20 AUGUST 1859, Page 21

PARLSIAN THEATRICALS.

A vaudeville in one act, by M. About, called Bisette, has been pro- duced at the Gymnase and has caused some sensation, principally through the name of the author Risette is a type of the old school of Grisette, handed down to posterity in the "Rigolette " of M. Eugene Sue, but fast disappearing from the actual life of Paris. She has a companion, Eve- line, who is less amiable than herself; but is courted by a young man, who supposes her the legatee of an enormous fortune, and wishes to marry her before she is aware of her advantages. He is, however, so much charmed by Risette that he disinterestedly transfers to her the affections he had from interested motives bestowed on her opulant companion. News, however, arrives from America to the effect that Risotto, not Eveline, is the legatee of wealth, and now the once sordid youth is in despair, lest his devotions should be misinterpreted. By feigning that her uncle, the testator, died in debt, Risotto sufficiently tests the heart of her lover, who is then allowed to be happy and rich into the bargain.

All this is " gymnastic " enough, but the patrons of this elegant house have been not a little startled by the production of a play founded on a forcible violation of female honour. This is the work of M. Cittinet, and is called Le Brigadier Feuerstein. Why are not such subjects con- fined to the Boulevard du Crime ?-say the Parisians. Why are they selected at all ?-says the Englishman. After a long pause, a grand success has been acheived at the Gate, with a five-act drama, entitled Les Pirates de la Sarane. A series of startling incidents too long to describe, derive a new charm from the cir- cumstance that the principal place of action is Mexico, and that all pains have been taken to secure a couleur locale of a novel and striking descrip- tion. The authors of the piece are MM. A. Bourgeois and F. Dugue.