The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-27 00:00:00

LYCEUM THEATRE.

Two new pieces were produced at this theatre last
evening, the first a version of Charles Dickens's
Chimes, the second an admirable burlesque on Valen-
tine and Orson. The Chimes is well dramatised,
well acted, and admirably put upon the stage.
Keeley was the Toby Veck, and did full justice to
the bonhommth of the honest ticket-porter ; and Mrs.
Keeley acted Meggy as she acts everything—admi-
rably. The great feature of the piece, however, was
the Will Fern of Mr. Emery, which was a mag-
nificent piece of acting. Never has the impassioned
countryman been more powerfully depicted. Mr.
Emery, in this character, reminded us strongly of
his father. It is seldom that talent, more particularly
histrionic talent, is hereditary, but in this instance
such is the case—the mantle of the father has fallen
on the son. The Chimes was succeeded by Valentine
and Orson, the best burlesque that has been produced
for this many a long day. Equal in wit to the Forty
Thieves, it surpasses even Aladdin in splendour, and
will draw crowded houses until Easter. The play-
bill is itself a perfect galaxy of jokes—so excellent
is it, that we were almost afraid the piece would turn
cut to be " nothing but the bill." Such, however,
was not the case. The bill is only a foretaste of the
good things with which the piece is replete. Every
couplet is a pun, a joke, or a piece of clever satire,
and every hit tells, so that the concluding line,
" In one blase of triumph we will wind up,"

is no fiction. Mrs. Keeley and her husband were the
Valentine and Orson. She the very beau ideal of a
preux chevalier, glittering in splendid armour; he
" unbeknown to himself," a public nuisance to the
neighbourhood of Orleans. They are of course under
the protection of tho fairies, and in the opening scene
we find Oberon holding an after-dinner council,
which is interrupted by the arrival of Pacolet, who
comes flying through the air on a locomotive—an im-
provement upon the atmospheric railway. Pacolet
reports that Agra►nant, the evil genius, is still pur-
suing his machinations against the brothers ; and
Oberon, appointing Pacolet his Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, gives him orders to circumvent Agrarnant's
designs. The day begins to break, and the fairies
mysteriously disappear in a mist, to the tune of "We
won't go home till morning." We are then intro-
duced to Belisanta, the mother of the two lost
children—Valentine and Orson—a decayed empress,
and the mistress of an academy for young ladies in
the neighbourhood of Orleans, who laments most
pathetically the decay of her profession in consequence
of the supply of cheap governesses, and of books for
teaching all sorts of things without masters. Then
comes the scene of scenes, the royal visit to Orleans
to open the Exchange, with " a splendid procession
by the method of double entry, on a scale of magni-
tude hitherto out of the power of any theatre to
attain." The spectacle itself in this scene is gorgeous,
and the costumes are magnificent, but the wit
sparkles even more brilliantly than the gems with
which the costumes are profusely adorned. Loud
was the laughter which greeted the reading of the
proclamation signed " Mereweather," ordering the
streets to be kept clear; but the laughter and applause
were redoubled when, on one of the nobility angrily
calling the authorities to account for shoving him to
the wall, a policemasttontemptuously replies—
" The Lord Mayor never gives accounts at all."

Then comes the triumphant entry of Valentine's
pikemen with the gates (turnpike-gates), avenging
the insult of 800 years, for which he is rewarded with
the order of Rebecca, and the promise of the hand of
the Princess Eglantine (Miss Fairbrother), which latter
promise raises the jealousy of Henry (Mr. A. Wigan),
the King's nephew, who, from that moment, vows ven-
geance against Valentine. We are next introduced
to Orson, and his bear mother in the forest. He
enters bearing a leg of mutton on a pitchfork for the
bear's dinner, and Orson and the bear dancetLa
Bruindaise ( original of the Truandaise) ala

Carlotta Grisi .and Perrot; - The dance over,-arid the

siitton demolished, Orson has a hunt after some pea
,ants who have. been poaching on his preserves, hav-
ing previously vowed vengeance against the editor of
an Orleans newspaper, who has been denouncing him
as a public nuisance. Then comes the combat with
Valentine, interrupted lir aPfrientlly glass of sherry
drank by the combatants and thebear, while they
stop to take breath, and the captivity K:Orson, who
humbly expresses hope that the bondslifix which
LL:i
he is bound

•arc not of Pennsylvanian lands,

~ ~, _..

--,:....

For then I ne'er shall get them off my hands."
Orson is then conveyed to the Court of King
Pippin, where he creates great confusion. He
wishes to know the designation and use of
a certain article of male attire, the name of
which King Pippin informs him is never
heard. Ile skewers a cook for wishing to dress his
meat, and he winds up by getting very drunk and
kicking up a row. In the meanwhile Eglantine has
donned male attire, has transformed all her maids of
honour into warlike knights, and has sallied forth to
free Florimonda from the power of Agramant. The
scene of the evolutions of the female warriors told
admirably. They were excellently drilled, and Miss
Fairbrother made an admirable Commander-in-
chief. Before her absence is discovered, Valentine
has undertaken the adventure of the liberation of
Florimonda, and Henry and his brother meet Agra-
ment at the station of the Orleans railway, for the
purpose of plotting the destruction of Valentine. In
this scene Wigan introduced an admirable bur-
lesque of Macready's style, which was much
and deservedly applauded. The imitation was
perfect. Voice, action, manner, positions, or, to speak
more correctly, poses—all the Macreadyisms were ad-
mirably hit off. Their schemes, however, fail ; they
attempt to shoot Valentine in the back, but he catches
the bullets in his hands, a la Satan, or Don CtEsar de
Bann. Agramant is overthrown. A magic brazen head
explains everything to the satisfaction of everybody, and
Orson is endowed with reason and marries Florionda,
while Valentine is rewarded with the hand of Eglantine.
Keeley's Orson is a very rich and racy piece of
unctions acting. From the first scene to the last he
kept the audience in a roar the whole time he was
on the stage. Mrs. Keeley's Valentine was ex-
ceedingly spirited and clever, and Frank Matthews
went through the part of the King with becoming
dignity. There are several witty parodies on popular
songs, all of which were well given, and one of them,
very prettily sung by Miss Arden, was honoured
with an encore. The house was crowded, and the
success of the piece was complete and triumphant.