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

LYCEUM.

A new extravaganza, under the title of Whit-
tington and his Cat, was produced as the Easter piece,
last night, at the Lyceum, to a brilliant and crowded
audience. Whittington and his Cat is of the same.
stamp as Aladdin, Valentine and Orson and the
Forty Thieves, which have lately been produced at
the Lyceum ; and it bids fair to rival those witty and
successful spectacles which have hitherto been the
mainstay of the theatre under the present manage-
ment. The piece of last night is one continued
stream of wit, and the laughter which greeted it
never flagged for a moment. The various allusions
—and they were many—to the prominent topics of
the day were eagerly caught up by the audience
and applauded to the echo. Mrs. Keeley
sustained the character of the hero of the
piece, and we need not say with what
spirit she invested it. Miss Fairbrother was as
charming as ever as the Princess, and with Mr. A.
Wigan received a large share of well-merited ap-
plause for the performance of the Cellarius Valse.
Two young ladies, Miss Villars and Miss Dawson,
made their first appearance last night, were well re-
ceived, and will, we are confident, prove great acqui-
sitions to the company. The spectacle was gorge-
ously put upon the stage, and it will, no doubt, run
through the season. During the recess the theatre
has been re-decorated, and it presents now a very
light and elegant appearance.

indeed, that she was punished with an encore. The
aniweinents of the evening concluded with (we yank:
the la) 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 Mr. 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.

ASTLEY'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, doing 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-
thins 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 exciting
incidents. It is founded on an event which occurred
during the disastrous Peninsular war, and is entitled
The Maid 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 in the spectacle, which is taken
from this picture, and certainly forms a very effective
tableau vivant. The piece opens with the retreat in
the mountains of a party of Guerillas, 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 herself 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, amongst
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.

SURREY THEATRE.
Easter has come o'er us again, and with it the
usual accompaniments of the spirited proprietress of
this theatre—a well set-out table tor the amusement
of the holiday folks. For the first course we had the
drama of Margaret Catchpole, founded on the late
work of the Rev. Mr. Cobbold ; for the second,
The Irish Tutor, with Miss Heron, the
Infant Power, as Doctor O'Toole. And, lastly,
a new and magnificent romance, founded on a tale in
Blackwood, and dramatised by Mr. T. Townshend,
entitled the Spirit Haunted, or the Moor Maiden and
the Demon Sprite of the Golden Spring. Of the first
piece little more need be said than this, that it is
founded on events of a most singular nature,
which took place about the year 1797.
Since the publication of Mr. Cobbold's work most,
if not all, our readers must be aware that the extra-
ordinary heroine of the piece was born of humble
parents, and underwent the most singular vicissitudes
that perhaps ever marked the career of woman. After
meeting with many strange adventures to obtain an
interview with her lover (a celebrated Captain of
smugglers of the last century), she stole a horse, on
which she rode to London about eight hours; for
this she was tried and condemned to death at the
Bury Assizes, in the year 1797 ; was reprieved, broke
out of prison at Ipswich to join her lover, was re-
taken, sentenced again to death, and her punishment
changed to transportation for life. She retrieved her cha-
racter in Australia, where she distinguished herself in
many extraordinary adventures : obtained a free
pardon, married a wealthy settler, who left her sole
mistress of an immense fortune; she had one son and
two daughters, who received the best education which
England could afford, and returned to settle in their
native land, to close the eyes of their affectionate
parent, who died September 10th, 1841, in the sixty
eighth year of her age, deeply lamented and revered by
all who knew her. The piece was eminently ef-
fective, and was announced for repetition every night
until further notice, in a house crowded to the
ceiling, amid much cheering. Of Miss Heron in
the Irish Tutor we cannot say too much.
She is certainly a very clever child, imitates the Irish
brogue excellently, and is a most excellent imitator
in miniature of Power. Her acting delighted all
parts of the house, and kept the gods in most excel-
lent humour. The last piece, The Spirit Haunted;
or, the Moor Maiden, has been got up at great
trouble and expense, and promises to repay
the spirited lessee with a golden harvest. The
scenery is excellent, the dresses in strict keeping with
the time in which the occurrences are represented to
have taken place, and the music reflects great credit
on Loden The piece was announced for repetition
amid great approbation.