The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-13 00:00:00

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- ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. •
FRENCH PLAYS. ~
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Scribe's most interesting play, Une was`perfOrmed
for the first time in this country at the St. James's last
evening, and its success was complete. It is in fiVe sets, and
combines the interest of the melodrama with the high brbed-
ine, polish, vivacity, and sparkling wit of. high comedy.
The story of the piece is one of„those simple themes, a mere
situation in fact,- in-which Bl..Scrille, levet fe 'take from the
fife of the salons, and which,, under..his. skilful management
Of half a dozen dramatis person, seems to expand, as if by
its own force, into a perfect, comedy. Emmeric d'Albret,
A.YonOg and successful composer, has, many good gifts
and a., brilliant prospect ,before , him—the worthiest of
uncles, the prettiest of cousins-,a love' for the latter,
which she very decidedly returns-every possibility of
a match which seems sure
.to •make' his happiness. But
he wears achaio of which he is heartily tired, yet which he
caunpt break. When he came first to Paris he was without

friends, interest, or experierice—withOut anything, in fact,
but genius and ambition. He rotted a guardian-angel in
Madame de St. Geran. In. pure pity this lady, by giving
the young musician that great
.necessity to success; oppor-
tunity, opened to him the, doors of fortune and•of tame.
He repaid the service with adoration, and found his
angel mortal. Hence a crowd of miseries which at once
wolfish and perplex his friend . Hector: Ballandard,
avotte de premiere instance, to whom the life of ,the salons
had seemed from afar the brightest of .prospects. The in-
teeeet. the piece, evolved with all the skill of Scribe, turns
on the struggles of Enuneric . with . a tie which honour
and interest tAike make him anxious to break, on the efforts
of Madame de St. Geran to prolong her power, and on the
indefatigable zeal and wonderful -perplexities of Hector Bal-
landerd, who wets as the never-failingescapegoat of his friend,
gaining thereby the character of the gayest of deceivers, in-
of that of the purest of aVottes. The most remarkable
agent, however, in the deliverance of Einmeric, is no less a
I,ersonage . than Monsieur de St. Geren, the mildest and
most musical of fatal duellists, the most generous and
loyal of deceived husbaudt. He hears the story of the
ybstacle.. through Ballandard, . without,, for a moment,
suspecting that the lady
.in the case is his own wife-
Uaving a real kindness .or the . young musician, being,
moreover, godfather to tile Pretty. Aline, and posses-
Stag ancient claims en the grAtitnde, of., the worthy
patent, he determines on making the match between the
cousins, and, in doing soi unconsciously removes the prin-
cipal bar to a cherished object, that of winning the love of
his once neglected and estranged wife. From these strange
relations of the several personages—the happy unsuspecting
girl—the ardent and passionate woman—the frank and loyal
- husband, never hitting on the truth—the weak vacillating
lover,- and the most simple-hearted. zealous, and astute
of convenient friends and never-failing avows, springs
such a stream of happy perplexities as only Scribe can
produce and manage, ending, of course in the marriage
of the cousins being made practicable by Madame St. Geran 's
resignation of her power. To the perfect acting of this
witty drama too much praise cannot be given. Monsieur
Regnier's Hector Ballamiard is ae most entire of indivi-
dualities. His listening is as good as his speaking—his per-
plexity is the most comical—his zeal the heartiest—his
kindliness the most real in the world. Monsieur Lafont
was admirably natural and gentlemanlike as Mons. de St.
G erten ; while Madlle. St. Marc was so full of grace, so arch
and bewitching, as Aline, that we felt really indignant at
seeing a lover who des9rved so little, find, at the end of all
Lis scrapes, inch happiness in store for him. Maths. Ju-
dith played with much judgment in the not very pleasant
put of Louise, or Madame de St. Geran. The preliminary
piece was the amusing trifle, Le Roman d'une Heurei in
which the graceful and striking figure of Mdlle. Faivre Ap-
peared to great advantage as the Young Widow.

STRAND TITEA.TRE.
A two act farce from the pen of Mr. Robert Brougliwas
produced last night at this theatre, under the title of
Kensington Gardens. It was hailed with peals of laughter
throughout, and proved a decided hit. A fast young man.
(Mr. A. Davies), in amusing himself by rather impertinently
addressing every petticoat he encounters in the gardens, is
at last invited by a Member of Parliament's wife to drive
home to dinner, as she can by no other means get rid of his
importunities. Here to his horror he finds a large party
assembled, to whose faces he is mercilessly quizzed by the
lady of the mansion (Mrs. Seymour), and introduced to each
guest as " the gentleman with whom she has not the
honour of being acquainted." Among others, how-
ever, he finds her niece, his old flame (Miss
E. Romer), with whom he is, of course, at length
made happy, but not until after some highly ludicrous
passages of arms with the other personages, of whom the
principal are a duelling old Colonel.(Mr. Tilbury), a snobby
gent. (Mr. Rogers), and a pert waiting-maid (Miss
Marshall). Had the principal character been in the hands
of a good light comedian the cast might have been pro-
nounced perfect; as it was the piece went off admirably.
Mr. Rogers, in his small part, was delicious. He is a
thorough artist in his line; indeed he and Mr. Tilbury un-
derstand the mystery of " dressing" a character as well as
any actors en the boards. The entire piece is replete with
fun, and on the fall of the curtain the honour of a recall was
accorded to all the dramatis psi sour, and the author
crossed the Not-lights amidst vehement plaudits. The
piece was very well mounted and appointed. The house
ITILi excellently attended, and the good humour of the audi-
ence unbounded.

(From the Daily News.)
Kensington Gardens—a topic of the day just now--
were last evening made the subject of a sparkling little
comedy, in two acts, by Mr. Robert Brough. The fun is
based upon the lady-hunting propensities of a gentleman,
who afterwards meets in a drawing-room the young ladies
he has annoyed in the gardens. Mrs. Seymour, as a digni-
fied married lady, and Miss Marshall, as a pert waiting-
woman, acted well. The piece was quite successful, and was
performed to a full house. Mr. Robert Brough, at its con:elu-
sion, was called upon to bow his acknowledgments before the
curtain.

SURREY THEATRE,
Last evening a new domestic drama of that peculiar
class which has long found favour amongst the admirers
of the non-legitimate, was produced here under the un-
usually modest title of Michaelmas Day. The period of the
play is fixed a hundred years ago, nd the action occurs
in the vicinity of Carlisle. The principal characters are
an old miser, his daughter, her accepted suitor, a rejected.
lover, a " village scam,' and an officer of the law. These
various personages are brought together under cir-
cumstances which lead to the impression that they are
sufficiently acquainted with each other's peculiarities as
to render it somewhat difficult for any very violent
contest to arise amongst them. Nevertheless, such is the
magic power exercised by the dramatist, that a murder is
committed by one of the fraternity. and the murderer is
supposod to be the accepted lover of the victim's daugh-
ter. Jealousy has been the cause of this accusation, and a
prison the effect of it. The real culprit, of course, remains
unknown until the conclusion of the piece, whilst the in-
nocent lover, who is made to answer for the charge, is
exposed to sundry trials of patience and endura
actory ter-
nce, which
are sufficient to drown all his hopes of a satisf
mination to his attachment. The scenes of love and re-
venge which take place in the meantime are necessarily of
the most distressing character, but in the end the virtuous
are rewarded, and the vicious very properly punished, by
command of the law, and to the satisfaction of the audience.
The serious portion of the piece is, as usual, relieved
by the exploits of buffoons, who appear ever and anon for
the purpose of raising a laugh, often at the expense of com-
mon sense, but still to the delight of the contented occupants
of pit and gallery. The drama was very creditably repre-
sented, and, as the production of a young writer, it may be
said to give some promise, inasmuch as its chief merit does
not lie in prolonged dialogue, but in a satisfactory attempt
at dramatic action. The play was quite successful, although
the applause at the conclusion was not of that vehement
character which marks an undoubted triumph at this the-
atre. As to the title—Michaelmas Day—it has nothing
whatever to do with the piece, which migut just as apuopri-
ately be called " Good Friday" or " Shrove Tuesday.