The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-26 00:00:00

LYCEUM.

The Lyceum goes on flourishing under the ma-
nagement of the Keeleys, who are exerting themselves
to the utmost to deserve that patronage which they
have since the opening of the theatre enjoyed. A
new original drama, entitled The Three Wives of
Madrid, founded on •a tale in Roscoe's Spanish Nb-
velist s, . was produced here last evening with the most
complete success. The three wives are—Laura (Miss
Fairbrother), wife to Luca Moreno (Mr. F. Alat-
thews), a miserly money scrivener ; Beatrice (Miss
Woolgar), wife to Geloso (Mr. Emery), a painter, a
rough jealous libertine ; and Camilla (Mrs. Keeley),
wife to Diego de Morales (Mr. Keeley), a retired tracer.
The three husbands are boon companions, frequenters of
taverns, wine-bibbers ; and their wives, at the insti-
gation of a certain Count Vasco, determine to hoax
the husbands, with a view of curing them of their
propensities—a diamond, which had been found in
the public garden of Madrid, on the Festival of St.
Blas, being proposed as the reward of the wife who
should be most successful and ingenious in her hoax.
Camilla, having caused Diego to be sent a fool's
errand, of a dark and rainy night, to the gate of
Fuencarel, a distance of four miles, manages, during
his absence, to transform his house to the semblance
of a tavern, and, on his return, he finds it filled with
guests,. who tell him that the place has been an inn
for years. Among others who are in the plot is his
friend Geloso, who coolly asks him how he came there
:from the other inn. Poor Diego is completelybewildered,
and at last gets turned out and pumped upon for creating
a disturbance, and is eventually locked up for the night.
The acting of Iteelev • in this scene was inimitable;
he rolled about with open mouth and meaningless
gaze, the very personification of stupid bewilderment.
l
" Luca Moreno is hoaxed into a belief that he is
'
actually dead ; and Geloso, to whom
ad-
ministered a sleeping potion, is conveyed to a cell in
a monastery, and there becomes firmly persuaded
thilt he has been all his life a monk, and that. the idea
° f his having been a painter and a married man is a mere
delusion. At the conclusion the j oke is explained,
and the ladies are each rewarded with a diamond ring,
the owner of the lost ring having been discovered.
The piece ends with a Spanish dance by the charac-
ters. It owes its success mainly to the excellent
manner in which the principal characters were sup-
ported. Mrs. Keeley, as Camilla, was exceedingly
tespeigle and coquettish. She seemed to enjoy the
bewilderment of her poor little husband exceedingly.
Miss Woolgar acted Beatrice with a great
.deal of spirit and tact, and danced exqui-
sitely ; and Emery, as Geloso, was very amusing.
We must not omit to notice Mr. A. Wigan, who as
Pablo, the starved serving man of the miser Luca,
was eXc'eedingly quaint and litmourou.s. 'pie piece

is infertrerswci with some pretty dancing, and is illus-
trated by some beaiiCifui tcertery, The three wives
of -Madrid are most amusing pellonageg . nct to the
question put by Mrs. Keeley at the conclu;icin " ilave
we not fairly won the diamond ring ?" we unhesi
tatingly answer yes !