The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-06 00:00:00

ST. JAMES'S-FRENCH PLAYS.

LY U. 411.
Martin Chuzzlewit, Crusoe the Second, and The
Enchanted Forest, such was the bill of fare provided
for the amusement of the holiday folk at this theatre,
and never, perhaps, even under its present manage-
ment, had a more satisfactory bill been provided. Of
the merits of the first piece, Martin Chuzzlewit, it
would be a work of supererogation to enter inta, as
there can be but few persons, if any, who are un-
acquainted with the " Adventures of Martin Chuzzle-
wit. Of the acting, nothing more can be required
to be said than that the part of " Mrs. Sairey Gamp
the wet and dry nurse in the Wale of Tears, and
well-be known at Guy's and Bartelmy's" was sus-
tained by the inimitable Mr. Keeley, and that Bailey
alias Old Bailey found a representative in the clever
and amusing Mrs. Keeley. When we have said this,
we think we awaken such a degree of curiosity
as will lead all those who have not yet seen the piece
to avail themselves of the opportunity afforded of so
doing. Crusoe the Second, or the Shipwrecked Milliners
—an extravaganza in one act by the author of the
Marble Maiden, &c., was produced for the first time.
In this piece, 'Willoughby Wobbles, alias Crusoe,
(Mr. A. Wigin), had, like his celebrated predecessor
and namesake, been cast urban an island in the
Atlantic ocean, and, like him, had also in the person
of Marmaduke Snodgrass, (Mr. Keeley), a man
Friday, for the proper government of whom,
and for the purpose of defining the relations
which in a well conducted Government should sub-
sist between the subjects and their rulers, a code of
laws and regulations had been drawn up, to the
various articles of which many most humourous ap-
peals were made by the subject when the monarch
attempted to infringe upon either his rights or his
liberty of conscience. Between, however, acts of
obedience and insubordination on the part of Friday,
and acts of oppression by Crusoe, seven years had
passed over the heads of the two solitary in-
habitants of the Island of Ascension, when, as
fortune would have it, a vessel was wrecked
upon the coast, and some score of passengers
(milliners), having effected a landing, proceed, as a
matter of course, in search of " natives." Two of
their number, Clementina (Mrs. Keeley), and
IVilhelmina (Miss Dickinson), more enterprising
than their companions, succeed finally, in discovering
first, the dwelling, and then the persons of both king
and subject. Acquaintanceship is first made by
Friday with Wilhelmina, to whom he makes his suit
and is accepted. Afterwards losing sight of her
he discovers, proposes, and is in like manner accepted
by Clementina; but at the moment of her accept-
ance, and while Friday is expatiating somewhat
grandiloquently upon the ceremonials of the marriage,
in which the sun, the earth, the moon, and
the stars, are to occupy a considerable
position, Wilhelmina makes her appearance,
and Crusoe also returns from an excursion,
into the country. The rest of the shipwrecked
maidens make their appearance, and Crusoe, by
virtue of his position as head of the church, in a burst
of enthusiasm proclaims polygamy the law of the
land. Subsequently he is discovered by Clementina
to be her long lost husband, and Friday receives the
hand of her fair companion. The piece is smartly
written, and excellently got up. The amusements of the
evening concluded with the musical,magical,and roman-
tic extravaganza, founded on the chronicles of the three
sisters, from the German of John Augustus Musmus,
called The Enchanted Forest, which was really a
most amusing and laughable piece. The scenery
(especially that portion of it representing a portion
of the enchanted forest) reflected the highest credit
upon Mr. Philips, the artist. We ought not to omit
to notice a very pretty pas de deux, danced by Miss
Frampton and Master Forrest, which was loudly and
most deservedly encored.

SADLER'S WELLS.
We think the prevailing good taste that usually
rules at this house, was wanting, when it was deter-
mined that Jane Shore should again do dismal
penance in presence of the holiday people. But
the resolve being taken, no one can deny that
to the utmost merits of the tragedy the
piece was well put forward, and the different
characters meritoriously supported ; Hastings by
Marston, and Gloster by Bennett. But above
the rest, Miss Cooper (Jane Shore), and Miss
Addison (Alicia), deserved and gained the applause
of a most respectable assemblage. Miss Cooper, in-
deed, was trammelled with the faults of the author,
but the merit of her acting, despite the natural
ghastliness of the character, so revolting to the
feelings, gained upon the favour of the audiencp.

Mademoiselle Rose Cheri made her debut for, the
season here last evening, in Un Changement de Mains.
Who does not recollect the artiste-like personation
last season of the character of Elizabeth, the Em-
press of Russia, by Mademoiselle Rose Cheri, in this
admirable comedie-vaudeville—the mingled dignity,
pathos, and humour which she infused into the cha-
racter ? It at once secured to her the suffrages of the
English public as the first of French actresses. In
fact, it made her in this country. Last night she, it
possible, surpassed herself ; never have we seen
her to greater advantage. Un Changement de
Mains was followed by Scribe's new one-act
comedy La Protegee sans le Savoir, in which
Rose Cheri acts the part of a young French
girl, an artist, who is most virtuously protected by a
young English nobleman, Lord Albert Clavering
(Rhortvil), who employs Crosby, a picture dealer, to
purchase her pictures of her at unheard...if prices, and
thus, while she imagines she is acquiring a fortune
by her talents as an artist, she is in fact indebted to
her unknown protector for all she possesses. She
is of course, as all pretty artists are, beset by clan.,
dies, men about town, &c., but rejects all their
advances, and is at last rewarded, as all paragons
of virtue are rewarded on the stage.
The naivete of
Rose Cheri's acting in this character R .vas exquisite.
There was a simplicity and a self-dependence about
her that was most fascinating. She was called for at the
conclusion of both pieces, as was Rhozevil, who also
made his first appearance for the season. It would be
r injustice to close this hasty notice without mention
ing the admirable acting of Cartigny, in the last
as an old French artist, qui Waime pas les Anglais.
Ir
was rich—exceedingly. The house was crowded.

OLYMPIC.
This popular little theatre opened for the Easter
holidays last evening, with a very attractive bill of
fare, consisting of three pieces. The performance
commenced with Coleman's play of The Mountaineers,
very respectably cast, and which was received with
considerable applause. This was followed by the
farce of the Spare Bed, in which Mr. W. Artand,
Mr. Butler, and Mr. Romer, played the principal
characters. This also went off with considerable
eclat. The feature of the evening then succeeded, in
the shape of a grand historical pastoral battle-piece,
en.
called, the Life and almost Death of Joan of Arc, the
Maid
of -he
- u
on 3
the rhe
wellp known piece,
ece,
as indicated
martial
ings of Joan of Arc, and the feminine character and
valorous exploits of the great French amazon, are
.tial by
proceed-
the
title, i s
most extravagantly caricatured ; the delineation of
the heroic maiden being intrusted for representation
to Mr. George Wild. The burlesque opens with
a very well executed moonlight scene, entitled The
P.'airtes Haunt, in which we are introduced to a group
of the elfin tribe, headed by Fleur-de-Lis,
chief (Miss Fanny Williams ). their female
The politics of France
come under fairy discussion, and the result i s a deter-
mination to assist Charles the Dauphin in the war
then raging with Beauvais. For this purpose the aid
of Joan of Arc is to be invoked, and a hatchet is
procured, with which it is arranged the Amazon is to
free France. We have next a ludicrous representa-
tion of the Dauphin's army, and are introduced to
the Chief himself (Mr. Romer), as absurd a
specimen of the regal genus as can be well
imagined. A change of scene brings the heroine
before us, engaged in the unheroic vocation
of carrying out " heavy wet" for her father,
a publican. She professes to have been mesmerised,
and had a call to leave the retailing of " stout," and
take to the field for the liberation of her country.
The Fairy Chief, in the guise of Florine, coineitcps
her aid and counsel, and having armed Joan with
her " cleaver," they set out for the army, accom-
panied by a donkey, well loaded with pro-
visions, the forces being represented as exces-
sively hard up. After some diplomatic sparring
Joan is admitted into the service, the result of which
is, that in the very first engagement with the army of
Beauvais she mows it down with her hatchet in capi-
tal style, clearing all before her. But the "best laid
schemes of mice and men gang aft aglee •" an ambus-
cade is laid for the heroine of the hatchet, and she is
eaptured. She is condemned to be burned alive as a
witch; and, clothed in a white sheet, is about wider-
going the fiery ordeal, when the Fairy comes to the
rescue, and the piece ends in the jolification of all the
characters, and a grand fairy scene as a finale. The
piece is creditably placed on the stage • , several of the
scenes are well painted, and the several parts were
fairly sustained. That of the Amazon,
.
especially, had
a capital representative in 'Wild, who completely de-
feminized the heroine, and in conjunction with the
mock heroics of Romer, kept the audience in a roar of
laughter throughout. The scene in which the female
battalion of warriors is made to go through its evolu-
tions, was much applauded, on account of the spirited
and clever manner in which the movements were
effected. The piece was entirely successful, and gave
evident satisfaction to a highly respectable and nume-
rous assembly of holiday folks.