The Haymarket has this week produced two of those entertaining
pieces of the kind that snits both the talent of the company and the taste of the audience, and to which this little theatre owes its popu- larity with the laughter-lovers : the one is called a " comedy," by BuessTosu, the other is a translation from the French. Single LYC is a pendant to the same author's stage portraiture of Married Lift ; all the dramatis personte being married couples in the one, and single till the end in the other. Five bachelors of various ages, tempers, and dispo- sitions, are in different ways enamoured of as many Spinsters, who have each some peculiarity also ; and the lovers all pair off for church in the last scene. 'lie main incident of the plot is " the love-chase" of Niggle, the " fluctuating bachelor," after Miss Coy, a demure and dis- creet spinster of " a certain age," who is calumniated by the whole party, School for Scandal fashion; Miss Snare, the " insinuating spinster," being the Mrs. Candour of the story : his friend Damper, the "woman- hating bachelor," who has five times rescued the desperate yet irre- solute Niggle from the matrimonial noose, has nearly succeeded in untying the knot a sixth time, when he is himself caught in the toils of the " luau-hating spinster" Miss Macaw, though the cynical pair are bound in the bonds of mutual hate, not love. The conquest of Nar- cissus Boss, the " self-loving bachelor," by Miss Snare ; the flirtation of Miss Kitty Skylark with poor little Pinkey, time " bashful bachelor ;' and the serious passion of Chester, the " mysterious bachelor," for Miss Meadows, the " romantic spinster "—the last pair practising deception by pretending poverty to test the disinterestedness of each other—serve to fill up the intricacies of a plot as complicated and arbitrary in its conduct as needs he. From this sketch the reader may form an idea of the plan of the "comedy," but he can have no notion of the outrageous improbabilities of the incidents, the excessive caricatures of the per- sons, the monstrous drollery of some situations, and the irresistible comicality of this broad extravaganza ; which bears about the same re- lation to actual life that the coarsely humorous " drolls" of the print- shops do to reality. But the end is answered—people laugh heartily at the fun, and so did we; despite one or two tedious scenes that require retrenchment, for they give one time to think, (a process fatal to the enjoyment of such merriment,) and some disagreeable bantering of abuse of a vulgar sort. The acting is worthy of the drama. STRICKLAND, as the woman- hater, looks enamoured of misery, and seems to grudge himself the sa- tisfaction of being wretched ; while Mrs. GLOVER, as his man-bating helpmate, exhibits a cordial bitterness of the astringent quality of malic acid—with her black spectacles on, her glance is like a double-barrelled pistol levelled at every man who approaches her. Miss CLIFFORD really makes one sympathize for poor Miss Coy ; and her good acting renders the situation in which she is placed, exposed to the jeers and: vituperation of the whole party, as painful as it is unlikely—at least in decent society. WEBSTER' as the perplexed Mr. Niggle, looks like a
s i gray parrot in a state of bewilderment. Bue
sTosis is too assured for the timid little Pinkey, eager to " pop " the question, but afraid of the report : his assumed embarrassment is elaborate in action, but his look and manner belie his gestures. 'WALTER LACY gives full swing to the self-complacency of the .NUTC;SSIIS; Mrs. DAMSON, as Miss Snare, is a dulcet dispenser of flattery and detraction ; MI'S. FITZWILTA AN vocalizes Miss Skylark's share of dialogue with volubility ; and Miss TRAVERS and Mr. HEMMING are as insipid as true lovers commonly are to every
one else but themselves. The neat rhyming epilogue, spoken by all the characters, secured the favourable reception of the " comedy."
The Village Doctor shows the superior tact of the French dramatists in constructing a plot, working up dramatic scenes, reconciling in- consistencies and improbabilities, and dextrously blending the pathetic and the ludicrous. Pierre Bitumens, " the Village Doctor," is called in by the Marchioness de Viellecour to prescribe for her sun Ferdinand, the sole heir of the title : the Doctor soon discovers that his patient is in love, and with Louise, a village lass, the Doctor's housekeeper : keep- ing this secret till lie has worked upon the fears of the Marchioness, lie induces her to consent to the marriage as the only means of saving her son ; and having discovered that the girl is a daughter of his faith- less wife, and that the nephew of the Marchioness was her father, he overcomes the objections of the proud mother to the marriage, by pre- senting Louise as the daughter of a Baron,—declariug himself to be of the same rank, and formerly chief physician to the army of Egypt, though he had sought to bury his name and misfortunes in retirement. Simple and dangerous as are the materials of this little piece, the inter-. est is so well sustained throughout, and the equivocal parts are so adroitly glossed over, that the effect of the whole is delightful. FAR.. HEN'S admirable personation of the Doctor is a powerful aid ; but the air of nature and reality given to every scene makes good acting easy, and almost unavoidable to a certain extent. The scene where the Doctor discovers the letter of his wife disclosing the secret of Louille's parentage, is quite affecting: the grief and indignation of the wronged husband, when the old wound is opened afresh—the loathing with which be regards the unfortunate girl, changing to pity and affec- tion when he thinks of her innocence and tender attention to himself— are expressed by FARREN with a homely truth, more touching than the most high-flown pathetics of tragedy : the trembling hands and failing • energies of the old man are prevented from lapsing into imbecility by the firmness of the veteran. S:.;:pressed emotion is always more moving than the abandonment of grief His acting in the scene with the Marchioness was equally admirable in another way, though the sagacity of the Doctor is not very strikingly exemplified in his discovery of the cause of the patient's illness ; and the little equivoke by which. the jealousy of the selfish, profligate nephew is alarmed, heightens the amusement, though it borders on the offensive. Mrs. W. CLIFFORD, as the vain and foolish Marchioness, WEnsTER, as the coxcomb dehauchee, Mrs. WALTER LACY, as the simple girl Louise, and her husband as the love-sick swain, are each deserving of praise. FARREN'S professional announcement at the conclusion was received in a way that promises a rich harvest of fees to The lvillage Doctor. CDARLES KEAN took his leave on Monday, under flattering auspices. Ile promises to return—we hope he will give us "a long day." MACREADY, PHELPS, HOWE, Mrs. WARNER, Miss H. FAUCIT, amid Miss P. HonToN, are announced to appear at the Haymarket. WILLMOT, the experienced stage-director of Covent Garden, is also engaged : his services will be particularly acceptable here.
Previous page
