The fortieth performance by the A.D.C., Which wis given to a good, but not crowded, audience, on Wednesday evening, was decidedly a bold venture, and we were glad to see its boldness rewarded by snccess, The performances this season have Deen most varied; we have had already legitimate comedy, vaudeville, burlesque and drama, On Wednesday we had another change, in the shape of farce of anything Dut uproarious mirth, and a comedietta, which should more justly have been called a farce, in two acts The opening piece "In Possession" is a short farce of the simplest character. Mr. Rattleton Rorke (Mr. Nautilus) is a yoting man about. town who, as usual with No. 1 farce heroes, has drifted into such po: tive impecuniosity, that his landlord placed a bailiff of the usual farce type, Simon Blobber (Afr. Bustynrype) in possession." Anxious to avoid exposure, Rorke dresses the bailiff in his uncle's clothes, instructs him to personate that most useful of relations, and leaves the stage to endeavour to raise the wind. His Lawyer, Mr. Weazel (Ar. Robin), comes and urges the supposed uncle to go with' him to Chancery Lane and prove the nephew's identity; a Major Molpotherley (Mr. St. Aubyn) comes to make urrangements for a duel in which Mz, Rorke has involved himself, and a Miss Pinetta Platts (is Julia Brisaf) wishes him to come and extricate her mistress from the trouble into which she has fallen by the discovery of her secret attachment to the hero. The fun of the piece lies in the Indicrous behaviour of the bailiff, throttled by uncle Neville's tight boots, to these various characters, all of whom he suspects of an iNegal design to get him off the premises but Rorke retu and all
good, and Maddison Morton would prob-ends happily. The iden of the' piece is ably have made it a "screaming success as is, the dialogue is tame and the situations feeble, and the piece fell flat, from no fault of the actors. Mr, Bustynrype, in whom we recognised a very old favourite under © new name, made the most of the bailif's part, and his allusion to a guished official in a neighbouring Con sion brought down the house. The oth parts were well and conscientiously acted throughout, though Mr. Nautilus h shewed the desired ease of the convents flaneur. In My. Robin, the A. D. C. 4 secured an seter of evident utility. would be superfluous to commend Afr. St. Aubyn. Miss Brisaf made us wish that her part were longer.
"Checkmate" wasa great success. It was bold to trust the fortunes of the evening to a piece unsupported by startling scenery, <iresses or situations, but depending entirely on the dialogue and seting. 'The plot ident. Sir Everton effec and Miss Charlotte Russe ister) are destined by fate an conventional' wealthy and deceased to marry each other. lowers respectively the eon Sam Winkle (Afr. Drinkwater), and maid, Murtha Bunn (Afiss Phosphor.)
fears that he is to be taken for his title, Miss Russe that she is tolerated for her wealth, and they determine to test each the other by exchanging dresses with the groom and lady's respectively. On this slight foundation uve amusing acts are built, Mr. Parkins x the hero was conscientious and careful. His attitudes were angular and his voice somewhat monotony ons, but he only wants practice to become hie actor in the difficult line premier jeune. We have never anything but praise to give to Miss Castor—one of the most charming of the long list of charming Indies who have brightened the record of the A.D. C. Mies Phosphor had evidently a most congenial part, and her acting of it will add more to her fame than any role has taken for a long time. But the weight of the piece fell Mr. Drinkwater, and most ably did he support it. He was simply perfect. It must have been a great pleasure to him to get out of the long procession of farce-which he has been so ably representing for years, into a real character ud he did it 80 that. it could not be better. 'The well-trained groom, the music-hall gent, the in' borray feathers, courting the assumed hei with the most laughable conception of aristocratic manners, were each-of them cabinet pictures of the highest class. With all the wealth of talent that the A. D. C. has possessed, we have seldom sven a more finished piece ut acting than this The performances this season have been istinznished by the care with which they been put upon the stage, Wednesday's was no exception to the rule. The second scene of ' Checkmate " was the only one capable of any display. It occupied. the full depth of the stage, and represented the garden of the Grange, with the Grange itself built oat on one side, and the silvery Thames with its villa-crowned banks in the background; and was so prettily painted to elicit a hearty call for the scenists. In one very important, but often neglected point, the A.D. C. has been most fortunate this year—the way in which the small parts are filled, Mr, Doolittle as the officious and knowing waiter, Mr. Ward as the pompous butler, Miss Eliot as the spasmodic pave, Messrs. Chandon and Prince as the yardenet and stableman, were all perfect. types, and were only surpassed by the charming galaxy of neat-handed Phillises, Afisses Jabin, Brisnfand Britannia Motte Phe Wind Instrument Society, led by the indefatigable M. Remusat, opened the evening with Gungl's Blisen Tanze Waltz, Between the pieces they played the ' Iris? Galop: and between the acts of " Checkmate," Auber's "Crown Diamonds" overture:'a selection which the audience received with generally expressed approval.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.