the autumn season is in full swing and novelties ure the order of the day. Mr. Wilson Barrett has taken the Lyceum for a time and has chosen The Silver King for his opening venture. It is a piece too well known to need description. Probably he has never been seen to better effect than as Wilfrid Denver, he has certainly never played the part better, and he is most ably backed up by Miss Maud Jeffries and other members of his company. Mfrs. Langtry or, to give her her nev title, Mrs, Hugo de Bathe occupies the Haymarket just now and Mr. Sydney Grundy's new play The Degenerates is drawing largo houses, It is a piece of the same calibre ax The Gay Lord Quex and Wheels Within Wheels, contoing no depth of plot, but smart repartee and opportunities for the wearing of many pretty frocks, of which the mir Lily, and another Lily (Hanbury to wit) are not' slow to avail themselves, The Ghetto, wu adaptation from n work by Mr. Herman Heyermans, lately produced at the Comedy, is of a.very different nature. almost melodramatic, from start to fir ish, it can never hope for popular favour. AS the heroine Rosa, Mrs. Brown Potter looks ghanning, almost prettier. than ever, and Miss Constance Collier, with her dark eyes and gipsy colouring, makes an ideal Rebecca. Mr. Byrle Bellew has t" enact the part of a young Jew and Mr. Titheradge that of mi old Jew—asecond Shylock. Neither of them seemed to have much sympathy with their perts, which were unsatisfactory. The whole piece seemed to have slipped out of the Adelphi and to be entirely out of place in the bright little Comedy. The Elixir of Youth at the Vaudeville has a splendid cast in which are included Mr. George Giddens, Miss Ellis Jeffreys, and Miss Juliette Nesville. Tt isa broad farce of the accepted kind and deals with endless mistakes and adventures, all more or less mirth-provoking. At any rate it suffices for " couple of hours' genuine amusement, and fills the house, here is not much to explain its title, but that is immaterial. Hearts are Trumps, the new Autumn drama at old Drury, is postponed till Saturday. Report says it will outshine The Great Ruby, but we shall sce. Mr. Beerbohm Tree opens with King John on Wednesday.
I fancy he will thy soon want to replace that cruel gentleman by some one less dull, but at any rate the stageing is to be superb. From the Daily Telegraph I see that the Exel of Yarmouth "has decided to follow Lord Rosslyn's lead and adopt the stage as a profession. Under what name is still a secret, but he is said to have accepted an engagement under the management of Mr. Frohman and will shortly appear in New York in Mr. Carton's play [heels swithin Whests. Sir Henry Irving, in_openi bazaar in Birmingham for the Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Association a few ayo, made happy little speed in which he suid he was a bit of a commercial traveller himself and though he had not any of his samples with him they would find them at the theatre; Shakespeare was as fresh as ever and he had a really excellent article in Surdou.
J.K.
14th September.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.