The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-25 00:00:00

OLYMPIC.

This house opened for the Easter holidays with three
new pieces. The first, indeed, is stated to be only an
adaptation from the American stage, by Leman Rede,
but it may with much greater truth be termed an
original drama, as not only is the dialogue re-written,
but the plot itself is considerably changed and im-
proved. The principal object intended by the
talented adapter of the piece, was to intro-
duce Mr. Marble, the eminent Transatlantic
comedian, in the character of a thorough Kentuckian,
one of the earliest settlers in the back woods, " half.
horse, half-alligator, with a pretty considerable dash
of lightning," the connecting link as it were, be-
tween the red man and the civilised dweller in the
city. Samson Hardhead, therefore, " the game-cock
of the wilderness," is in fact the only character, the
others being merely auxiliary ; and though Mr
Marble in this, as in all his efforts, kept up the in
terest of his audience, yet we could have wished that
the stale Jonathanisms hod been less frequently in-
terspersed, and that something more akin to real
life and real feelings had been substituted.
The plot is of the most common-place character.
Colonel Mereville (Mr. Mellon). a landed proprietor
on the Ohio, is attacked in his residence by a war-
party of Indians, and his son is in his presence
knocked on the head and thrown into the river.
That son is rescued, and, at an after period, proves to
be Samson Hardhead. Until the discovery is made,
however, he settles in the neighbourhood of his
father's house, forms an acquaintance with Roderick
(Mr. Binge), a young gentleman affianced to his
sister, and, as might be expected, regards with a
corresponding hatred Dorrington (Mr. F. Burton),
that friend's rival, and Clara Mereville's (Miss Field-
ing's) rejected suitor. Then there is Nance Butler,
" the Yellow Flower of the Forest," Hardhead's irza
morata, most felicitously represented by Miss Kate
floss ard. Dorriivton, chagrified at the refusal of his
suit, determines on the murder of his rival ; and with
the assistance of Dodger (Mr. Tumour), afterwards
conceals the purse, &c., of his victim in the cabin of
Hardhead. The latter is taken into custody, and, on
the presumptive evidence, condemned to die, when, in
the nick of time,. the Dodger informs upon his prin-
cipal ; and while he is punished all the others are re-
warded. A petite comedy, entitled The Plague of
Plymouth, went off very trippirgly, Mr. Roxby sus-
taining the principal part. Then followed a dance by
Miss Wright, very beautjfully executed, so much so,

indeed, that she was punished with an encore. The
amusements of the evening concluded with (we quote
the bill) an entirely new, novel, and perfectly origi-
nal, grand, romantic, chivalric, burlesque extrava-
ganza, neither adapted, nor taken from, the French,
but founded upon the well known history of the
" Seven Champions of Christendom." The thing, as
we could gather, was entitled St. George and the
Dragon, and, if we recollect a newspaper paragraph
aright, was announced as being written by a gentle-
man of " considerable literary celebrity." We have
no desire to know any other of the author's doings,
for a more vapid effusion than that under notice we
have never witnessed ; and we were only sorry to
observe Miss Davenport, Miss Kate Howard, and
other clever artistes, trying ineffectually to impart an
interest to halting metre, unbrightened by the most
distant approach to an idea. We have remarked with
regret the absence of M:. Waldron from the boards
of this theatre, and we regret his absence the more,
that none seem to have been engaged able to supply
his place in the coming season.

AS7'LEY'S.
The doors of the ever-famed Astley's were thrown
open last night for another season, and ere ten mi-
nutes had elapsed, the silence which for two or three
weeks past had been suffered to reign triumphant in
the body of the theatre, was disturbed by the joyous
shouts and whistling of a good humoured and nume-
rous audience. The house, daring the short recess,
has undergone some slight change; and those of our
readers who are in the habit of frequenting Astley's
will be glad to learn that many improvements which
time had, no doubt, suggested, have been introduced
for the convenience of the auditory. Crimson cur-
tains have been added to the back of the
boxes, and each tier is decorated and lined
with orange and blue upholstery, giving
the house a cheering and. comfortable aspect.
Mr. Batty sustained his former popularity in pro=
ducing another new and grand military spectacle,
plentifully interspersed with startling and exalting
incidents. It is founded on an event which occurred
during the disastrous Peninsular war, and is entitled
The Mail of Saragossa; or, the Spanish Amazons.
No doubt many who read this notice are familiar with
the celebrated painting of the late Sir David Wilkie,
representing the defence of Saragossa by the Spaniards
against the beseiging of the French army; if so,
this will give them an idea of one of the prin-
cipal scenes le the spectacle, which is taken
from this picture, and certainly forms a very effective
tableau rirant. The piece opens with the retreat in
the mountains of a party of Guerilla, who are sum-
moned by the army stationed in Saragossa to aid
them in repelling the attacks of the French, and from
scene to scene we arrive at the city walls of Sara-
gossa, where a terrific encounter ensues between the
two armies. At the moment when the Spanish sol-
diers, exhausted by the severity and heat of the en-
counter, are about to retreat, they are
rallied by the appearance of the Maid of
Saragossa, who throws herzelf into the midst of
the fight, and by her heroism and courage reinvigo-
rates the army of Ferdinand, King of Spain, who is
thus enabled to save the city of Saragossa from fall-
ing into the hands of the French. In the succeeding
scenes we see Angostina, the Maid of Saragossa,
crowned with laurels for her previous prowess - but
she forgets the glory of the moment in her grief for
the loss of her lover, who has fallen into the power of
the French. Again she assumes the part of an
amazon, and, heading a troop of female warriors,
goes forth to her lover's rescue. She has scarcely
succeeded, ere another attack is hazarded by the
French, and for a second time Angostina, by her
prowess and undaunted courage, saves her native city
from destruction. These are the principal features of
the piece ; but there is an episode introduced, which
we have altogether omitted mentioning. It is made
up, as episodes generally are at this theatre, of an
humble village tradesman forsaking his home and his
sweetheart to follow the calling of a soldier. An
Irishman,.too, is introduced, but why or for what
purpose, no one save the author can tell ; but perhaps
it would not be an Astley's spectacle without an
Irishman. The piece was admirably placed upon the
stage, and was supported with much. spirit and ani-
mation by a numerous corps dramatique, _•axnongst
whom were Mrs. Ismay, who played the heroine,
Messrs. Harwood, Lemon, Egan, and Hart. The
piece elicited a great deal of applause, and if a little
curtailment is made in the dialogue it may keep
possession of the stage for five or six weeks. It was
followed by the performances in the Cirque Olym-
pique, and Arena of Equitation, which brought be-
fore us a Parisian artist, named Madame Dumos, who
is an exceedingly graceful and elegant equestrian;
nor must we omit to mention in equal terms of
eulogium, a Miss Isabelle, who, though considerably
the junior of Madame Dumos, is nevertheless a clever
and accomplished performer. The evening's
entertainments terminated with the farce of
the Sleeping Draught, the chief character of
which was played by Mr. Charles Marsh, who, it
will be remembered, was the Clown at Covent-garden
last season. He is engaged here as the principal
Clown, and there can hardly be a doubt, from the
mirth he excited, and the applause he won last night,
that he is destined to become as popular on the other
as he was on this side of the water.