THE THEATRES.
Busybodies have long been recognized creators of mischief, and conse- quently of drollery on our stage. Hence, Mr. Carey Chick—so named, we suppose, from the bird whose presence forebodes a storm—does not in- fuse much novelty into the new farce of which he is the hero, and which has lately been produced by the Adelphi company at the Haymarket. Generally, however, the mischief-making busybody is a man urged by an insatiable curiosity to pry into the affairs of his neighbours; or he is a goodnatured fellow, anxious to serve every one, but who is so clumsy in his execution that he mars the benevolence of his design. Mr. Carey Chick differs from his predecessors by the repulsive attribute that a love of evil seems to be inherent in his nature, so that when he has produced general unhappiness he rather exults at a success than laments a blun- der. For Mr. Wright the character is well adapted, as he has peculiar command over that language of hints, glances, and gestures, which is so formidable a weapon in the hands of an individual, who while he spreads abroad the greatest possible amount of mischief, would as little as possible compromise himself The scene of Chick's mischief is a country inn, where a wedding is on the tapis; and some of the principal members of the Adelphi comic company—as Mrs. Frank Matthews, Mr. Munyard, and Mr. Paul Bedford—impersonate his chief victims. Hence the piece has the advantage of a "strong cast "; and the excellence of the acting, and the humour of the situations, which are taken from the French, produce much laughter, notwithstanding the poverty of the dialogue. In point of language, we suspect the French original must have been much smarter than The Bird of Passage, as this production is celled.
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