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Olympic Theatre. ...
OLYMPIC THEATRE.
The management of Messrs. F. Robson and W. S. Emden commenced last night under the most favourable auspices. All parts of the theatre were fully occupied, and the leading favourites were loudly cheered on their appearance. It should be stated that the policy of the new lessees has been to render the change of dynasty as little apparent as possible. Mr. and Mrs. Wigan have, of course, retired, but in all other respects the company is essentially the same, with the addition of Miss Wyndham, a well-known actress at the Adelphi Theatre.
The first piece of the evening, entitled A Subterfuge, was no more than a new version of Livre Troisième, Chapitre Premier, already familiar to the London public as a Novel Expedient. It served, however, for the exhibition of some very refined acting on the part of Mrs. Stirling, and was followed by one of the characteristic achievements of the evening--namely, the delivery of the following address by Mr. F. Robson:--
"Ladies and Gentlemen,--
"That's all I know--
"The words I had to speak awhile ago,
"And may have yet, for back they still may come anon,
"Have taken flight at such a strange phenomenon,
"That must have been the work of fairy elves,
"I don't know if you noticed it yourselves
"Let me describe it. On this very stage,
"My home from infancy--not as to age,
"I could talk when I came here--that's all one,
"But here I felt my feet and learnt to run.
"Well, scarcely had I found myself alone
"Within this house, whose size I thought I'd known,
"When this occurred--the stage sank down 12 feet,
"The roof flew up and seem'd the skies to meet,
"The walls ran back and left of boards a plain,
"Say from Newcastle-street to Drury-lane.
"I in the midst of it--about as large
"As a stray oyster in an empty barge,
"Or Marius--Marlo--I beg your pardon,
"Sitting among the bricks of Covent Garden.
"E'en now it seems than formerly much bigger,
"Yet rather more adapted to my figure.
"What in the size of my paternal mansion
"Could have created such a strange expansion?
"I know--and any youth can feel with me,
"Whose tender parents have gone out to tea
"And left him all alone (his heart's desire),
"With strict injunctions not to play with fire,
"To mind the house. How vast each room appears;
"And on a person of such tender years
"What dread responsibilities to fall.
"Suppose, for instance, visitors should call.
"Seats in the best rooms he can't refuse them;
"But what to give them--how shall he amuse them?
"He cannot do the ill-behaved or glum thing
"And keep the doors shut, or he might lose something.
"To make the best of it he can but try--
"Ladies and gentlemen, that boy am I.
"They who as parents kind in art have stood for me
"(Who never game me aught but what was good for me),
"Have left the house, perhaps for many a day,
"Not to enjoy themselves, I grieve to say;
"And I am left to fill the master's place,
"And save his house's honour from disgrace,
"Well, I've been educated with propriety,
"I've passed four years in very good society;
"And for a host I've had instructions ample
"In studying a gentlemen's example.
"Besides (my recent image to employ),
"I've this advantage o'er the lonely boy--
"My anxious father and considerate mother
"Have left me in charge of my big brother--
"A steady youth, with brain quite free from dizziness,
"Who has for years attended to the business.
"You know him--of ill-breeding not a particle,
"And such a judge of a superior article;
"Trusting to his urbane and wise direction,
"I need but play, he'll see to the connexion.
"From drawing room to shop! The flight's absurd,
"Let me be serious--in a parting word.
"An exiled King, hail'd back to France's Throne,
"Said to his people ('tis a tale well known)--
"'Why do you shout? The Monarch you restore
"'Brings France no change--only one Frenchman more!'
"In our small realm, decreed to rulers new,
"The form of government approved by you,
"We would not change--improvements here and there,
"When wanted, to attempt we will not spare--
"Our base the same--no grief shall you express
"Save for an actor and an actress less."
Excellently adapted for its purpose by its author, Mr. R. Brough, this address was excellently spoken by the new manager, who was received with such a volley of acclamations that at first he scarcely knew how to proceed. When called at the conclusion of the oration he led forward his partner, Mr. W. S. Emden, and an outburst of enthusiasm was the satisfactory result.
The great event, however, was the production for the first time in public of Mr. Wilkie Collins's Lighthouse, celebrated as the first piece played by Mr. Dickens and his friends at the private theatricals In Tavistock-square. Mr. Stanfield's drop curtain, representing the Eddystone lighthouse, had been accurately copied, the original scene had been closely imitated, and Mr. F. Robson represented the almost murderer, sustained in the first instance by Mr. Dickens himself. Everything that could be done to render a piece effective was done on this occasion, and the success of the drama was proved by the call for the author, who bowed from a private box, but, nevertheless we cannot avoid the conclusion that the Lighthouse, with all its merits, is rather a dramatic anecdote than an actual drama, and is consequently more suited to the drawingroom than to a regular theatre patronized by a large public. People of the ordinary stamp will now have an opportunity of witnessing a play hitherto confined to a chosen few, and will be satisfied with beholding a very charming story, very effectively acted; but those who have been admitted into the sanctum of Tavistock-house will also recollect and miss a certain compactness that gave the whole performance the character of a highly-finished miniature. The taste with which the piece was put upon the stage is, however all-important, as demonstrating the principle upon which the new managers intend to govern their establishment. Mr. Robert Brough's excellent burlesque on Masaniello brought the evening's performance to a mirthful conclusion.
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