The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-09 00:00:00

GERMAN PLAYS.

A troupe of German performers, under the direction
of Herr Grucnfeld, of the Londoner Deutclres Journal,
made their first appearance, on Saturday, at the St.
James's Theatre. The performance consisted of three
German comic plays and a musical interlude. The first
piece ?vas " Burch, a small affair, in one act, by Rudolf
Genee. The play is a humorous one, and the dialogue
smart and witty. Sturmer is a young farmer who has
fallen in love with a very pretty fraulein, one Clife, the
daughter of a certain Haafe, a hosier. The father has
a sister, Franzista, and he will not consent to the mar-
riage of his daughter until he has first seen his sister
wedd.:d. Sturmer, however, nothing daunted, and re-
solved to carry his love affair durch, (through) to a happy
concllF,ion, declares that he will find a husband for the
aunt of his beloved one. Every individual of the male
gend,r whom he comes across is accordingly asked by
Hassen's lover if he is married, and when he receives a
reply in the affirmative he is forthwith driven away in
disgust. At length, one Budeburg, a German swell
mobstnan, or rather a notorious swindler, is seized hold
of 1)2. the young man, and, to his extreme delight, this
individual is unmarried, and open to an engagement to
any )12€.. who has golden recommendations. He is ac-
cord ugly introduced, when, lo ! be discovers in the
persm of the somewhat elderly lady, an "old flame"
of hs, whom, twelve years since, he had contrived to
swinlle out of all her property. The scene between
the !ormer lovers, the deceiver and the deceived one, is
ierY droll and amusing, and the extravagant fopperies
of the swindler, and repeated protestations of love, ex
cite roars of laughter. Finally, the affair is arranged
to tie satis'action of all parties ; the sins of the false
one are forgiven by the fair lady, whose rapid advances
towsrde old maidenhood make her, perhaps, lees resent-
ful. Sturmer clasps his bride to his heart, and the father
veri properly gives his benediction to the happy couple.
the second piece was "Badekure,"—a favourite little
piece with the German public, the incidents turning
upon some scenes of fashionable life at the German spas.
The third piece, which was also in one act, was "Fami-
lienzwist and Friede," or "Family Jars and Peace."
It shows, in a most humorous rtyle, the effects of the
revolution in 1848, when German politics and notions of
ecuality had set the members of a household against
Bich other, and when domestics refused to do the
bidding of employers, and justified their rebellisa
against the authority of masters by appeals to " Li-
tcrty, equality, and fraternity." The principal actors
vere Herr Walter, Herr Weiss, Herr Robes, Herr
Straube, and Herr Hohnfeldt, and Mdlles. Rhorbeck
and During. The performances were on the whole very
good, and if continued they will no doubt be found not
only attractive to the German residents in London, but
also very useful in assisting to a knowledge of the Ger-
man language many persons who aro at present not per-
fectly proficient in that tongue. The other entertain-
ments consisted of Leporello's song is "Don Juan,"
sung in German by Hamilton Brabant ; the celebrated
scena from " Der Freischutz," sung by Madame Zim•
merman, in such excellent style thet an encore was
unanimously demanded, when she sung "Robert toi slue
Jaime ;" and two pieces, which were executed in first-
rate style by Herr Wilhelm Ganz on tie piano-forte,
which we understand were his own composition ; and
the " Hamburg Polka." a pas (1( characters, by Mdlle.
Rosa Dorey and Herr Franz Weiss, which was danced
so artistically as to secure an encore.