OUR PARIS LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 4168, 6 July 1876, Page 4

OUR PARIS LETTER.

THE THEATRES.

May 13. At the Historique, "La Bergere des Alpes," drama in five acts, by Messrs Desnoyers and Denmery. A French proverb says, when there are no thrushes we must be contented with blackbirds ; so when new plays are scarce there is nothing to be done but to shrug the shoulders and be contented with J revivals. Thus the "Shepherdess of the Alps," originally produced in 1852, is now brought out to ostensibly display the avalanche scene, resembling the sensational headers and the moving prison walls of

kindred dramas. The plot in question is simple. A young man, Fernand, has lost bis way in some alpine passes; he encounters a pretty fgirl aged sixteen, named Pauvrette, who tends her goats; she invites him to share his cabin, the weather becomes more inclement; an avalanche suceeeds a snow-storm, and the establishment has prematurely to go into winter quarters, the imprisonment lasting nearly six months. The snow envelopes the poor cottage like a winding sheet, forming walls fifty feet high. Fernand and Pauvrette thus thrown tof;ether o! course fall in love, seduction folowing as a consequence. When spring

arrive* Fernand departs, after taking the usual dioer's oaths of fidelity. Not hearing from him Pauvrette, accompanied by her father — an old soldier, who does not intend that his daughter shall be tr;fled with—sets out to find Lovelace. The patbo3 of the situation can be divined, as the old soldier is angry at his daughter's misfortune, which is rather increased on learning, that Fernand is the grandson of a grand duchess, and engaged to be married to his

eousin Leonide. The latter decides to wed a captain of the grande armie, so that Fernand is enabled to keep his promise by marrying Pauvrette. All's well that ends well. The artistes interpreted their r6les very satis factorily, the only ono exhibiting a "falling •ff," was the avalanche. The bills announced it would tumble at nine o'clock aharp, but this monarch did not observe royal punctuality. Never did pasteboard ■ look more terrible; it recalled the leauing tower of Pisa, or an ice towering over the «dge of the glace into its saucer. The spectators were pleased, not a bad test for any drama.

~Afc . the Beaumarchais " Barbe d'Or," Rrama in five acts, by Mme. Figuier. This lady writes successful novels, and if her talent for stage writing only equalled her industry and perseverance, she would be rich in theatrical honors. Since ten years she has tried comedy, vaudeville, and now historical drama, but has never attained more than a pieces d'esiime. J. J. Rausseau lays down that the desire to succeed in an act ought not to bo always accepted as an infallible sign of the vocation. This lady writes agreeably, but her plots are infantile. she. has not the gift of the theatre, nor does kki» appear capable of acquiring the science as«piisite for the task. The plot is founded upon the terrible Jacquerie insurrection of ' J3&B, when absolute aespa'r and hopeless Misery, combined with a thirst for vengeance, drova the peasants to wage a war of extermination against the noble*, with the terrible demagogue Marcel for leader. ttarbe d'Or—" Golden Beard"—is a captain «f tramps and vagrants, the sworn enamj of all oppressors, and tbe medicine man for the poor. He brandishes his sword against the first, and puts his drugs and simples at the disposition of the second. Barbe d'Or, who i>j noble in his own sight, learns th <,t the Baron de Coridray, at Beauvais, oppresses his serfs—that he is the incarnation of feudalism in all its ferocity. Barbe d'Or demands support from Marcel, and is assisted with 200 men. Marcel's daughter, who wishes to wed a hero as beautiful as St. John, as brave as St. George, and as generous as St. Martin, falls in love with the blonde Barbe d'Or, only to learn, however, that his affection is pledged to Isoline, who does battle disguised as a page. The play becomes a spectacle • full of patriotic intentions, and tirades which bring down the galleries. Barbe d'Or, after triumphing, makes an appeal to concord, peace, and justice, for the good of all and the safety of the country—just as Philippe de Valois spoke on his deathbed. The actors interpreted the piece with much warmth, and the spectators, applauded them for their sincerity. At the Ambigu " La Berline de l'EmigreV' drama in five acts, by Melesville. It was in the summer of 1835 that this remarkable drama first appeared, and had it, on the present occasion of its revival, a talented company for its interpretation, would be honored with a popular success, not alone from the interest of the story, but from the intrinsic merits of the drama,-which is solidly constructed, full of situations and profound emotions. The sympathetic types are almost characters. "The Berline," or "carriage," belongs to fhe old Marquis de Savigny ; learning he is down on the list of the proscribed, he has a berline specially built to convey him out of France; he is a voluntary exile, or emigrd. There is a false-bottom in the earriage, in which he has placed threequarters of a million of money, and the secret of the vehicle is only known to the builder, one Pascal, whose father, Germain, is faithful valet to the Marquis. Pascal, to secure the treasure, denounces the intended flight of the Marquis ; the latter is arrested and sent to to the Conciergerie to waiLhis turn for the scaffold. But Germain drewes himself in the clothes of his master, is in due time guillotined, and the Marquis escapes. Pascal is awaro of all this, and is as troubled in his soul as Macbeth after tho murder. The carriage is requisitioned for the want of the army, and Pascal follows it to the frontier, as a miser watches his treasurer. He cannot decamp with the carriage, 80 he decide* to be a traitor. Discovering the weak point of the French defence at at a certain detile, he makes it known to the Austrians, stipulating, that when the defenders will be crushed, the derline is to be his booty and reward, The enemy advances, the French are all volunteer artists, their officers are killed, and the pass is on the p nut of being forced, when the Marquis de Savigny arrives, announces that | though condemned to death, he will be their leader, if they accept him. They do so ; new courage animates the volunteers ; the drums are beaten so as to indicate the advance of an army of relief, as was expected, under Marceau ; the Austrians are defeated ; the Convention proclaims the Marquis a general, and a firing party of grenadiers lodges a dozen balls in the Pascal's body. The drama is really beautiful and ingenious, devoid of common places, and equal in point of ability to anything Sardon has produced. The scene where Pascal's wife, ignorant of her husband's villainy, lays a plate as usual for his father, and his horror when she answers his question, "that she awaits the old man's coming" at the moment guillotined—is pathetic and full of grand effect. The scene IB moßt amusing where one Belhonime, employed'as a model by the artistes, sets out as drum-major to lead them to certain death and glory ; and states, " There are tho Thefmopylto ; I am going to sit for Leonidas !" The interior of a French redoubt is very effective : there are four real cannon in po.si- . Jipn, but they do not go off. The play '■halls the most stirring and patriotic period jof tfce. French revttmtitfn, lb war the inqmeat wlfe'jl priiicc's oi th# ' bloW aiid s4ture kings gave lessons in mathematics to

Swiss school-boys; when the knights of Saint Louis mixed salads in London taverns for the customers ; when sub-lieutenants set out to conquer imperial or royal crowns, and when every soldier carried the baton of a marshal in his knapsack.