The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-21 00:00:00

ADEL PHI.

Mr. Yates, in honour of the season, last night
produced two new pieces at this theatre, both of
which were eminently successful. The first was a
three act extravaganza entitled the Devil in Lon-
don, or Sketches in 1840 ; it is the joint production
of Messrs. Peake and Buckstone. Its plot, if plot it
can be called, is as follows : —, who on earth takes
the alias of Mr. Hookey Walker, (Yates), in his
infernrl boudoir below, is hypped and melancholy.
In want of amusement, a trip to London is pro-
posed, and Mephistopheles bets the aforesaid
gentleman ten to one that he will not be able
to get a living in London without having recourse
to hocus-pocus. The wager is accepted, and Mr.
Hookey Walker goes up to London, His first ad-
venture is in Jermyn-street, when he witnesses the
downfal of a " little hill," and saves a certain Lord
Pigeon, admirably acted by Wright, from the
clutches of the police. Lord Pigeon takes him
into his service, and then Mr. John, the footman,
(Buckstone) instructs him in the art and mystery
of_ servingmen, at the which the virtue of Mr.
.Walker is so shocked that he determines to
inform Lord Pigeon. Lord Pigeon disbe-
lieves him, is about to turn him adrift,
and,. in despair, he is obliged to have recourse to
hocus pocus, and endow Lord Pigeon with the
Power of invisibility, in order to convince him of
the manner in which he is cheated. He then visits
a well-known debating society, in which figure
conspicuously the representatives of the representa-
"vts of Birmingham, of all Ireland, and of Maid
stone. Mr. Walker, as a newly-elected member,
wakes a speech on the board-wages question, which
reminded us marvellously of a certain maiden speech
elsewhere made on the Chinese question, but he is
Coughed, groaned, and neighed down by the zoolo-
gical members. He visits St. Giles s, where he is cud-
gelled by the cadgers as too virtuous—the Derby,
where he is done at the thimble-rig, and cleaned
out at roulette. The Cider Cellars, and, last of
all, the Italian Opera-house., where he appears be-
hind the scenes as manager. During all these pe
regrinations, he is closely watched by Mephistophe-
les, disguised as Captain Rook (Paul Bedford), and
at last is obliged to confess that he has lost his
wager, and that he has as yet much to learn. The idea
on which this piece is founded is by no means a
novel one. Ben Jonson has a play on the same
subject, entitled " The Devil is an Ass"—and
" Pug" comes to earth, and is " done" by the lieges
of Queen Elizabeth pretty much in the same
trimmer as " Hookey Walker" is done by the
lieges of Queen Victoria. The treatment of
the subject, of course, is necessarily very
difFerent, and as an admirable satire of the reigning
follies of the day, the Devil in London is entitled
to great praise. In the scene of the Derby, Mrs.
Keeley in the character of a Jockey, sang a song
descriptive of the vicissitudes of a race with admirable
Spirit. She was loudly and rapturously encored.
In the Cider Cellars' scene, the glee singers from
that
Popular place of resort gave a glee in
excellent style, and a gentleman, with whom
we conclude Yates has already made an engage-
ment, gave some excellent imitations of Macready,
Keeley, C. Kean, Buckstone, C. Kemble, Van-
denh4 \Varde, of Yates himself addressing the
audience, and of Harley. He was loudly applauded,
and most deservedly so. Mr. Buck, the Wizard of
time West, in his gun delusion, was not so successful
.a.t pleasing the audience. He was about to enter
Into some explanation when Yates very judiciously
walked him off, at the same time attributing the
`ll'szPprobation to the supporters of a rival Wizard.
The adventures of Lord Pigeon during the period
of his invisibility were most humorous. This dif-
ficult part fell into excellent hands, and we know of
uone on the boards who could have done such justice
t
it as Wright. The piece was given out for repetition
ev.ely evening, amidst the unanimous applause of
a house crammed to the ceiling.
a grand spectacle, entitled The &nod of the
Nile, or the Battle of Actium, which,i for. mag.
,nfieence of scenery, and gorgeousness of dresses
aid
,: processions, exceeds anything that has ever
l. en attempted even at the Adelpbi it§e4. The

' Ni ~~ <.J i

piece 4s, in fact, a series of scenic illustra-
tions of the adventures of Antony and Cleopatra.
The galley of Cleopatra on the Cydnus, and the
deck of the war galley on the Ambracian Gulf at
the battle of Actium, were both magnificent ; but
the surpassing scene of all was the Bubastes Fes-
tival in the Alexandrian palace, in which the
army of women-warriors manoeuvre before An-
tony and Cleopatra. All who delight in
spectacle should make a point of visiting the Adelphi
during the run of this piece. The beauteous Queen
of Egypt was very well represented by Miss Caro-
line Darling, and Mr. Lyon made a gallant Antony.
There was a comic underplot, the characters of
which were sustained by Buckstone and Mrs.
Keeley, which seemed to enliven the somewhat
heavy dialogue of the serious portion. We conclude
that these two pieces will carry Yates triumphantly
through the rest of the season, which we hope has
been a most successful one. He richly deserves
success, for a more indefatigable caterer for its
amusement the public does not possess.