The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-28 00:00:00

QUEEN'S.

Mr. C. J. James, the enterprising lessee of this
popular little house, has brought several novelties be-
fare his ll'hitsun-holiday patrons. These comprise
every range of character, from the melancholy mur-
derer, the admired of the gods, to the " gay Lothario,"
the delight of the little ladies in the boxes. The
amusements of the evening commenced with a new
piece, written expressly for the Queen's, entitled
Chester Fair, or the Prophecy. The play is cast in
that troubled age, when Wales was as yet uncon-
quered by England, and it opens with a view of the
fair in Chester market-place. The bustle of such a
scene is well enacted, and the diversified groups of
jongleurs, harpers, glee-maidens, and dancing-girls,
come up to our ideas of a merry-making in the
olden times. Sir Roger Dutton (Mr. J. Parry), the
High Steward of Chester, mixes with the motley
crowd, and is by a fortune-teller informed that he
will fight a duel for a dancing-girl, that by so doing
he will render his ladye love jealous, but that ulti-
mately " he will win her by timely rescuing her from
the Welshman, with a tattered army." The doughty
Knight fulfils the first part of the prophecy by res-
cuing Marian (Miss Stoker), a peasant girl, from the
hands of Chief Justice Glanville (Mr. Rogers), thus
securing the gratitude of her lover, Allan (Mr. Rey-
nolds), a minstrel, who has considerable influence
with the mobocracy of the fair. So far so good ; but
unfortunately the hero's ladye love, Mary de Lacy
(Miss Rogers), fired by her lover's supposed unfaith-
fulness, flies her father's castle, and takes refuge with
Earl Randolph (Mr. Renard), in his castle of Rothelan,
on the borders of Wales, the very worst place, as it
happens, to which she could have fled, as it is imme-
diately afterwards invested by the Welsh moun-
taineers. This calamity has its advantages, however,
for it gives Sir Roger Dutton an opportunity of ful-
filling the last link in the prophecy, by defeating her
enemies with the very ragged gentlemen who had
been enjoying themselves at Chester fair. Such is
the outline of the plot. It was a bustling thing
throughout, and the actors seemed at home
in their parts. Mr. Parry and Miss Romer,
with Mr. Hodson, who personifies a drunken
Irish fiddler, were particularly happy. The
unities were not always well preserved by the
authoress, but, as a whole, the piece was very suc-
cessful. This was followed by "a drama of intense
interest," called The Vision of Death, or the Post-
house on the Heath, which seemed to go off rather
flatly. The amusing burletta of Devils in the Room
succeeded; and the bill of fare was wound up by a
melo-drama, by Mr. Barnett, entitled The Skeleton
Hand, or the Demon Statue. The name will give the
reader an idea of the " glamourie" compressed into the
two acts. We have forests and caves innumerable,
banditti above number; interesting gallants in cloaks
and dominos ; supernatural appearances and—the
Polka dance! The performances throughout the
evening seemed to give general satisfaction ; the
house was respectably filled, and the audience in the
upper tiers much more quiet than might have been
anticipated on a Whit Monday.