The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-06 00:00:00

STRAND THEATRE.

A new, original, and most thoroughly English drama
was produced here last evening, with the most tri-
umphant success. It is entitled 7he Daughter of the
Stars, and is from the pen of Mr. Shirley Brookes, who
has, after a short probation, achieved for himself a po-
sition in the very front rank of living English drama•
tists, and whose reputation for the artistical construction
and working up of a plot, for conception and delinea-
tion of character, and for dialogue, which is by turns
grave and gay, but always vigorous, and, when gay,
sparkling with brilliant epigram, will be greatly en-
hanced by the production of The Daughter of the
Stars, which is one of the best built and one
of the most intersting dramas that has been produced for
years. The following is ati outline of the plot :—The
Hon. Anthony Hawkstane (Mr. Farren), a cold but
shrewd man of the world, quarrels with his out-spoken,
candid, generous nephew, Ernest Dalton, a lieutenant in
the navy (Mr. W. Farren, jun.), and, banishing him from
the house, adopts, as he thinks, the offspring of a younger
and vagabond brother—a wild gipsey girl—Miriam, the
" Daughter of the Stars" (Mrs. Stirling), who has been
traced and discovered by the family lawyer, Mr. Craw-
ley (Mr. G. Cooke). The second act finds the keen-
spirited and high-hearted gipsey cultivated into the polish
and manner of a lady without having lost one-whit of the
brave woman's heart which from the first beat within
her boom. The agent in effecting the transformation
has been Katherine Dalton (Mrs. Leigh Murray), the
secretly•married wife of Ernest, and who has been in-
troduced to the family in the character of a governess,
whom Miriam loves as a sister, and upon whom even the
worldly bashaw, Mr. Hawkstone, has an intention of
conferring his hand. But miserably does Katherine
Dalton pay the penalty of the double game she is play-
ing. Mr. Hawkstone persecutes her with his addresses,
Miriam tortures her by confessing that she secretly loves
her (Katherine's) husband, Ernest; and the denouement
is brought about by the sudden appearance upon the
scene of tha naval lieutenant, when tl e secret of his mar-
riage with Katherine is revealed, followed by the advent
of Crawley, now a runaway bankrupt, who avows that the
gipsey is his own daughter, whom for his own purposes
he has foisted upon the family as one f its members.
The fate of the unfortunate Miriam is left to the reader's
imagination; that it must be a dreadful one there can
be no doubt. There is introduced into the drama a
rich low comedy character, Bacchus Befswing (Mr.
Compton), the butler of Hawkestone, who, having for-
merly officiated as butler at St. Mildew's College, Ox-
ford, bath from that feast of learning brought away
divers scraps, which he puts to the most amusing uses.
His " favourite aversion" is a lawyer, and he always speaks
professionally.' This part was acted with quaint and
Uliettlt Ili humour by Compton who made every point
tell. 't he part of the Daughter of the Stars was exqui-
sitely performed by Mrs. Stirling. Her appearance as
the gipsey was beautifully picturesque, her acting as
the lady of edueatisn was the perfection of high comedy,
as her last scenes were of the most pathetic and
heart-rending tragedy. Mr. Farren's Hawkstone
was a perfect artistical delineation, he acted
with more vigour than he has exhibited for some time
past, and we were happy to observe a marked improve-
ment in his articulation. The piece was admirably cast
and admirably put on the stage. At the conclusion all
the artistes were called on, and then there were loud
calls for Mr. Shirley Brookes, who at length made his
appearance, and was greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
The house was crowded to suffocation in every part.