... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. WILD OATS. SOME day, no doubt, some competent writer will favour man kind with an exhaustive essay on the question Why do I go to the theatre? The subject is indeed far too recondite and complicated a one to be dealt with off-hand as might be fondly imagined. On the contrary, it might very well be divided into as many heads as a Scotch ser mon. There is a vague idea ...

... . MM. Sabdott and Najac's comedy Divor^ons, in which Mme. Chaumont scored one of her most popular successes, was essen tially a piece d' occasion, and has lost most of its raison d'etre now that a Divorce Bill is no longer under discussion in France. It will he recollected that its hero, the cynically philosophic M. Des Prunelles, whose wife seems to he in love with her cousin Adhemar, ...

... . Why the management at Toole's Theatre thought it worth while to imperil the success of such a witty little piece as Faust and Loose by thrusting it before the public in an unprepared state we cannot profess to understand. Better a postponement even at the last moment than a performance which gave so bad a first impression as did the premiere of Mr. Burnand's smartly written and cleverly ...

... . The Galley Slaxe, by Mr. Bartley Campbell, which has been played during the week at the Grand Theatre, Islington, is an odd medley of melodrama and comedy, or what is intended for comedy. For educated audiences it is but poorly fitted, nor is it a fair specimen of the robust drama which delights transpon tine and eastern playgoers. Yet it has a certain go and dash, which secure for some of ...

... . ON Monday evening last the bright and tuneful operetta, A United Pair, was followed, at St. George's Hall, by a new musical sketch, in which Mr. Corney Grain illustrates some recent experiences' of Aix les Bains. Beginning with the in evitable commencement of a continental holiday, he goes through Paris, I visits a café chantant, and hears the cafe chorus, which varies, but never really ...

... FRINGE OF WALES'S. A PATIENT study of Mr. Horace Sedger's new play, on its production at the Prince of Wales's one afternoon last Week, failed to suggest the meaning of its title-- Hidden Worth. It is true that whatever worth the piece may have had was kept very carefully concealed until the final fall of the curtain, but this can hardly have been the reference intended by the author. The ...

... . THE continual increase in the number of amateur vocalists is likely to bring accessions to the list of our professional singers. The lastest accession is that of Mr. Charles Wade, who--after winning fame as an amateur tenor--has adopted the career of a professional vocalist, and on Tuesday last, at Prince's Hall, gave the second of three chamber concerts honoured by Royal patronage. It will ...

... PAVOY THEATRE. A NEW operetta, entitled The Carp, was successfully produced last Saturday at the Savoy Theatre, where it will for the present serve as a lever du rideau before The Mikado, which still draws large audiences. The operetta will henceforth commence at 7.30 p.m. and the opera at 8.30. The libretto of the operetta is written by Mr. F. Desprez, and sets forth a simple story in simple ...

... . At St. George's Hall, amongst the varied entertainments pro vided by Mies Minnie Bell, on Tuesday last, was a new operetta, entitled Keep your Places written by Mr. Robert Reece, and composed by Mr. G. B. Allen. Tbe libretto is founded on the ancient Scottish story of John Grumlie and His Wife, who for the space of an entire day changed places, the wife going on to the farm to hoe turnips, ...

... THE AVESTMINSTER PLAY. IN accordance with a time-honoured custom, the West minster boys have marked the approach of the Christmas holidays by the performance of a Latin play. In a sense the performance is public, and is thus of public interest, but practically the occasion is, as it should be, a sort of family gathering, consisting mainly of the masters, pupils, and their relations, and of Old ...

... A Final R' cltoning. By G. A. Henty. London Blackie and Sons. Mr. Henty gives here a capital story for boys. The hero is a country lad of decent parentage, whose poverty compels him to begin life in a very humble way. At school his honesty and straightforwardness make an enemy for him of another lad, by whom he is pursued with inveterate malice and rascality for many years. Dismissed by a well ...

... The Startling Hrploits of Dr. J. R. Quits. From the French of Paul Celicre. of Paul Celicre. By Mrs. Cashel Hoey and Mr. John Lill'E. London Sampson Low, Marston and Co. London Sampson Low, Marston and Co. There are humour, originality, and character m this story of a French savant, who, while on his way to a christening party at a near town, is, by the force of circumstances, carried off in a ...