THEATRE REVIEWS

31. The Bride of Love (1890)

The Bride of Love
by Robert Buchanan.
London: Adelphi Theatre. 21 May, 1890 (matinée).
London: Lyric Theatre. 9 June to 11 July, 1890.
London: Crystal Palace. 10  and 12 June, 1890 (matinées).

(Harriett Jay played the role of Psyche.)

The Morning Post (28 May, 1888 - p.3)

     Mr. Robert Buchanan has written for Miss Harriett Jay a new drama upon a Grecian theme, which will be produced at a matinée at the Prince of Wales’ Theatre on June 21. The performance will be under the patronage of the Countess of Dudley, and the proceeds will be given to Dr. Eldridge Spratt’s Sanatorium for Diseases of the Heart at Brighton.

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The Stage (1 June, 1888 - p.9)

     The Bride of Love, a new poetical play, written by Robert Buchanan, and consisting of two acts, a prologue and an epilogue, will be produced by Miss Harriett Jay at a Prince of Wales’s Theatre matinée on June 21. An introduced bridal song, the words of which are translated from the Greek—the scene of the play is laid in Greece—has been specially composed by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie. Miss Jay will appear in the principal part, and the performance will be given in aid of Dr. Eldridge Spratt’s Brighton Sanatorium for Diseases of the Heart, and will be under the patronage of, among others, the Countess of Dudley. The Bride of Love will probably be played at a series of matinées following the date I have mentioned.

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The Era (1 December, 1888 - Issue 2619)

     MISS HARRIETT JAY has been suffering with an affection of the eyes, which has compelled her to delay the rehearsals of Mr Buchanan’s Greek drama. The scenery, however, is in active preparation, and the play will very shortly be produced.

[Note:
These are the earliest references I’ve come across to The Bride of Love. I’ve found no corroborating evidence that the matinée went ahead on June 21st, 1888 - no adverts or reviews - just this piece in the ‘Chit Chat’ column of The Stage. The piece from The Era seems to indicate that a production of The Bride of Love was still on the cards later in the year. However, although this does indicate that the play was written at least two years before the 1890 performances (to which the rest of the material in this section refers), I thought it less confusing to leave The Bride of Love in its present position in the chronological list of Buchanan’s plays.]

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The Stage (28 March, 1890 - p.11)

     In last week’s London appeared an interview with Miss Harriett Jay, during the course of which that clever lady confessed that before long she would undertake a part in Robert Buchanan’s new four-act blank verse play, The Bride of Love, promised at a matinée. In this Miss Jay has a character over which she went into raptures with her interviewer, for she said to him in answer to his question, “Have you a good part?”: “Such a one as it has been the dream of my life to play. It is a piece which one should play and be satisfied with having lived long enough to do so.” From which I take it that a rare intellectual treat is shortly to be placed before the critics. Mr. Buchanan does not say nasty things about the matinée; he is content to benefit by it.

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The Sydney Morning Herald (30 April, 1890 - p.4)

     “The Bride of Love” is the title of a mythological play founded by Mr. Robert Buchanan on the Greek legend of “Eros and Psyche.” The play was written for Miss Harriett Jay, by whom it was to have been produced shortly after Easter. Two choric songs—“Love is Lord of All” and “O, thou, divine Urania’s Son” (the last freely translated from the famous epithalamium of Catullus)—have been set to music by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie. Mr. Buchanan, by the way, is greatly in demand just at present. Having been accused of hasty work of late, he explains that many of his pieces were written long ago. “When it is remembered that for nearly 15 years I produced nothing on the stage, although I wrote much with a view to ultimate production, my present seeming activity may be understood. ‘Sophia’ was offered to many managers years before an accident secured its production at the Vaudeville, and I have still by me plays which have been pronounced, as ‘Sophia’ was pronounced, unlikely to succeed in representation. These facts may, perhaps, encourage aspiring dramatists not to despair of ultimately overcoming the prejudices of many managers against any kind of dramatic experiment.”

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The Scotsman (22 May, 1890 - p. 6)

LONDON THEATRICALS.

     LONDON, Wednesday night.— A new poetical play—for that is the title of “The Bride of Love” on the programme, by Mr Robert Buchanan—was given at the Adelphi Theatre this afternoon. Before dealing with the plot it will be best to quote the author’s preliminary note, prefixed to certain excerpts from the play which were handed to the critics. Mr Buchanan says “The Bride of Love” is founded on the beautiful Greek legend of “Eros and Psyche,” preserved for posterity in the “Golden Ass” of Apuleius. Perhaps no subject is associated with so many illustrious names; for it has been versified by La Fontaine, dramatised by Molière with the assistance of Corneille (who at 65 years of age wrote the famous perfervid invocation of L’Amour), graced by the songs of Quinault and the music of Lulli. The original L’Amour was Baron; the original Psyche, Mademoiselle Molière; and the original Zephyr Molière himself. The passion conceived by La Molière for young Baron during the representations of “Psyche” led to the fatal estrangement between the great author-actor and his wife.
     The present author’s treatment of the legend is practically new and original, and has nothing in common with either the form or the spirit of Greek drama, or with the “tragédie-ballet” of Molière. It has been well remarked, however, that there is a curious and sympathetic likeness between the fancifulness of early Greek mythology and that of mediæval fairy lore. Eros, the eldest born of Aphrodite, is the embodiment of fully-developed though still young godhead, and is not in any way to be confounded with the Cupid of popular imagination. The story of Psyche’s love and loss has been well described as an allegory of the human soul in its passage upward—and hence, of course, the name. In the fourth act of the present play Psyche actually passes through the shadow of death, and arising thence glorified, realises not only the old Greek idea of apotheosis, but the modern Christian sentiment of the resurrection of the spiritualised body. The story of the piece is simple in the extreme. Eros, a god, loves Psyche, a mortal, and his devotion brings upon her a double doom. In the first place, the jealousy of Aphrodite, who cannot bear to hear of her loveliness, and desires to save her son from an ignominious love, condemns her to a fate like that of Andromeda, and then Psyche’s request that Eros should declare his name and station brings upon her total blindness, the fate of those who inquire too curiously of the gods. In the end she dies, but is brought back from death by Aphrodite, who relents and restores her to the arms of Eros. Mr Buchanan is a poet, and this piece is indubitably poetical. He is also a dramatist, but it cannot be said that, save here and there, it is dramatic. It has grace and prettiness, but it lacks action and variety. As an example of the blank verse in which it is written, we may quote the following speech of Eros, in which, before he sees Psyche, he is bewailing his condition on the heights of Olympus, being, in fact, bored to death:—

Heigh O! I would I were some merry mortal,
A mountaineer, a tiller of the earth,
A happy warrior on a battlefield;
To be in leading-strings and yet a god,
To be divine and yet a prisoner,
To deal at will to all, to men or gods.
The loving rapture I may never share;
There’s not a herd boy down in yonder dales
I do not envy. He at least can love!
Sits ’mid the shade in the sweet summer time,
With strong arm circled round some brown girl’s waist,
And busses her with a great smacking kiss
To crown his joy withal. I, lord of love’s self,
Whose breathing fills the air with love,
Am the one loveless thing in all the world!

     The play was competently acted. Miss Harriett Jay, as Psyche, has good intentions and is evidently an earnest student of acting, but her execution leaves a good deal to be desired. She has tenderness, but she lacks power. Miss Ada Cavendish, who has come back to the stage, was an imposing Aphrodite; and Miss Ada Ferrar, in a comparatively small part showed herself a charming actress and one of the most capable of young ladies who now throng the stage. Mr Thalberg was a competent Eros, and other characters were fairly sustained. Mr Walter Slaughter’s music was most tuneful, and Miss Letty Lind won much applause for her dancing. The whole performance was received with great applause.

[Advert for The Bride of Love from The Times (21 May, 1890 - p.8).]

The Times (22 May, 1890 - p.8)

ADELPHI THEATRE.

     The myth of Eros and Psyche, originally told by Apuleius and dramatized in later days by Molière and Corneille, has given an inspiring if difficult subject to a modern playwright. Mr. Robert Buchanan, whose play entitled The Bride of Love was produced at the Adelphi Theatre yesterday afternoon, has treated the classical story with a free hand, and the result is a piece which, although it leaves much to be desired and although it is capable of much improvement, has many pleasing features. In the first act, of which the scene is the summit of a mountain in Cyprus, Aphrodite (Miss Ada Cavendish), Eros (Mr. T. B. Thalberg), and Zephyros (Mr. Lionel Rignold) are introduced. Aphrodite is jealous because her worship on earth is neglected by reason of the charms of Psyche. Eros, by no means the mischievous Cupid of legend but a young divinity who is feeling his strength, appears in the guise of one wearied of celestial society. Zephyros is, so to speak, the clown of the piece. At the outset the play drags heavily and it is only after Aphrodite has left the scene that human interest is introduced. At the invitation of Zephyros, Eros looks down upon Psyche (Miss Harriet Jay) sleeping upon the hillside, and then commands Zephyros to waft her to the mountain. There follows a pretty passage, in which the god places a ring on the finger of the sleeping maiden. He then determines to woo her in mortal shape. The second act is no better than the first. At the outset a ludicrous row of Kings propose in turn for the hand of Psyche and are rejected. Her father, Methonos (Mr. A. Brydone), consults in his anger the oracle of Aphrodite, and Psyche is doomed to be chained to a rock at the edge of the sea awaiting the advent of a monster. The spiteful delight of her sisters, Creusa and Hyla, is well portrayed by Miss Ada Ferrar and Miss Frances Ivor. Psyche is duly chained to the rock and, with great promptitude, released by Eros; but up to the end of the act the weariness produced by the long succession of proposing Kings does not wear away. When the curtain rises there is a great and welcome change. In an enchanted garden Eros wooes Psyche, and the occasion becomes an excuse for an admirable cymbal dance by Miss Letty Lind in the character of Euphrosyne. In an evil moment Eros allows Methonos, Creusa, and Hyla, with two Kings, to be brought into the enchanted garden, and a bitter scene follows in which the sisters taunt Psyche because she avows herself the bride of Prince Nobody of No Man’s Land. On their departure Eros vows, by Styx and Acheron, to grant Psyche any prayer she may offer, and, in pursuance of the vow, reveals his divinity to her. Then the curse of blindness falls upon her. The final scene of the act is touching and effective. It evoked tumultuous applause from the crowded house. In the final act the repentance of Aphrodite is portrayed. Psyche wanders blind and groping on to the stage and dies in the arms of Eros; but in the meanwhile Aphrodite has interceded with Zeus and Psyche is brought to life, destined to be immortal, through the instrumentality of Euphrosyne, who strews her body with flowers. When the curtain dropped for the last time the audience showed its satisfaction by repeated calls for the actors and the author. On the whole, Mr. Buchanan has cause for satisfaction. Miss Harriet Jay played the part of Psyche admirably; Mr. Thalberg, aided by his looks, was a commendable Eros as soon as the play began to move. But there were plenty of mistakes. The part of Zephyros is somewhat coarsely conceived; Mr. Rignold did not improve upon the author’s conception. Errors in pronunciation were numerous, and it ought surely to have been possible to teach some of the actors beforehand that Creusa is not to be pronounced “cruiser,” that the first syllable in Eros is not quite the same as that in era. The music, by Mr. Walter Slaughter, is pleasing. In this connexion particular mention may be made of an epithalamium in the third act, and of a hymn, in the last act, composed expressly for the occasion by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie.

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The Daily News (22 May, 1890 - Issue 13768)

MUSIC.
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. . . . .

MR. BUCHANAN’S “BRIDE OF LOVE.”

     Mr. Robert Buchanan’s play “The Bride of Love,” produced at the Adelphi yesterday, is a new version of the well-worn story of Eros and Psyche, invented by Apuleius, and already told in prose and verse by many a dramatist and poet. The legend now appears in the form of a four-act play, for the most part in scholarly blank verse, the monotony of which is relieved by a part-song and some less important incidental music from the pen of Mr. Walter Slaughter, who conducted, and two choral odes by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie. It is a part of Mr. Buchanan’s design to increase the interest of the story by investing his immortals with various mundane feelings and attributes. It is for this reason that, although the narrative of the sudden love of Eros for Psyche, their marriage, and the ill effects of that particular sin of feminine curiosity which proves as fatal to them as to Elsa and Lohengrin, is followed with tolerable fidelity; yet the character of the mortal-hating Aphrodite is softened down in maternal solicitude for her eldest son, while the Zephyr becomes a veritable Figaro in assisting the young couple in their courting; and gods and mortals alike are represented as impotent against the all-conquering power of love. By a beautiful allegory also Psyche is in the last act depicted as passing through the valley of death, and, having by the will of Zeus thus attained immortality, she is united for eternity to her earthly husband, the young god Eros. It is, indeed, upon the love of Psyche and Eros that the plot chiefly centres, and, despite a certain amount of redundancy and a few anachronisms which will doubtless disappear at subsequent performances, Mr. Buchanan has contrived to tell a very ancient story in an undoubtedly engaging and sympathetic manner. The play was admirably mounted; and although some of the performers were obviously unaccustomed to the delivery of blank verse, yet the principal artistes, who included Mrs. Harriett Jay as Psyche, Miss Ada Cavendish as Aphrodite, Mr. Thalberg as Eros, and Mr. Lionel Rignold as a comic Zephyr, were, together with the author, deservedly called to the front after the last act. In regard to the music, Mr. Walter Slaughter’s part-song of “Elemental Spirits” in the second act was unfortunately spoilt by a faulty performance. But more pains were taken by a choir of ladies with a two-part Epithalamic chorus in the second act, sung to a harp accompaniment, two flutes and cymbals filling up the intervals (Dr. Mackenzie thus replacing the trigonon and pipe of ancient Greece), and with a choric ode in praise of love, from the same pen. Unfortunately, the piece was not provided with an overture or entr’acte music, although it was generally felt by the musical members of the audience that a play so high in literary aim deserved something far better than the dance pieces which yesterday did duty in this respect.

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The Morning Post (23 May, 1890 - p.3)

ADELPHI THEATRE.
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     Mr. Robert Buchanan’s new poetical play, “The Bride of Love,” in four acts, was produced on Wednesday afternoon, and proved to be in every way a remarkable dramatic work. The stage has so little association with poetry in these days, that a play of imagination is a welcome contrast to the devices of the stage carpenter and the mechanical characters of the sensational drama. Mr. Buchanan in his earlier days of authorship was better known as a poet than as a dramatist, and many of his old admirers will be disposed to welcome his return to poetic forms. There was something approaching to the classical in the representation of “The Bride of Love.” Scenic effects and music lent their aid, and choral odes were introduced, composed by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie, principal of the Royal Academy of Music, while other incidental music was composed by Mr. Walter Slaughter, who conducted the orchestra and chorus. The choral odes were given by Mr. Stedman’s choir, and new scenery and costumes enhanced the effect of Mr. Buchanan’s play, which is founded upon the Greek legend of Eros and Psyche, to be found in the “Golden Ass” of Apuleius. The subject has often tempted the dramatist and poet. Molière, assisted by Corneille, dramatised it, and songs of Quinault and music by Lulli were added. Molière took part in the piece, and became but too fascinated with the attractions of the representative of Love. Mr. Buchanan, while recalling these instances of the treatment of the story for the stage, claims that he has given a practically “new and original” treatment of the subject which has nothing in common with the Greek spirit or with the “tragedy-ballet” of Molière. The story of the love and fate of Psyche has served as an allegory of the human soul, and in the concluding act of the play the author has made an attempt to idealise the Greek legend by making Psyche actually pass through the shadow of death and arise glorified in accordance with Christian sentiment. In these passages we have the essence, so to speak, of the play, and the moral is that “Where Love abides Death hath no victory;” that beyond and above the power of the gods there is a law which attests that “Death is but the shadow of a dream.” This is the poetical side of the play, but Mr. Buchanan, in a manner not unlike that adopted by Mr. W. S. Gilbert in his “Pygmalion and Galatea,” mixes up some very mortal ideas and mortal personages with his Greek characters. They make effective scenes, and add life to the subject. With Mr. Fenton’s new scenery, Dr. Mackenzie’s expressive music, choral effects, beautiful costumes, and excellent acting, “The Bride of Love” is presented with attractions not likely to be ignored by the playgoer, especially by the frequenter of the theatre who has had enough and to spare of the commonplaces of modern drama. Varied degrees of merit marked the acting. Some performers naturally enough feel ill at ease in classic garb, but for the most part the performance was very satisfactory, and in many instances especially so. Miss Ada Cavendish was most warmly welcomed as the Goddess Aphrodite, her stately appearance being well suited to the character, and her delivery of Mr. Buchanan’s lines was worthy of their grace and tenderness. Miss Clara Jecks, sprightliest of modern actresses, represented Eridon with excellent effect. Mr. Lionel Rignold made a quaint figure of Zephyros, and pretty zephyrs and other fanciful figures were seen surrounded by a chorus of graces and elementary spirits. Mr. Bassett Roe, Mr. Leonard Outram, and Miss Ada Ferrar agreeably represented Lycas, Atalantos, and Creusa, and Miss Harriett Jay appeared as Psyche. Miss Jay has some of the best lines to deliver, and gave them with appropriate grace of diction and with ample fervour and passion. Mr. Thalberg, as Eros, was seen to advantage. He spoke the poetical lines with dignity and expression, and made a graceful and tender lover. Mr. Buchanan received the most cordial encouragement in his enterprise, being called for and greeted enthusiastically at the close.

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Manchester Times (24 May, 1890 - Issue 1713)

AFTERNOON CHAT.
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[BY OUR LADY CONTRIBUTORS.]
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. . . . .

     The most interesting dramatic event of the present week has been the reappearance, after a long absence from the stage, of Miss Harriet Jay, who received a warm welcome from a house packed with her many friends. The mythological drama, the “Bride of Love,” by Miss Jay’s friend and relative, Mr. Robert Buchanan, is a version of the world known story of Eros and Psyche. Though it contains some exquisite prose and verse—notably the songs which Dr. Mackenzie has set to music, and the pretty verses which Letty Lind, as Euphrosyne, repeated so prettily as she scattered flowers on the body of the dead Psyche—except as a series of charming pictures, beautifully mounted, the piece is little likely to please the taste of present day play-goers who crave for more sensation than there is in Mr. Buchanan’s drama. Nothing could be prettier than the pictures presented by the Princess Psyche (Miss Harriet Jay) and her fellow-actors in their artistic Greek dresses, among them being Miss Ada Cavendish (widow of the late Frank Marshall), who is returning to the stage, and will soon be seen in the provinces. The most charming scene was that in the garden of Eros, with the summer moon rising above the city towers and domes, and a crowd of graceful Greek girls treading a stately measure to the sound of a chorus composed by Dr. Mackenzie. Letty Lind never looked prettier or danced more gracefully than in the cymbal dance which followed the chorus. Wonderful was the skill with which she managed her clinging draperies of pale green, which fell to the ribbons that bound her green sandals round the shapely ankles. The loose bodice had bretelles of narrow white ribbon, which also girdled the fulness about the slim waist. Miss Annie Irish, prettily dressed in grey, with a grey plumed hat, Mrs. Horace Neville (Miss Annie Rose) in a fawn cloth dress with full lilac silk vest, Miss Rosina Filippi, in black silk and dark red, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Wilde, Mr. Clement Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buchanan were among those who applauded Princess Psyche from boxes, stalls, and circle. At the close of the performance bouquets were handed to Miss Jay and to Miss Ada Cavendish.

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Reynolds’s Newspaper (25 May, 1890 - Issue 2076)

ADELPHI THEATRE.

     Wednesday was a busy day in the London theatres, and a remarkable one, for it gave us, not only Mr. Jones’s interesting play of “Judah,” but something still more novel, the dramatization of a Greek myth by Mr. Robert Buchanan, at the Adelphi Theatre. In many respects nothing so beautiful has been seen on the stage in recent years. Had the acting been equal to the authorship, we should have had a most powerful representation. The story of Eros and Psyche is an exquisite legend preserved in the “Golden Ass” of Apuleius. Eros, the eldest-born of Aphrodite, falls in love with Psyche, a mortal. But, in Mr. Buchanan’s words, the eternal doom is that—

          In the tablets of the gods
’Tis written: Should a god reveal himself
In godlike shape, or name his heavenly name
To one of mortal birth, that mortal’s eyes
Never shall look upon the light again!

Impelled by doubt and curiosity, Psyche implores a revelation as to the identity of her lover. Eros can refuse her nothing. Psyche is struck blind and dies, but by the favour of Zeus is immortalized and given to Eros for ever. The scene opens on the summit of a mountain in Cyprus, the abode of Aphrodite. It is a pity more care was not taken with the furnishing of this scene. The clouds surrounding the abode of the goddess bear scarcely any resemblance to clouds, and two lumps of wood, plastered over with some artificial flowers, can hardly be taken to represent the Asphodel meads of Heaven. The spirit-sick Eros is induced to the love of Psyche by his comic and somewhat mischievous body-servant, Zephyros. Psyche having refused all lovers, her angry father, the King of Cyprus, consults the oracle. It is decreed, upon the instigation of Aphrodite, who is determined that her son shall now know love, that Psyche be chained to a rock, and devoured by a sea-monster. Chained she is; but Eros carries her away to his enchanted garden, where the fatal secret is revealed, and the destiny is fulfilled. It would be difficult to exceed the beauty of this scene. Before the curtain is drawn, the melodious sound of a flute and the occasional clash of a cymbal is heard. The curtain rises. Maidens in the moonlit garden of Eros are singing an epithalamium, or marriage song, composed by Dr. Mackenzie, principal of the Royal Academy of Music. They also tread a choral dance, weaving in and out and round about in graceful, stately measure. What a charming picture! How beautiful these many-coloured Greek costumes! How they grace and dignify the wearers! Then appears Miss Letty Lind, in the character of the mirth-giving Euphrosyne. Cymbals in hand, she dances a Greek measure to music composed by Mr. Slaughter, the composer of “Marjorie,” who conducted the orchestra. There is the scene as depicted on some old Greek vase. It melts away. The unseen fate moves forward to the impassioned cry of despair of the god as he reveals his fatal secret, and vanishes from the sight of his doomed bride, upon whose cry of woe the curtain falls. In the last act we are taken again to heaven, where, on the intercession of Aphrodite, life is restored to Psyche, and she is immortalized. Mr. Thalberg, who played Eros, looked the part to perfection, and after he recovered from a nervousness which made him monotonous in the first act, declaimed the beautiful lines of his part with rare elocutionary skill and grace. Miss Ada Cavendish was not seen to much advantage in the character of Aphrodite. Excellent actress as she is in many respects, her style was too ponderous and stagy for the conception of the goddess; nor, although she worked conscientiously and carefully, can Miss Harriett Jay be called an ideal Psyche, a part in sympathy with which so much depends. Miss Jay’s mode of delivery is not what could be desired, nor did she convey the notion of the half-spiritualized being whom she was intended to represent. The Zephyros was a somewhat incongruous element. A low comedy character amid serious and tragic surroundings, struck one as a little out of place and taste, Mr. Alfred Brydone, as the King of Cyprus, spoke his lines with great effect; and Miss Francis Ivor and Miss Ada Ferrar were effective as Hyla and Creusa, the jealous and cruel sisters of Psyche. Mr. Buchanan has composed a beautiful play. His blank verse is smooth, melodious, and at times highly poetical. He well deserved the ringing cheers which greeted his appearance on the stage in response to loud calls at the conclusion of the piece.

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The Penny Illustrated Paper (31 May, 1890 - p. 3)

     Most notable of recent matinées was the Adelphi performance of Mr. Robert Buchanan’s mythological play “The Bride of Love,” which was so favourably received that Mr. Horace Sedger is anxious to run it at the Lyric till the provinces claim Miss Ada Cavendish. This proved a musical dramatic poem of signal merit, the music being composed by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie and Mr. Walter Slaughter, the clever composer of “Marjorie.” In “The Bride of Love” that talented and favourite actress Miss Ada Cavendish—far too long absent from the stage—met with an enthusiastic reception, which evidently stimulated her to deliver the stern lines of Aphrodite with the greatest possible artistic effect. In a word, Miss Ada Cavendish imbued the part with that touch of Nature which is the triumph of Art. Mr. Thalberg, the handsome Eros, would have done well to have studied the fine elocution of Miss Cavendish, then he would not have clipped his words and bitten his sentences as he did in the early acts. When this intelligent and rising young actor got into the full fling of his love-making with the beauteous Psyche, he improved materially. The third act was the most dramatic of the piece. It was here that Miss Letty Lind, personification of the poetry of motion, danced her seductive measures as Euphrosyne, and here that some of the most charming verse was spoken, such as this gem from the lips of Psyche:—

                                               Thus is Love born—
          Not with long coaxing like a hothouse flower,
          But instantaneously—a happy star
          That bursts to life, and finds itself in heaven!
          I saw his eyes—they kindled light in mine!
          I heard his voice—the music of my dreams!
          I took his hand, I fell upon his heart;
          And pillow'd there, I knew it was my home!

Enjoying the advantage of being acted in its two principal parts by Miss Ada Cavendish and Miss Harriet Jay, “The Bride of Love” went admirably. The sparkling “Puck”-like Eridon of sprightly Miss Clara Jecks, the vivacious Hyla and Creusa of Miss Frances Ivor and Miss Ada Ferrar, and the Lycas and Atalantos of Mr. Bassett Roe and Mr. Leonard Outrum were also praiseworthy, as were the low-comedy and mirth-moving efforts of Mr. Lionel Rignold to assume the lightsome character of Zephyros.

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The Graphic (31 May, 1890 - Issue 1070)

     IF Whitsun week is, as usual, barren of theatrical novelties, the week that precedes it has this year been at our theatres one of remarkable activity and enterprise. Mr. Henry Arthur Jones’s new play entitled Judah, at the SHAFTESBURY, would in itself be sufficient to give distinction to this brief period of the present dramatic season; but besides this we have had Mr. Robert Buchanan’s mythological verse play, The Bride of Love, at the ADELPHI; and Mrs. Bancroft’s first essay in the way of dramatic authorship, in the shape of a new two-act play, entitled A Riverside Story, at the HAYMARKET; not to speak of Mr. James Mortimer’s play, entitled Queen’s Counsel, at the COMEDY; or the two matinée productions of Tuesday last. The modern English drama may not yet have reached any very high level; but at all events it is not stagnating. The prizes held out to the successful are brilliant, the ambition of the younger school of dramatic workers is stimulated by the ample encouragement offered them through the constant increase in the number of high class theatres; and the time is clearly at hand when the answer to the Frenchman’s humiliating question, “Y-a-t-il un Théâtre Anglais?” will be too obviously in our favour, even for the readers of the Paris Figaro.

...

     Mr. Buchanan’s mythological play in four acts is a pretty modification of the old story of how the Princess Psyche came to be numbered with the immortals through her love for the god Eros. Departing from the heathen view, the author treats this lovely fable as an allegory of the Christian doctrine of the progress of the soul through the Valley of Death to life eternal. It is a pity that he should have deemed it necessary to concede to the supposed tastes of modern audiences by introducing a low comedy immortal in the person of Mr. Lionel Rignold; but in other respects it must be allowed that his treatment of his theme is refined, and that some of the lyrics rise to a high level of poetical fervour. Miss Harriett Jay acquitted herself with grace and tact in the trying part of Psyche, and Miss Ada Cavendish, returning to the stage after a prolonged absence, maintained at least the dignified presence of Aphrodite, and spoke her lines with a due sense of their musical cadence. Mr. Thalberg, if he did not exactly “confess the god,” made a fervent and presentable Eros. Music of some merit was provided for the play by Mr. Walter Slaughter and Dr. Mackenzie. Miss Letty Lind’s graceful and elegant dance with cymbals was justly applauded; nothing more picturesque of its kind, indeed, has been seen on the modern stage.

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The Theatre (1 June, 1890)

     In “The Bride of Love,” produced at an Adelphi matinée on May 21st, and which we can but here barely notice, Mr. Buchanan is at once true and false to his poetical and artistic instincts. Verbal beauties abound, and mythological intricacies are resolved with an ingenuity that is commendable. The low comedy of the play, however, rings false in its connection, and frequently verges on vulgarity, and the possible beauty of the whole is missed through a wilful writing-down to the smaller intellects of an audience. The piece was generally well rendered.

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The Stage (6 June, 1890 - p.11)

     Last week I stated that Robert Buchanan’s Bride of Love would shortly be placed in the evening bill of a theatre. As a matter of fact, it will be staged at the Lyric on Saturday next. Considerable alteration has, I understand, been made in the piece, and a great improvement will be noticed in the introduction of more music than was heard at the matinée performance. Miss Ada Cavendish, Miss Harriett Jay, and Mr. Thalberg will resume their original parts.

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The Morning Post (9 June, 1890 - p.5)

     THE CRYSTAL PALACE.—The first performance this season at the Crystal Palace of a grand evening ballet is fixed for Thursday evening, previous to the display of fireworks. Pending the production of the new ballet, which is in active preparation, “A Golden Dream,” so successfully performed during the season of 1889, will be reproduced. To-morrow and Thursday afternoons there will be two special performances at the Crystal Palace of Mr. Robert Buchanan’s new mythological drama (recently produced with marked success at the Adelphi Theatre), entitled “The Bride of Love,” in which Miss Harriett Jay, Miss Ada Cavendish, and Mr. T. B. Thalberg will appear, supported by a powerful company.

[Advert for The Bride of Love from The Stage (4 July, 1890 - p.8).]

The Stage (13 June, 1890 - p.12)

THE LYRIC.

     On Monday evening, June 9, 1890, was produced here (after having been brought out at a matinée performance at the Adelphi, on May 21 last) the poetic play in four acts, by Robert Buchanan, entitled:—

The Bride of Love.

IMMORTALS.

The Goddess Aphrodite     ...     Miss Ada Cavendish
The God Eros    ...     ...     ...     Mr. T. B. Thalberg
Eridon               ...     ...     ...     Miss Laura Linden
Erotion              ...     ...     ...     Miss Marie Fraser
Cupidon            ...     ...     ...     Miss Emmie Bowman
Zephyros           ...     ...     ...     Mr. Ernest Hendrie
Phosphoros       ...     ...     ...     Miss A. Somerset
A Young Wind  ...     ...     ...     Miss Beatrice Ferrar
Euphrosyne       ...     ...     ...     Miss Luna

MORTALS.

Methonos          ...     ...     ...     Mr. Alfred Brydone
Atalantos           ...     ...     ...     Mr. Leonard Outram
Lycas                ...     ...     ...     Mr. Bassett Roe
The King of Circassia        ...     Mr. C. M. Hallard
The King of Thule      ...     ...     Mr. Henry Bayntun
Hyla                  ...     ...     ...     Miss Frances Ivor
Creusa              ...     ...     ...     Miss Mary Kingsley
Princess Psyche         ...     ...     Miss Harriett Jay

     That the higher reaches of dramatic art are served by a play such as The Bride of Love there can be no doubt. The playhouse finds itself taken out of its own air into the ether beyond, where are the pleasures of the imagination. And they are felt scarcely to be pleasures bodiless, impalpable, only half-evident, as though the gleams of a will o’ the wisp among the shadows of the mind. It is the great charm of The Bride of Love that so much of it, for all the gossamer, the fantasy, the miracle, is made quick to us through the common sorrows and joys. The imagination becomes stimulated through the heart. All the senses are alert, deftly prompted by form, by colour, by sound, by movement; beneath, lying deeper, helping all, dominating all, is the master passion of our human being. That the aim is to show Love not only in human conditions but also sublimated, makes the purpose, if more difficult of achievement, then not less true or less strong. There is still the heart-beat, bringing Eros down to us from his heights, even as it lifts Psyche up to them. Hence, instead of the cold formalism of many efforts in this stage manner, or the unsatisfying abstraction, often the incongruity and sheer preposterousness—instead there is a theme highly imaginative, finely transcendental, suffering a theatric exposition that pleases by outward graces, that takes firm hold by inherent powers.
     Whether, lucid as Mr. Buchanan’s treatment has been, and effective, the pretty shallows will not be appreciated more than the noble depths is open to considerable doubts. For the full strength of The Bride of Love to be realized, the allegoric and other more subtile meanings must first be understood. Will the average audience, more or less unsophisticated in these matters, find too much mystery in the play as it is presented? There is, as we have said, the strong note to which human nature rings responsive; and, lowering the ground of argument, there is much of the ordinary stagecraft—with here and there a flaw. We do not under-estimate these recommendations; but, assuming that playgoers may not be quite so apt as they ought to be in interpretation, what then? Should there not to be a spectacular element to fall back upon? Beautiful scenery and accessories may be pointed to, fair faces and forms, ensembles that the artist must envy. But it is all upon an exceedingly small scale in a large theatre. One can sympathise with the author who shrinks from decking out his play to the danger of its spirit. Mr. Buchanan, however, whatever his conscientiousness, could have gone much farther than he has done without any sacrifice of artistic principle. We look for Aphrodite’s celestial court, and do not find it. Has Eros the eldest born, no attendants? Where are the sylphs of the air, the nymphs of the heavens? Or, coming to earth, why have the kings who have journeyed to woo Psyche no kingly retinues? Why has the temple no scene of priests and vestals, with chant and music roll? Such note of interrogation might easily be prolonged, but there is no need to labour it. Illustration of this sort surely would help rather than hinder the poetic scheme, for which reason, leaving the mercenary consideration of drawing audiences out of the question, so small a share of really consonant display is the more remarkable and the more regrettable. More of song and of Dr. A. C. Mackenzie’s exquisite music would also be welcome on the same grounds; and more of dance, too. Let not Mr. Buchanan think we would advise him to turn his delightful work into a mere spectacle, however enhanced the chances of popular success. But the material adjuncts might be far more attractive than they are,  to the actual benefit of The Bride of Love and the immense improvement of the play’s prospects with large classes of theatregoers.
     The details of Mr. Buchanan’s variation of the beautiful Greek legend of Eros and Psyche were given at length in THE STAGE immediately after the Adelphi production. To recur to them now would be superfluous, for The Bride of Love remains unaltered but for one or two minor corrections and the transposition of a speech at the end. The present cast shows a few changes from the original, chief of them being those of Mr. Ernest Hendrie vice Mr. Lionel Rignold as Zephyros, Miss Laura Linden vice Miss Clara Jecks as Eridon, and Miss Mary Kingsely vice Miss Ada Ferrar as Creusa. Mr. Hendrie’s performance, if not to be praised as perfect, is highly commendable. The jovial and burly, but swift-footed Zephyros is conceived in a vein of comedy difficult in itself to body forth, and greatly complicated since supernatural fun that appears natural—as it must to effect its purpose on the stage—seems like a contradiction in terms. Mr. Hendrie plays the huge fellow with, so to speak, really delicate cogency of humour, marred only by a low comedy touch now and again. Miss Laura Linden as the bright Eridon, and Miss Mary Kingsley as the proud Creusa, take their places in the cast with entirely satisfactory results, either playing with much grace and finish in a part which wants in its degree considerable tact and skill. Miss Luna, who seeks to tread in Miss Letty Lind’s witching footsteps, cannot be called a good substitute as Euphrosyne. prominent among the old members of the cast are Miss Ada Cavendish as the vengeful Aphrodite, Miss Harriett Jay as Psyche, and Mr. T. B. Thalberg as Eros. Concerning the ladies there is nothing new to add to our former remarks. Mr. Thalberg’s Eros has gained in repose and in breadth. Mr. Thalberg has wisely moderated his method of speech, though it is still not without fault. His appearance in the part is excellent, but it cannot be said that his performance conveys as far as it might the great ardour, the high authority of young godhood. But it is an advance upon a more than good first assumption. Messrs. Alfred Brydone (Methonos), Bassett Roe (Lycas), leonard Outram (Atalantos), C. M. Hallard, and H. Bayntun, the three first-named especially, continue to be of much service to the play. Miss Frances Ivor is Hyla, as before, and also as before, is Hyla very satisfactorily. Miss Marie Fraser might deliver Erotion’s lines somewhat more musically than she does. Miss A. Somerset and Miss Beatrice Ferrar make pleasing appearances in small parts; and how pretty a rosy Cupidon is little Miss Emmie Bowman! The choric songs of Dr. Mackenzie are sung with precision and effect by members of the Stedman choir; the stage-management is of the most efficient character under Mr. E. B. Norman; and the music is well nigh perfectly performed by the orchestra conducted by Mr. Walter Slaughter, by whom the incidental portions, the dance, and the songs have been composed.
     Manifestations of approval were liberal throughout the performance on Monday evening, and upon the fall of the curtain there were loud calls for the principals. When they had appeared, and re-appeared, cries of “Author” were raised and repeated until, the curtain lifting again, Mr. Buchanan was disclosed, the central figure standing out in sable evening dress against the dramatis personæ in the delicate hues in which the fancy of the author and “Karl” had painted, and the practical skill of Messrs. Nathan had invested them.
     Miss Harriett Jay, with much natural charm and elocutionary art, spoke the subjoined prologue, written by the author:—

To-night we seek to picture to your gaze
What poets dream’d of in diviner days—
The radiant gods of Hellas, long since fled,
So dim and distant now men deem them dead!
And if we seek, upon our mimic stage,
To bring the Forms of that celestial age,
We ask your help; for such pure fantasy
Demands illusion from the eyes that see
To aid the art which seeks to realize,—
Since what is commonplace to common eyes,
What to the cynic is but dull and bare,
Is fair to those who try to think it fair!
Wherefore, if we should fail to paint to-night
Things once so beautiful and heavenly bright,
Forgive us—help us—do not scorn our dream;
Think us not what we are, but what we fain would seem!

Our tale is old as Love, yet ever new,
As Love shall be so long as men pursue
And maids are woo’d. Right noble is Love’s line,
From godlike Eros to St. Valentine!
Lord of the beating heart and yearning breast,
Life of the world, still godlike and still blest,
Love shall abide,—a living power and token,
Wherever sweethearts kiss or vows are spoken!
The cloud uplifts—the scene grows light and gay,
As in those golden days long passed away;
The mist of human care dissolves, to show
How Love came down from Heaven, long ago!

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The Era (14 June, 1890 - Issue 2699)

THE LYRIC.
_____

On Monday Evening, June 9th, the New Poetical Play,
by Robert Buchanan, entitled
“THE BRIDE OF LOVE.”

IMMORTALS.

Goddess Aphrodite           ...     Miss ADA CAVENDISH
God Eros          ...     ...     ...     Mr T. B. THALBERG
Eridon               ...     ...     ...     Miss LAURA LINDEN
Erotion              ...     ...     ...     Miss MARIE FRASER
Cupidon            ...     ...     ...     Miss EMMIE BOWMAN
Zephyros           ...     ...     ...     Mr ERNEST HENDRIE
Phosphoros       ...     ...     ...     Miss A. SOMERSET
A Young Wind  ...     ...     ...     Miss BEATRICE FERRAR
Euphrosyne       ...     ...     ...     Miss LUNA

MORTALS.

Methonos          ...     ...     ...     Mr ALFRED BRYDONE
Atalantos           ...     ...     ...     Mr LEONARD OUTRAM
Lycas                ...     ...     ...     Mr BASSETT ROE
King of Circassia       ...     ...     Mr C. M. HALLARD
King of Thule     ...     ...     ...     Mr HENRY BAYNTUN
Hyla                  ...     ...     ...     Miss FRANCES IVOR
Creusa              ...     ...     ...     Miss MARY KINGSLEY
Princess Psyche         ...     ...     Miss HARRIETT JAY

     “In consequence of its triumphant success on its first production.” With this justifiable boast was Mr Buchanan’s poetic play revived on Monday, and put into the bill for a run at the Lyric Theatre. Its success at the Adelphi matinée was a triumphant one, triumphant beyond expectation, for it is not often that a poetic play, produced on a brilliant day in early summer, arouses the enthusiasm of those who have been tempted from the sunshine to witness it. The play, it will be remembered, is founded on the beautiful Greek legend of “Eros and Psyche,” with treatment which is practically new and original. In speaking of the Adelphi production we remarked that the author in preparing the work had in mind the Gilbertian style of fairy comedy; that he invented a comic god; repented of his work, but lacked courage to destroy it. This was Zephyros, who vulgarised every scene in which he appeared, and supplied the only blots on a play replete with fancy and rich in poetic feeling. The beautiful suggestion of the fourth  act—Psyche, Mr Buchanan reminds us, actually passes through the Shadow of Death, and arising thence glorified realises not only the old Greek idea of Apotheosis, but the modern Christian sentiment of the resurrection of the spiritualised body—this suggestion, we insisted, ought not to be spoiled by the comic “wheezes” of a Zephyros recalling the late Mr Buckstone in burlesque, and giving off passages out of harmony with the prevailing tone of the play. It is proverbial, however, that nothing succeeds like success, and success having attended the initial representation of The Bride of Love, we cannot affect to be surprised that the author has been content to leave well alone, and, indeed, it must in fairness be admitted that Zephyros on a second introduction did not appear quite so objectionable as at first, notwithstanding that he indulged in a little excessive pantomime and still talked of tradesmen who in their sleep cried females’ names not belonging to their wives, and of kings in palaces who at night put on slippers to creep and kiss their saucy scullions. These blemishes on Monday night, as before, were pardoned—were, indeed, almost lost sight of in listening to the many sweetly poetical passages in which the play abounds, and in following the course of true love for Eros of poor Psyche, afflicted so terribly through her irrepressible curiosity. A few unimportant changes have been made in the piece since the first representation, the most notable being the rising of Eros from the sea in the second act, instead of appearing suddenly from behind the temple of Aphrodite, to deliver his beloved one chained to the rock. Miss Harriett Jay resumed her original part as Psyche, playing it, if possible, with even more grace and tenderness than at first, and she certainly succeeded in securing for the hapless heroine a full measure of sympathy. The gem of the play is the passage in which Psyche describes to her sisters the birth of her love for Eros, and this Miss Jay delivered with a full appreciation of its beauties; her audience listened with rapt attention and delight. Hyla to Psyche has said, “We thought thee loveless, yea, an icicle, devoted to eternal maidenhood,” and this is how Psyche makes reply—

And so I seemed—till, at my lord’s first kiss,
My soul awoke, e’en as a frozen world
Wakes at the kiss of spring. Thus is love born—
Not with long coaxing, like a hothouse flower,
But instantaneously—a happy star
That bursts to life, and finds itself in Heaven!
I saw his eyes—they kindled light in mine!
I heard his voice—the music of my dreams!
I took his hand, I fell upon his heart,
And, pillow’d there, I knew it was my home!

Mr Thalberg, too, played his original character, and, more distinct and more impassioned than at the Adelphi, repeated his success, and was admired of all present. Mr Bassett Roe, Mr Leonard Outram, Mr Alfred Brydone, Mr C. M. Hallard, Mr Henry Bayntun, Miss Frances Ivor, Miss Ada Cavendish, and Miss Marie Fraser again appeared, and gave distinction to the parts associated with their names, while “new blood” was introduced in the persons of Mr Ernest Hendrie, Miss Laura Linden, Miss Emmie Bowman, Miss Mary Kingsley, and Miss Luna. Mr Hendrie treated the part of Zephyros with praiseworthy delicacy, and extracted considerable humour from it. Miss Linden was splendidly emphatic as Eridon, and Miss Kingsley as Creusa was a worthy successor to Miss Ada Ferrar. Miss Luna followed Miss Letty Lind as Euphrosyne, but in her incidental dance did not make us forget that charming exponent of the saltatory art. The original music by Dr. Mackenzie and Walter Slaughter was again admired, and one or two supplemental numbers found deserved favour.
     A new prologue was supplied by r Buchanan for the introduction of The Bride of Love to the Lyric, and it was spoken with happy and effective expression by Miss Harriett Jay as follows:—

To-night we seek to picture to your gaze
What poets dream’d of in diviner days—
The radiant gods of Hellas, long since fled,
So dim and distant now men deem them dead!
And if we seek, upon our mimic stage,
To bring the Forms of that celestial age,
We ask your help; for such pure fantasy
Demands illusion from the eyes that see
To aid the art which seeks to realise,—
Since what is commonplace to common eyes,
What to the cynic is but dull and bare,
Is fair to those who try to think it fair!
Wherefore, if we should fail to paint to-night
Things once so beautiful and heavenly bright,
Forgive us—help us—do not scorn our dream;
Think us not what we are, but what we fain would seem!

Our tale is old as Love, yet ever new,
As Love shall be so long as men pursue
And maids are woo’d. Right noble is Love’s line,
From godlike Eros to St. Valentine!
Lord of the beating heart and yearning breast,
Life of the world, still godlike and still blest,
Love shall abide,—a living power and token,
Wherever sweethearts kiss or vows are spoken!
The cloud uplifts—the scene grows light and gay,
As in those golden days long past away;
The mist of human care dissolves, to show
How Love came down from Heaven, long ago!

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The Theatre (1 July, 1890)

“THE BRIDE OF LOVE.”

New poetical play in four acts, by ROBERT BUCHANAN.
First produced at the Adelphi Theatre, Wednesday afternoon, May 21, 1890.

IMMORTALS

Chorus of Graces and Elementary Spirits.
MORTALS.

Attendants, Cupbearers, Soldiers, &c.

     Save in one character, Mr. Buchanan has turned to excellent account the beautiful legend of Eros and Psyche. It was a hazardous experiment, this endeavour to submit to playgoers, too prone now-a-days to turn everything into ridicule, so ethereal a subject, but by his poetic verse and dramatic treatment, the author commanded the interest and respect of an unusually critical audience.

The legend has been frequently dramatized, notably in ballet form by Moliére, and has been the foundation of burlesque and extravaganza, but Mr. Buchanan’s method is new and original. On the summit of a mountain we behold Eridon and Cupidon, children of Aphrodite, amusing themselves by shooting Love’s arrows among the throng of citizens below, and enjoying the effect their random shafts produce. The Goddess, jealously incensed at the neglect shown her altars in Cyprus and the almost worship bestowed on Psyche, through her oracle proclaims that the daughter of Methonos shall be chained to the Rock of Sacrifice to be devoured by a sea monster. Eros, eldest born of Aphrodite, is beguiled by his henchman, Zephyros, into gazing down the mountain, and beholds Psyche.

The god who has implanted love in every human breast, has never yet himself felt its power—his soul is at once inflamed. He rescues Psyche from the rock, and bears her away to the Garden of Love. Unalloyed happiness is theirs for a time, but envy and jealousy destroy it. Psyche’s sisters, Hyla and Creusa, taunt her that she knows not who is her lord. Up to this time she has refrained from asking, blissful in her ignorance, but now she presses Eros to grant her a last request, and he swears by “Styx and Acheron” to comply. She questions him as to who he is. In an agony of grief he is compelled, by his oath, to answer, for by the laws of Olympus it is written that—

                        “Should a god reveal himself
In god-like guise, or name his heavenly name
To one mortal birth, of that mortal’s eye
Never shall look upon the light again.”

Psyche is stricken blind as Eros vanishes, and is lost to her for ever. Aphrodite rejoices in the punishment of her rival, but her maternal love is so great that it conquers her hatred, when she beholds the agony of her son. Immortal, he cannot die, yet the endless future is to be to him one of heart-broken misery; sway as he will the destiny of others, he cannot influence his own loveless life. Zephyros, feigning the loved voice of Eros, entices Psyche to the mountain top where dwell the deities. Sightless, she follows, until once more she finds herself clasped in the embraces of her lover. But that embrace to her is death. Eros prays the gods that she may be restored to him, “Give me back the soul which ye have taken from me.—Say, ye gods, that love shall conquer death.” Aphrodite petitions Zeus that Psyche may be made immortal. Their prayers are granted. Psyche returns to life, this time immortal, with the words

                     “Eros, my love, where art thou?
A cloud of brightness—Light—and thou within it
My Lord—My Master.”

The discordant note that is struck in an otherwise exquisite allegory, is in the drawing of Zephyros, servant to Eros. His character is so specially modern and mundane. And exception may, perhaps, be slightly taken to the mortal and spiteful attributes of the sisters in the Garden of Love—a paradise—when Psyche, through Eros’ power, has given to them Lycas and Atalantos, the men they had long loved, but who had hitherto been insensible to passion for them. The scene in which the several kings sue for Psyche’s hand in Cyprus is powerfully written, and affords scope for good delivery, of which advantage in most cases was taken. In the Garden of Love was introduced a pas seul with cymbals, most gracefully danced by Miss Letty Lind.

In her long retirement from the boards, Miss Ada Cavendish has lost none of her dramatic power, and her return to her profession was cordially welcomed. Miss Harriett Jay, for whom the part of Psyche has been written, after the first few lines delivered the text with sympathetic grace and true poetic feeling. Mr. T. B. Thalberg commenced weakly, hurrying his utterance in a lamentable manner. This was evidently from extreme nervousness, for he gradually improved, and in his last scenes left little to be desired. Mr. Lionel Rignold is not altogether to blame that he made of Zephyros a cockney attendant on his master. Mr. Brydone, Mr. Outram, and Mr. Roe did thorough justice to the lines entrusted to them.
     The “Bride of Love” was placed in the evening bill at the Lyric Theatre, June 9, 1890, with only the following changes in the cast: Eridon (Miss Laura Linden), Cupidon (Miss Emmie Bowman), Zephyros (Mr. Ernest Hendrie, who materially improved the reading of the character, and made it almost acceptable), Euphrosyne (Miss Luna, who gave the dance, but some of her lines were transferred to Aphrodite), and Creusa (Miss Mary Kingsley). The character of Nassrad, King of Ethiopia, was eliminated. Taken altogether, the later performance was an improved one, and Miss Harriett Jay spoke the most appropriate and delicately-written prologue that was introduced with graceful effect. As at the matinée, the music expressly composed by Dr. A. C. Mackenzie was thoroughly appreciated, and the beautiful Epithalamium in the second act was specially so well rendered by Mr. Stedman’s choir as to be enthusiastically redemanded. Mr. Walter Slaughter, who conducted the orchestra, had also composed some very tuneful incidental music (dance and songs). The costumes, designed by Karl, and executed by Messrs. Nathan, were most tasteful. As a first piece, Alec Nelson’s tender little drama, “By the Sea” (founded on “Jean Marie”), was very well acted by Mr. Leonard Outram (Jamie), Mr. A. Brydone (Robin Gray), and Miss Frances Ivor (Jeanie).

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Miss Letty Lind - personification of the poetry of motion

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Next: Sweet Nancy (1890)

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