HAYMARKET THEATRE.—The power of drawing houses by LISTON i n his
old characters lasted so long, that the manager very naturally abstained from novelties till the latter part of the season ; and of the few new pieces that have been produced, to our shame be it spoken, we have taken no critical reckoning. An affair which is known under the name of William Thompson has been acted during the past week, and still preserves the title of " the last new farce." We believe it to be new, and know it to be one of the last of farces. It would be extremely difficult for an ingenious person to crowd into so small a space so large a portion of absurdity and incoherency. The story proceeds thus. The gentleman who gives his name to the farce is himself given to sleep-walking, and begins the entertainment by falling asleep in some coffeehouse in Piccadilly about noon. Having laid his head upon the table in this very probable manner and very silent neighbourhood, he gets up, still continuing asleep, and walks into a coach, which runs from town to Highgate or some place in the immediate neighbourhood of London. The coach pulls up, nobody knows why, at the house of a Dr. Soothem, whose daughter is to be married on that day to a Mr. William Thompson, which said bridegroom neither the father nor the daughter had ever seen. The Thompson who had come in is taken to be the person of the same name who had been expected, and is of course much surprised at the reception which he meets, as he is altogether unacquainted with the family where he is domesticated. At last the genuine bridegroom— represented by Mr. J. REEVE, and exercising the calling of a fish- monger—arrives from Fish Street Hill ; and all mistakes are adjusted, by that absolute authority which dramatical writers occasionally exer- cise over common sense and possibility. There being no sense in the affair, there is of course no humour in it, unless we give the name of humour to jests of action and jokes of costume. Dr. Soothem is called the keeper of a lunatic asylum, for the purpose of giving him authority to order JOHN REEVE'S head to be shaved. Mr. REEVE, on his entering the Doctor's house, is assaulted by a pack of dogs, which of course are kept for the recreation of the lunatics. The dogs tear off a skirt or so of Mr. REEVE'S coat, and he thereupon excites, a pos- teriori, the laughter of the audience, by a sort of joke not uncommon with this actor. Having said so much upon the subject of the farce,
we shall do all parties the justice to add, that the audience were highly amused with it, and that it has been much commended in some of the Daily Papers. Some excellent Comedies have been excellently performed at this house during the last ten days.
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