After the anticipations we have entertained and eticouraged, of the
brave doings to be expected from the new management of Covent Garden, it is mortifying to confess the disappointment we experienced on Wed- nesday, in witnessing the production of the first dramatic novelty pre- sented to the public under the auspices of Mr. AlACREADY. This adventure, which is a comedic larmoyante, evidently " taken from the French," was announced to be a new )lay, in three acts, called The Novice. The least objectionable part of the story a this drama is of the lowest older formerly issued at the Minerva press; but the honest writers of Leadenhall Street never, to our knowledge, insulted their customers by the relation of an intrigue so disgusting as the scenes of this play present. Such representations are, we know, highly rebsbed on the Boulevards ; and we regret to add, they are Hove tolerated at Covent Garden. A description of a moiety of the plot will enable ottr readers to judge for themselves. At the commencement of the play, the heroine, who appears to have been exceedingly weary of her abode in a convent, is supposed to have fallen in love with a painter employed in executing all altar- piece. In the first scene, the young lady, having taken offence at the conduct of her lover, instantly bestows her band on a gay young officer, whom she has never before seen, but who, it afterwards appears, is chosen to be her husband by the Elector of Bava- ria. The object of this sovereign in forwarding the wedding is to anticipate the bridegroom. Meanwhile, the noble husband-elect is prevented from endeavouring to avert the die! ',flour of his in. tended wife, and himself, by the fear of being immured in a dis- mal dungeon: he accepts money to pay his debts from the para- der of the prince ; who iusieitates his intention of employing the man he intends to deerade, as an ambassador. To make the affair still more revelting, the aunt of the young lady is teen receiving the moelt-buinage of the courtiers in consequence of the suspected adulterous coimexion of her niece with their royal master. If such a medley of maudlin sentiment, frivolity, grimace, and prolacy, had been placed before the public at Drury Lane, what an outcry would have been raised against the lessee of that theatre! And must the offence to good taste be passed over in silence because it has been com- mitted by his popular rival ? It is not the inferior quality of the piece, nor the injury the adoption of such alien trash inflicts upon our native authors, of which we at present complain, but of the breath of good mariners, to say nothing of morals, which the representation of such scenes upon the English stage involves. Similar objections have been urged against the performance of The Bridal; but in that play a noble mural is %yolked out ; and we heartily wish the restrictions on the Theatres during Lent were removed, that the tragedy might be acted on every Wednesday and Friday. To return to The Novice. Although the piece is insufferably tedious, even in its best scenes, it has the usual quantity of faux de th&iire and coups de tldtitre, which are rife in all French dramas; but the strokes of nature are few and far between. The play is smoothly enough ren- dered; and, reduced to half its present length, it might have had a run at one of the Minor houses; but that such a farrago of nauseousness and insipidity should have occupied a place in either of our National Theatres, and that three precious hours should be wasted in listening to it, are evils not to be endured without a murmur. Sundry sibila- tions, subdued groans, and audible yawns, were at time' heard in our neighbourhood during the progress of the play ; and had the audience been more numerous than it was at full price, we believe the piece would have been condemned ; but two or three unexpected strokes of humour in the lust scene, and some ingenuity in the management of the denouement, propitiated the second-price visiters, whose patience had not been previously exhausted : these circumstances, together with the strong disposition which at present exists in favour of the management, prevented the non-contents from ex- pressing their disapprobation, and the fall of the curtain was attended with moderate applause. The play was consequently atmouliced for repetition ; but we ran mot believe that it will be often performed, not- withstanding the xpense which has been incurred In getting it up. The scenery and furniture are in some instances gorgeous, aud the dresses apptopriately splendid. Magnificent accessories, however, seldom contribute to the success of a comedy on our stage. The de- portment of a French comedian, attired in court costume and paying mm devoire Iii ti ;feline!, is as easy as when he is dressed in a surtout and leans and gossiping in a cafe or a restaurant. English performers, on the contrary, when cased in velvet mid satin, with the accompaniments of bag or lull. bottomed wigs, swords, hoops, &c. are almost invariably stiff and pompous; their manners become constrained; and they spout their sentiments arid whine their griefs as if they were repeating.lesseirs by rote. From this sweeping censure we must, on this occasion, e
eept Miss Faucrr and Mr. AsingasoN ; whose natural and impressive recital of their distresses was several times rewarded by warm testi- monies of approbation. In some of the passages they delivered, we observed traces of the mannerism of the presiding genius of the spot ; and the thought occurred to us, that when the master shall come in juxtaposition with his pupils, the effect on the spectators will be some- what similar to that produced by the sight of a group of family por- traits. No matter; if the pictures be true to nature, we shall not object to a little monotony in the style of their execution.
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