THE THEATRES.
Tam Haymarket bills parade a succession of the "stock pieces," as ' they are called, of our comic drama ; and the audience hear the words of different parts parroted forth ; nay, they even see Mr. Flamm, Mrs. NisnETT, and Mrs. GLOVER, personate certain characters : but to say that The School for Scandal, The Rivals, The Clandestine Marriage, and The Way to Keep Him, have been represented at this theatre, is more than we can conscientiously do : for, however well some parts here and there may have been acted, others, and those principal ones too, have been played so insufficiently that no adequate impression of these comedies can have been conveyed to such as had not before seen them ; while to those who remember the effect they produced in the• palmy days of the stage, disappointment is the most moderate feeling excited.
A Bold Stroke for a Husband, The Hypocrite, and She Stoops to Con- quer, have been what is called "revived" this week ; the term being applied to a process of partially awakening some old-fashioned comedy from the torpid state in which it has been suffered to fall for want of a spirit to animate its frame. It reminds one of the efforts to revive a person who has sunk into a lethargy : Mrs. GLOVER rubs the hands and bawls into the ears; Mr. FARBER moves the limbs up and down, and tweaks the nose till the face begins to make grimace; Mrs. NISBETT applies volatile salts, and peeps comically into the eyes, giving one of her enjoyable laughs at the oddity of the scene ; while Mr. WEBSTER and his assistants swathe the enfeebled form in all sorts of grotesque attire, chafing and fuming, till it is enabled to totter across the stage, with the support of the company. This may be called a "revival";
; but it seems more like the sort of rousing up in spite of nature that is likely to hasten dissolution.
We were not anxious to see Mrs. Cowmty's make-believe Anglo- Spanish comedy, the title of which, A Bold Stroke for a Husband, is the best part of it ; but the other two we were more hopeful of, and glad to find taken out for an airing in the Haymarket. The cast of The Hypocrite promised well: we had never seen FARREN as Dr. Cantwell, and were curious to compare his performance with that of Dowroar. FARREN'S Cantwell could not be expected to have the unction of Dow- TON'S; but neither was it so forcible as that somewhat coarse but powerful personation. FARBER makes Cantwell a dry man of busi- ness—a methodical villain ; he does not bring out prominently, either the sensuality or the hypocrisy of the character : one Is,
surprised that he should fall into the snare laid for him by is Lady Lambert, or even be tempted by such a bait : he is not
sufficiently sleek, and scarcely plausible in his simulation : he seemed to hold his dupes in contempt, and hardly to tolerate them. There were some clever touches in his acting ; but, taken as a whole, it was meagre, and wanted body. The best scene was where he makes• the bargain with Charlotte to give up his claim to her hand: his love- making to young Lady Lambert was artful and specious, but cold and passionless ; his momentary triumph wanted commanding determina- tion; and his ultimate discomfiture, though marked strongly by an outward show of agitation, was not expressive of the chagrin and dismay of a scoundrel baffled in the very moment of seeming success by those whom he thought his victims. This last scene was, nevertheless, ap- plauded; though the performance altogether made little impression : and we cannot but attribute this failure to Mr. FARREN'S habit of re- lying too exclusively on his executive skill, instead of bringing his feel- ings into the state of the assumed character. Mrs. Nuncrr, as Char- lotte, played the coquette with a charming gayety and wanton wayward- ness, calculated to tantalize and bewitch the most sensible of lovers ; yet not unmixed with touches of tenderness and indignation, that showed her levity to be but the wilfulness of fine animal spirits and youthful buoyancy that would not be repressed. While others uttered the words as if they had got them by rote, Mrs. NmisErr seemed to speak and act from her own spontaneous impulse. Mrs. GLovr.a, as' old Lady Lambert, looked the female fanatic to the life ; WEBSTER, as Mazoworm, was a good hard guy of grimace ; and STRICKLAND made Sir John a gentleman which is more than we can say for the repre- sentatives of the Colonel and _Darnley. Mr. WIISONE played Charles with propriety and feeling. She Stoops to Conquer went off very pleasantly ; the Hardcastles being so well represented by FARREN, MIS. GLOVER, and Mrs. NI8BETT, and Tony Lump/in so fitly personated by WEBSTER, that the Young Marlow and Hastings were tolerated, though in dress and manners more like a couple of bagmen than either " Frenchmen " or lovers.
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