The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-27 00:00:00

LYCEUITI.

The most magnificent and superb spectacle that
has ever been produced, even under the various ma-
nagements of Madame Vestris, was produced here last
evening. The title of this very gorgeous, yet most
elegant production, is The Ring of the Peacocks,
being a dramatic version by Planctie of one of the
fairy tales of the Countess d'Alnois. The story is to
the following effect :—The Princess Rosetta (Miss
Louisa Howard) has been confined in a tower for the
first fifteen years of her life. During the period of
her imprisonment she has seen a peacock, and has, in
consequence of her admiration for the bird, " regis-
tered a vow " to wed none save the King of the
Peacocks. Her brothers, Prince Irlorizel (Miss K.
Fitzwilliam) and Prince Jessamy (excellently acted
by Miss Jane Coleman) set out in quest of his Pea-
cockian Majesty, and are conducted by a May-fly
(Mr. John Reeves) to the court of Argus the
Brilliant-eyed, king of the Peacocks (Madame
Vestris). They present to his Majesty the portrait
of their sister, and the Peacock king consents to make
her his queen, if her beauty should prove equal to
the portrait, but insists on retaining the Princes as
hostages at his court. May-fly is dispatched for the
Princess, who, accompanied by her gouvernante, the
Baroness Huggermugger, and by her faithful dog
Fretellon (Mr. H. Marshall), " a green dog with one
ear," embarks on board the Chinese junk, commanded
by Poo-le-ha-le (Mr. llariey), for the land of the
Peacocks. In the course of the voyage they meet
with the Sea Serpent, who is in a hurry " to dine at
the Admiralty," and who has scarcely passed, when
the Baroness, instigated thereunto by the malicious
fairy Fickle (Miss L. Marshall), proposes to Poo•le-
ha-le to throw the Princess and her dog overboard.
and to substitute for her Runfizina, the daughter of
the Baroness herself. The Princess and her dog are
thrown overboard, and on the arrival of the junk at
the land of the Peacocks Runfizina is presented to the
King, who, dizgustcd with her ugliness, causes her
and her mother to be thrust into a dungeon, the
Chinese junk to he seized, and orders the Princes to
be put to death. They, however, obtain a week in
which to produce the real Princess, who, having
been saved by the fairy Faithful (kiss Marshall),
arrives at the court, and is married to the King. The
first part of the burlesque drags heavily--in fact, it
depends for its success almost solely on the splen-
dour of the spectacle, and it is impossible to imagine
anything more gorgeous, both as regards decorations
and costuine, than is the court of the King of the Pea-
cocks. Madame Vestris acte'l the King with infinite
archness, and sung her parodies admirably. The
parody on " The Breeze," and the imitation of the
ship scene in Ilaydee, was capitally given. Young
John Reeve as the May-fly also sung an admirable
parody in the first act, and was deservedly encored; -
his May-fly was not unworthy his father's Cupid ;
and Harley as Po-le-ha-le made fun ; yet still the
first act dragged until the conclusion, when a nautical
dance on the deck of the junk (a sort of sailor's horn-
pipe of eighteen) brought down the curtain with
much applause, and was enthusiastically encored.
The second act was much better, the jokes
were more frequent, and there was altogether more
business and more fun. We had in this act O'Don't-
know-who, a Milesian fisherman, admirably rolled
through by 11. Hall, and Soyez-tranquilla, chef de
cuisine of the King, capitally made up and broadly
caricatured by Selby. The scene of the blessing the
rolling-pin was a magnificentburlesque on the poignard
blessing scene in the Huguenots. The last scene, " a
magnificent termination to a peacock's tale," is the most
superb and ingenious combination of brilliant effects,
gorgeous scenery, and ingenious mechanism that we
have ever seen. it surpasses anything of the sort that
has ever been accomplished on any stage, and secured
for the piece a brilliant triumph. Miss Fitzwilliam,
as the Prince, sang a series of parodies of grand
scenes from operas (" Costa Diva " among
the rest) with great taste ; but we would
ask Mr. Plancl:e to consider whether such
airs as these are the best adapted to burlesque—
we think not. The part of Fretellon, the dog,
was sustained most effectively by Mr. H. Marshall,
whose feats of tumbling were exceedingly grotesque.
There are several beautiful incidental dances, one
more especially in the second act, in which the sea is
broke up into waves dancing in the hands of the
fairies. At the conclusion all the principal artistes
were called for, as wasthe author, who bowed his ac-
knowledgments from a private box. The house was
crowded.