Transcription
ASTLEY’S.—The recommencement of the Dramatic Season, after a short interregnum (which was filled up with a series of entertainments partaking essentially of the business of the arena), was dedicated on Monday to the introduction of one of those exceedingly gorgeous, hippodramatic spectacles for which this establishment has been, in the memory of the oldest playgoer, celebrated. The title of the new piece, which is an Eastern tale of enchantment, is The Bride of Golconda; or, the Genius of the Ring. The plot, in order to bring into full play the resources of the establishment, is of a complicated nature. We are presented with a licentious-minded Sultan, who casts lustful eyes on the bride of an ambitious General, the leader of his troops. The Genius of the Ring, in order to deprive the Sultan of the means of perpetrating his unchaste purpose, changes the monarch into a sort of man-monster, half-brute, half-human being. In this degraded metamorphosis the Sultan forms the subject of chase by his own court and subjects, and, when captured, is exhibited in a cage for the gaze of the curious, over whom he was lately the supreme ruler. Hassan, the general, has usurped the throne, and is pursuing a course of inquiry when the Genius of the Ring again appears in the beneficent capacity. She rechanges the degraded monarch to his pristine form, and, regaining his dignity of man, he places himself at the head of his troops, who recognize with acclaim their restored King. A desperate fight, of course, ensues, terminating the drama with a splendid tableau of warriors and animals, &c, and in the restoration of right and the prostration of injustice. As we have so often spoken before in terms of deserved commendation of the spectacles, and the gorgeous appointments, the effective scenery, &c., &c., which are produced at Astley’s, we can only briefly remark, that The Bride of Golconda bids fair to run as fair a course in public favour as any of its predecessors. The whole corps dramatique and the corps hippo-dramatique, including camels, elephants, zebras, &c. came out in great
