The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-12 00:00:00

HAYMARKET.

The announcement that Mr. and Mrs. Charles MathewS
would appear at this theatre drew an immense assemblage.
The private boxes and the dress circle were occupied by
the elite of the fashionable world. The Haymarket, indeed,
presented nearly the same gala appearance which it wears
when the great operatic stars, over the way, are winning at
once British applause and British gold. It is needless to
say that Mr. Charles Mathews' reception was of the
warmest and most cordial character.

Lady Gay Spanker does not appear until the piece is
somewhat advanced. Rumour had sounded the praises of
Mrs. Charles Mathews so continuously, that the audience
were all anxiety for her appearance.

At length a laugh behind the scenes, of that sterling
character in the ring which betokens the true metal,
sustained until the unsophisticated fox-hunting lady
bounded upon the stage. The reception was most flatter-
ing, and it was some time before the excitement subsided.
Mrs. Charles Mathews is petite, but of a well-rounded
form.

She entered into her character with all the hilarity with
which the author has invested it; but the girlish, spoilt,
and rustic beauty, doting on sylvan sports, never once
degenerated into the hoyden. When Lady Gay Spanker
assumes an evening costume, her youth and beauty became
more conspicuous. She wore her hair in long silken
tresses, descending nearly to the waist ; and a tasteful
wreath of flowers, repeated on her dress, set off her attrac-
tions. A bouquet of flowers, by an easy mechanism, be-
came a fan of rare workmanship, and resumed its function
as boquet at the will of the rider.

Mrs. Charles Mathews, in theatrical parlance, has evi-
dently made a hit ; the plaudits bestowed upon her and her
husband were too hearty to leave a doubt that the lady has
not disappointed public expectation ; and this is saying
much when the inimitable performance of the *late Mrs.
Nesbit as Lady Gay Spanker is still fresh in the memory
of playgoers. Charles Mathews, who seems to have the
fabled quality of the eagles, of renewing his youth, acted
his original character of Dazzle as he alone can act it.
Description is needless, for everybody has seen him in
Dazzle.

Dolly Spanker was written for Keeley—Buckstone pro-
voked constant peals of laughter in this character.
The piece was put upon the stage in a way to add even to
the lessee's well-known aim at completness.

OLYMPIC.

Last night an "entirely original drama," by Mr. Wilkie
Collins, was produced at this theatre, under the title of
" The Red Vial."

Two personlages are mainly instrumental in carrying on
the action of the piece. One is Madame Bergmann (Mrs.
Stirling), the housekeeper of Isaac Rodenberg (Mr. Addi-
son), a Jewish merchant of Frankfort. The other is Hans
Grimm (Mr. Robson), a half-witted man, whom the mer-
chant has rescued from a lunatic asylum, and taken into
his service. These personages are kept in a state of constant
antagonism, the mischief done by the former being perpe-
tually counteracted by the latter until the representative of
good is triumphant, and the symbol of evil falls a victim to
the stratagems she has herself contrived.

Great pains have been taken by the author to give some-
thing of an elevated character to a story that does not much
differ in kind from the plot of an old-fashioned melodrama.
Of the half-witted Hans he has endeavoured to make
an eccentric part, but it does not prove so thank-
ful as it promises, and Mr. Robson, after .he had
once with admirable effect assumed the appearance of
idiocy varied by occasional flashes of intelligence, found
up-hill work in dealing with a character which was
now too rational, now too insane, to form a consistent
whole. Mrs. Stirling, in the manifestly repulsive part of
Madame Bergmann, adopts the bold expedient of idealising
the would-be murderess into a sort of Lady Macbeth, and
by the imposing character of her attitudes and the force
of her by-play gave a poetical aspect to the piece which
would not otherwise have belonged to it. But, in spite of
much excellent acting, and in spite, likewise, of considerable
skill in the arrangement of the incidents, the subject was
dB viously repugnant to the audience. Mr. Robson and
Mrs. Stirling were called before the curtain at the end of
the second and third acts, and although there was an un-
mistakeable counter-demonstration at the finish, we think
the piece likely to have a run.