At the Haymarket, an anonymous " lady " has been
acting the Widow Behnour, in Murphy's dull and disagreeable comedy The Way to Keep Him. The impression made by her may be summed up in the seeming paradox, that considered as a lady she is remarkable for ease of manner and deport- ment, but that considered as an actress a want of ease is to be discerned. She seems the very person to give one an affable kind reception in a drawing.- room; but there is a perpetual constraint about her movements as an artist. That she thoroughly understands the character she has embodied, and has given it a most careful study, there cannot be a particle of doubt.
The Adelphi and Lyceum have been carrying out the notion of making the stage the mirror of the time, to an extreme that may be called practical. Ibrahim Pacha was scarcely out of the country when a farce called Abraham Parker was produced at the former theatre, resting solely on a vulgar mispronunciation of the Pacha's name and title, and in the appear- ance of Wright in a Turk's dress. The piece is too absurd to merit criti- -cism; but then, it is meant to be absurd, and as it raises a laugh it answers its purpose. The Keeleys, observing the heat of the weather, must needs make that the foundation of a dramatic scene, in which the company leave off acting in consequence of the temperature, and then show themselves, according to a very ancient practice, in front of the house. This is poor pleasantry.
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