THEATRE ROYAL.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1396, 6 August 1878, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

The announcement of Mr Graham’s benefit last night at the Theatre Royal attracted one of the largest houses of the season. Independent of Mr Graham’s popularity as an actor the attraction was enhanced by the piece produced, entitled “ Quits j or, Life for Life,” being from his own pen. As a first effort it was highly creditable, the language being, if not brilliant, easy and natural, the plot intelligible and well worked out, and the situations and effects striking and picturesque, although some of the latter are suggestive of Boucicault and Falconer. The one drawback, and one that fortunately can be easily amended, is the nordinate length of the dialogue, especially in the first and second acts. When the pruning knife has been liberally applied tho piece will play much closer, and not tax the patience of the audience to so great an extent as almost to jeopardise the success of the piece. The audience last night were enthusiastic in the extreme,[and as each sensation scone was produced —the header at the end of the first act, tho thrilling rescue which terminates the second, and the escape from the burning which concludes the third—the applause was loud and prolonged, and the call for tho raising of the curtain unanimous and genuine. The construction of the piece is simple. An orphaned English girl, Claire Alleyne, and heiress to a large property under the will of her grandfather in England, is subjected to the machinations of her guardian, a rascally French lawyer, Goupil Griffard, who wishes to secure her wealth by uniting her to his son Hector Griffard. These circumstances take place in a fishing village on the coast of Brittany during tho occupation of France by the allied armies. Unfortunately for the plans of the guardian, Claire is in love with a young French officer, Eugene do Ligno, who returns her passion, but who unluckily is a prisoner to the Prussians, by whom, under the sentence of a court martial, lie is condemned to bo shot. Aided by Andre Orcmier, a young miller and ex-soldier in tho French army, Do Ligno makes his escape, and reaches England in safety, where ho seeks out the relatives of Claire, and is by thorn furnished with the ! authority necessary in tho last act to snatch 1 Claire from the clutches of tho Griffards, ' pere et Jils, and claim her hand himself as his

recompense. There is a comic underplot furnished by the aspira'ions of Mr Joseph Jollible and Madame Pliilomeua Friponneau. The former makes love to the widow under the impression she is the heiress he has been commissioned to seek out and eseort to England by an English legal firm that he represents in a clerical capacity at 30s a week. His discomfiture is complete when, united to Madame Friponneau, he finds that she is not the heiress he has been seeking. The villany of the piece is concentrated in the person of one Loupon Lavai-so, whose mission is rascality of t fie deepest dye generally, which he developes by a mania for breaking down bridges and burning mills in the interests of vice. Andre Grenier has love passages with Lucille, which might bo judiciously curtailed with advantage to the piece. All the characters named found fitting representatives. First, as the miller, who represented the male virtuous element of the drama, Mr Graham played with animation and ease, and won the applause of the audience from the rise to the fall of the curtain. Miss Andrews was very pleasing as Lucille, but Mias Daley but feebly represented the persecuted heroine of the play, perhaps her persecutions had a depressing effect upon her, which may account for her partial failure. Mr Hoskins and Mrs Searle sustained the parts of Jollible and Madame Friponneau in a thoroughly amusing manner, and largely contributed to the success of the pi-ce. Mr Hill was also very funny as a cowardly but patriotic French peasant. Mr Burton as the villain was beautifully truculent, and acted as though he had been apprenticed to arson and murder. A word of praise must be given to Master Willie Hill, who played the small part of Baraboche so well as to receive an ova* ion from the audience. Mr Horace D’Elmaine was not happy as Eugene de Ligne, his spirits were also clepnssed. Miss Amy Johns and Miss Herrick made the mos 1 of two soubretles Clochctte and Marie. Messrs btark and Jerrames as the genteel villains of the drama were in their element, and the remainder of the characters were creditably played. The scenery was appropriate, and some cf it now and clfeclivo. Altogether when condensed into smaller proportions by the excision of some of the tedious language of the first act, tin-piece will go well, and no doubt bring money to the treasury and credit to Mr Graham. There was a call at the end of each act for the characters, and a special one for Mr Graham at the end of the piece. It will be repeated this evening.