Star.
London, England, 1818-03-26 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

A new romantic Operatic Drama was last night'
acted for the first time, under the title of Rob Roy
the Gregaraelt. The title of this piece announces its I
origin, but not its fable. It is not the romance thrown
into a Play, as might be supposed, and this the Au-'
thor has been careful to explain in a preface to the
songs. His own words may be most satisfactory to
our Readers, and he therefore shall speak for himself.
" I have," says he, " adopted only one or two lead-
ing incidents from it, and made them subordinate
parts of a whole, which moves upon very different
principles. This change in the story naturally in-
duced a corresponding change in the colouring of
the characters ; scarcely one feature of the Romance
remains in any of the first personages ; Diana Vernon,
Rob Roy, Dougal, &c. are so essentially distinct from
the originals bearing the same names, that without
some notice, disappointment must have ensued."—
The following is a brief outline of the plot :
Sir Rashleigh Osbahlistone is about to marry Diana Vernon,
who is commanded by her father, General Vernon, to accept of
his proffered hand, though the young Lady herself is most averse
to the proposed union. The General marches against Rob Roy,
and it is in his absence that the marriage is to be solemnized.—
When at the altar Diana is snatched from Rashieigh by Rob
Roy, who is the object of her love. The General, ensnared by
Donal, is made prisoner by Helen Macgregor, the mother of
the ontlaw, and is'about to be sacrificed to her fury, when the
Seer Morvyn interposes to save hint, and in the end he is ten
stored to liberty. !Wen, on learning that her son Rob Roy
leas made Diana ''ernon his wife, indignantly urges him to cast
her' ff. Ile refuses, and she leaves hint threatening vengeance.
The outlaw is compelled to leave his wife in the care of his
clansman DougaL Helen succeeds in separatioz Diana from
bqr Protector, and conducts her to a cemetery, where she corn.
pels her to swallow what she believes to be a deadly poison,
which she had' procured from filorvyn. Rob Roy becomes a
captive to Sir Rashleigh. Ile escapes; is overtaken by Sir
Rashleigh ; a fight ensues ; the latter is conquered, and death
rewards a treacherous attempt on the lite of the victor. Ilek.n
falls the victim of remorse for the supposed murder of Diana,.
who has only been thrown into a sleep by the drugs of Morella.
She revives in due time and is restored to Rob Roy, his pardon
having been previously procured by the General, who has be.
come reconciled to their union.
It will at once be seen from the above sketch, that
the Play of Drury-lane has little or no general re-
•semblance to the Rob Rol of the other Theatre. In
several of the most prominent scenes they are nearly
the same, but for the most part there is all the dills-.
rence between them that is usually found between
an Opera and a Melo-drama. Several of the situa-
tions were highly dramatic, and excited the most
lively interest, and some of the efforts at humour
were completely successful. The progress of the,
Play, however, is frequently too slow, and occasio.
nally the action is so abrupt, that it very imperfectly
explains itself. This was felt in the sudden turn of
Rashleigli's fortune, who is left prisoner to General'
Vernon in one scene, and who, when he next appears,
is the Commander of a military force, which under
his orders has secured the outlaw Rob Roy. These
things, added to a want of discipline in the military
iployed on the occl - with some of the accidents