numberless competitors have been
rejected, the magic mirror remains unsullied in the
presence of Zuleika (Miss Kathleen Fitzwilliam),
one of the fifty or sixty daughters—we cannot be
particular to half a dozen—of a Balsora Nobleman
named Mobarec (Mr. C. Selby). Of course Zeyn
falls over head and ears in love, and wishes to keep
the damsel and give up the statue; but the King of
the Genii is not to be softened by entreaties, and
carries her off from the enamoured monarch, only to
deposit her en the ninth pedestal, where Zeyn sub-
sequently finds her instead of the statue which he
expected. Out of these materials the Messrs.
Brough have put together one of the most clever
burlesques that has ever been produced on any
stage. The success of the piece, which is sure of
ruining fifty nights at the least, was immense.
Blend, as the King of the Genii, had a part that
fitted him to a hair; and Miss P. Horton, Miss K.
Fitzwilliam, Munyard, and Selbv exerted themselves
to the utmost to insure the burlesque a favourable
reception. It was admirably mounted, and the
" grotto of statues" in particular elicited loud and
long continued plaudits, as did the allusion to a
" statute fair," ending with a general dance of the
characters at the termination of the piece. We shall
not mar the pleasure which all visitors to the theatre
will derive from the representation, by telling them
beforehand what capital jokes and laughable parodies
they will hear; it is enough to say that these are
plentiful enough to keep the risible muscles in con-
stant exercise.