THEATRICAL NOVELTIES.
THE last novelty at the Olympic, a vaudeville entitled Not a Word, apparently of French origin, is one of the best pieces that VESTRIS has
brought out this season. The principal character is Sonibroni, a Cor- sican nobleman ; who prides himself upon carrying into effect the na- tional character, of never forgetting either a benefit or an injury, and requiting both with equal interest and punctuality. Having found a billetdoux signed only " Adolphe," from which he discovers that his deceased wife had given birth to a child to whose paternity he is a stranger, he travels from place to place in search of the object of his
vengeance, vowing to decimate the Adolphes till his sword reaches the heart of the guilty one, lie meets, without knowing, the man he is in search of, at an inn, the landlord of which was the accoucheur and the landlady the nurse of his wife ; but is diverted from his jealousy and vest- -geance, by being made to believe that his wife was innocent after all. The subject is not an agreeable one, and the story is improbable ; the plot, too, though ingeniously wrought up, ends abruptlyjust as the inte- rest is wrought up to the highest pitch. It is well worth seeing, however, for the sake of the admirable personification of the jealous and vengeful old Corsican, by F. .MATIIEWS ; who embodies the creation of the dra- matist's fancy with so much life and individuality, that the living ori- ginal seems to stand before its with his fiery humours all a blaze; his red face and white hair, eyebrows and mustachios, reminding one of a volcano crowned with snow. We could not help sympathizing with his tenacious sense of dishonour, while we laughed ut his furious gas- conading, and his making a hobby of his injuries ; so earnestly, and with so delicate and natural a mixture of the serious and the ludicrous did the actor develop the ferocious passion cherished as a virtue by a hearty and kindly nature. He breathed out the sanguinary threats and aspirations of vengeance with great gusto, and more force than we had thought him capable of. Tricolor, the landlord, is a happy husband, whose confidence in his wife's virtue being founded on his notion of his own attractions, his self-love is horribly dashed, when, for the purpose of deceiving the Corsican, he is made to believe for a time that his wife is the mother of the infant. LISTON gives due effect to the self- complacent security and jealous horror of Tricolor; and Mrs. GRIFFITH personates his wife, who makes so great a parade of her virtue, that her husband has almost reason to doubt it. She is a very clever and natural actress, and a great acquisition to the Olympic company. The character of a young, good-looking, lazy lover of Tricolor's daughter, is very French : but VINING threw too little either of French ease or animation into it ; so that his brick-dust coloured frieze coat seemed out of keeping, instead of being the only point in character. The author's sketch was slight ; but out of what a film of a figment does the genuine comedian clothe with life and character the embryo creations of the dramatist !
We looked in at the Queen's ; and, through the crowd that thronged the lobbies, saw enough of a new farce called The Moon's Aye, to satisfy us that its greatest merit consists in the happy defiance of con- sistency and probability. The gratuitous absurdities of the situations, however, make the audience laugh. The majority of the actors are capable of much better characters than they had to support. Miss MORDAUNT is, like her widowed sister, a handsome, sprightly, and lady-like actress ; always agreeable, however little she does or has to do. Miss VINCENT is a clever waiting-maid, and sings with taste. Mr. PARRY is a very florid and well-fed footman, and looked much better and more of a gentleman than the lover disguised in livery. We were too late to see Mrs. HOOPER in Clari ; but we believe what we heard, that it was a very clever performance ; and can fancy ELTON being ,extremely effective as the father. Mrs. NISBET should avoid the mistake of giving the audience more entertainments than they can enjoy. We counted live pieces in the bill ; and these, judging from the time at which the second concluded (half-past ten), would occupy till near two in the morning if all were performed. Mrs. Nrsarr's boxes are well curtained ; but, at this rate, a supply of night- caps and pillows would be needed. Neither the Strand nor the Adelpisi have furnished any novelties this week. The Atielphi is crammed every night. YATES has a splendid show-piece in preparation, which is announced for Monday.
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