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Orcobrand, Genius of the Forest, Mr. Raymond.
Ardenelle, Fairy of the Lake,.. Mrs. H.Siddons.
Principal Sylph,..

Gossamer,

Mrs Sharp.

Miss C. Bristow.
SCENE-Bagdad, and the adjoining Forest.
This piece has been so long talked of, that a
kind of popularity was bespoken for it, and it is-
sued into the world a favourite by anticipation.-
But vain are the hopes of man! we must, indeed,
confess, that The Forty Thieves have much disap-
pointed us. The original simplicity of the story
is nowise preserved. The fable is pressed down
by an incumbering machinery of fairies, genii,
and hobgoblins. The admirable quaintness in
the original character of the Cobler is lost; and
Ali Baba excites no one emotion whatever. The
Amazonian spirit, and desperate subtlety of Mor-
giana, are entirely obliterated-In a word, a
fine towering palm is taken from the Arabian
garden, and transplanted into a bed of barren
sand, where its leaves fall off, its head bows, and
it turns to a mere dry and withered stick Had
this piece been handled with suitable talent,
much, much indeed might have been made of
it. As it is, we can commend nothing but the
music, the admirable exertions of the performers
(particularly of Bannister, Miss De Camp, and
Mathews), and a sumptuousness and magni-
ficence of scenery, which evince a bold defiance
of expence in the Managers of Drury-lane
Theatre.

COVENT-GARDEN.

ON Thursday, April 10th, a new Opera was brought out at this Theatre from the fruitful pen of Mr. Dibdin, called "The White Plume; or,

Border Chieftains." This piece, coming out so speedily after the first appearance of the New Ballet at the other Theatre, attracted a very full house.

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Ellen,..
Martha,.
Rose,

.Miss Searle.
Miss Tyrer.

Mrs. Emery.

The plot of this Opera. if indeed it can he said to have any, is borrowed from the admirable poem, entitled "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," by Walter Scot, Esq. For any thing of a dramatic structure, this plot is too scanty. Laird Ronald is believed to have been drowned, when is fact he is not drowned. This is the only mystery of the piece. A jealous and insidious rival endeavours to supplant him in the favour of his mistress and the fortunes of her father. In this he succeeds, till the proper time in which the catastrophe of the piece required the appearance of Laird Ronald, the vindication of his rights, and the punishment of his rival-Upon such meagre materials, what could be erected?

In a word there was but one character in this piece; that of Christopher Kilspindie; and he was a bad imitation of Lingo.-Laird Ronald and Edward sang their songs, and did nothing.The ladies merely walked across the stage. There was some attempt at character in Sir Alfred, and the excellent actor to whom it belonged, did every thing for it; but e nihilo nihil fit; it had nothing of merit but what it derived from

Munden.

The favour with which the piece was received, was principally owing to the music, which is chiefly composed or selected by Reeve. Some of the songs were encored. Fawcett came in for his full share of applause, particularly in his song about Eneis aud Dido, which, we believe, we have frequently heard from the author of the piece, in divers places, with great pleasure; and we were very happy to find that what had given so much satisfaction in more private circles, was received with such approbation in a public theatre.

Very little expence has been incurred in the scenery and decorations. We did not observe any new scene till we came to the last, which was rather novel, and certainly produced a good effect. It was so contrived as to represent an amphitheatre; two circular rows of seats were occupied by various persons, in different characters, and on the back scene was painted a succession of rising seats, forming on the whole five or six stages, filled with spectators of the combat proposed between the Danish Chief, Guthred, and the English Chieftain, Edward, which was prevented by the appearance of Ronald, who was supposed to have been slain, and whose murder was charged upon Edward by Guthred, who intended to murder him, but had been prevented. Guthred, on his detection, is carried off by the soldiery, harmony ensues, the union between the families take place, and the derouement of the piece is concluded by separate dances of the English and Scotch visitors.

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