The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-16 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

Last night Mr. I'algrave Simpson's new drama,
entitled " Marie Antoinette," was produced with
t'Je utmost success at this theatre. The drama, as
many of our readers are aware, has been written
for Mdlle. Beatrice. It has been acted with great
effect at many of the largest theatres in the coun-
try, and last night the approval of the metropoli-
tan public bad to be added to that of the provinces.
Mr. Simpson, in the programme, modestly states
that his drama is simply an historical panorama of
action, formed of many events in her (Marie
Antoinette's) life, connecting the Ist of October,
1789, with the 16th of October, 1793 ; bound
together with no more fiction than is neces-
sary to give the coherence and continuity
essential to a dramatic - form, and certainly the
skill that has been displayed in linking those events
together is worthy of the highest praise. The
curtain rises on a banquet of the Bob, G-uari ia
a Hall of the Palace at Versailles, at which the
Queen, in the prime of youth and beauty, regally
attired, holding the little Dauphin by the hand,
appeals to the loyalty of the guard, who tear off
the national cockade, and, drawing their swords,
swear fealty to the Qieen and Dauphin. Then
11, re is an interview in the salon between the King
and Malsherbes, which exhibits the weaknes3 of
ilie Monarch and the strength of the Minister,
followed up by the interruption of a wild, armed mob,
who bre:mk into the palace and carry off the Royal
family captives to Paris. The flight to Varennes fol-
lows; the whole of the incidents are most graphically
told and illustrated. Finer grouping and scenery
than that in scene 6 —the Gate of Varennes, where
;he Royal family are detected and stopped, the
soldiers going over to the side of the people—have
seldom been presented on any stage. The humilia-
tion inflicted upon the Queen, her children, and the
Icing in the Temple, the agonising parting of Louis
with his family when condemned, and finally the
trial of the Queen herself, her condemnation, her
last toilette—the cutting off of her long hair,
white with accumulated sorrows in so brief a

time—her arms pinioned, and her arrival in the
tumbrel at the Place de la Revolution, were all most
stirringly represented. Of Mdlle. Beatrice's perfor-
mance of the part of " the Austrian woman," Marie
Autoinette, we can say nothing but praise ; it was
dignified in the earlier scenes, pathetic in the latter,
and, taken altogether, was one of the finest pieces
of drama tic art seen for a considerable period. Mr.
George Vining, as Louis XVI., acted with rare
ability ; his conception of the part was perfect,
his costume and general appearance was as
perfect as if he bad stepped out of a
picture frame in the Louvre. Little Lydia
Howard played the Dauphin, and had it been pos-
sible for the ladies to have added caresses to ap-
plause, the tiny actress would have doubtless been
almost killed with kisses for the heroic manner in
which she, as the Dauphin, slapped the face cf the
brutal Simon for blowing his tobacco in the face of
the fallen Queen during the time she was a prisoner
in the Temple. The other parts were all excellently
filled. Count de Fersen was sustained by
Mr.
William Reynold, Turgy by Mr. 1). Murray, San-
terre, the brewer, by Mr. Leeson, and Sergeant Le
Beau by Mr. J. G. Shore, the latter gentleman
showing how much can be made of a small part by
a careful and judicious actor. The piece has been
put upon the stage in the most admirable manner,
and the spirit and effect infused into the
various stirring incidents of which the drama is
composed, are worthy the highest commendation.
The act drop had to be raised on each of the four
tableaux, and at the termination Mdlle. Beatrice,
Miss Lydia Howard, and Mr. George Vining had
to appear and bow their acknowledgments of the
applause their acting had elicited.
The piece is another hit for the fortunate lessee
and manager of the Princess's Theatre.