The National Register. — London, England, 1811-01-20 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTEI% 44 DRAMATIC REGISTER. LYCEUM THEATRE. THE BEE-lIIVE, A FARCE. A new Musical Farce was last night produced at this Theatre, under the title of The Bee-Hive. The name of this piece might be considered of itself sufficient to attract the 'critical wasps in great numbers. How far this may really happen, I cannot take upon myself to say, but I must be allowed to observe, that if they repaired to "The Bee -I live" in the expectation of being able to purloin much honey from its Proprietor or Proprietors, they must have been disappointed. The Piece opens with the view of an Ina, at a seaport town, (the Beehive), from which the Farce is named, and at the moment of the arrival of a Fleet with troops from foreign ser vice. A yobng lady, (Mrs. MOUN rAIN,) arrives at the Beehive, at the same time, with the Intention of learning the character and disposition of a young Officer, expected by the Fleet, to whop., tho' " unknowing and unknown," she was, at the desire of both their Parents, to be married. The two Lovers had corresponded, and had thus anticipated a real by a Platonic love. The young lady is under a false name, and the Captain, whom she is seeking (Mr. WRTNCII,) is obliged to conceal his from the fear of bailiffs; in tins double disguise they fall in love with each other; but the Captain dis coNesing the character and quality of his mistress, first resolves to put her love to the test, by introducing the mi litary friend w v had just arrived with him, (Mr. Lovegrove,) under his own real name. Much regret is in consequence shewn on the par. o the lady, and she, at the moment influenced by her pz ekliliction for the other Officer, doubts the reality of his character : the real lover however furuishes him with documents to confirm the introduction, gnd the lady parts from hini in disappointment. The Landlord of the Inn soon undeceives her, and she, in her turn, determines to revenge herself upon her lover, by feigning a real attachment for the friend to whom be has thus lent his name; this occasions rather a ludicTous scene between them, but all the parties soon unveil themselves, and after the laugh has been ultimately turntd 4 , .litist each of the two Officers, the Piece concludes by the two lovers joining hands. - - The first part of it is exceedingly dull. MAT rirEws in the Gabbling Landlord of " The Beehive," endeavoured to keep the audience in good humour by exclaiming, " lots of smiles, lots of ogles, &c." but the character was so ridiculous, that those who listened with any degree of attentian, could only exclaim, gi lots of nonsense !'"Fowards the end it improved very much, and, in addition to the bustle which pervades the whole, consi derable humour was thrown in, to which the whole of the Performers did perfect justice. Throughout, no attempt is made to awaken interest. The effect however, is pleasing, and if considerably shortened in the first part, and slightly pruned in the last, will go off with greater spirit, and probably become a f .vourite. Nothing would improve it more than disburdening it of one or two of the inferior characters. The part of the landlady is not only useless, but offensive, as though fully sketched it is preposterously extravagant: The character of a soldier, who can only speak in military phrases, is ably dniwn by the author, and admirably sustained by LOYECROVE . ktF.:4CII, in a bustling lover, deserves much praise, and MA- Tti Ews, though his character is not a good one, contributed greatly to the success of the piece. Mrs. MOUNTAIN and Miss r.t.v are entitled to the author's best thanks. The name of the author of this piece, we are informed, is MILLINGE N. The music, by Mr. HORN, is very pleasing. mighty busy in spreading wonderful reports throughout our town respecting Mr. Jowl ICE tdecz's extinguishment of lights, and tho several tolerably disposed people have hinted that his inten tion in so doing was merely to produce a better effect on the stage, yet I cannot forbear telling you, what the insinuations of some and surmises of others, have taught the generality of our townspeople to look on as the true cause of this affair. Two or three of our leading men have stated that Mr. KEW. Fe felt himself slighted by the fair inhabitants of the Dress Circle, who seemed too often to pay more attention to each other's charms, than to his Declamatory powers ; and conse quently by putting them a little more in the dark, he should bring himself a little more into light : now, it must be owned / Mr. Editor, that all this was very fair, by way of argument' but our Dons, not chusing to subscribe to this opinion, tho' they granted the fact, they denied the cause ! They argued that Mr. Manager KgMBLE had no other view than te trench ment ! and consequently in the reduction of lights, he flattered himself wilt a reduction of expences, at all events in the department of War, Tallow, and Spermaceti ; and those who embraeed this side of the efiestion,wert further; they said, that owing to the late disastrous 0. P. war, which had brought on a wonderful variety of accumulated expenses, every system of economy was now become absolutely necessary within the walls, and that M. KEMBLE bad only made a beginning in his propsed system, since by taking away the lights from the people, be might ca, ry on more extensive operations in the dark, Now, it must be owned also, that this was a very fair matter of argumentation, but as parties at the time this new, l'reived in our little town were running high, so the belief o* the one and the disbelief of the other, had liked to have caused tooth and nail destruction among us, had not all argument been put an end to by a real matter-of-fact grievance, to which I alluded in the beginning of this letter. You must be well aware, Mr. Editor, than the manners. the fashions, the squabbles, and the follies of a great city, are soon aped in small towns, and therefore when our Manager became acquainted with Mr. KEMBLE's curtailment of candles, he used the extinguisher so freely in our Theatre, that we are literally almost in the dark, so that till the awful moment arrives when the curtain rises, we sit more like the audience at a phantanna gorical exhibition than the spectators of a play, which said dark ness, to look further than the real grievance, may obviously tend to the perversion of good order and good breeding. In common then with others, I am at a loss to know for what reason the theatre in London should be deprived of its resplen dent dignity, or a generous audience partially obscured by such petty limitations. I pray you, therefore, Mr. Editor, to give us some more distinct information on this subject, for, by so doing, you will not enly clap an extinguisher on the opinions of our Dons, hut you will teach our manager to return to his duty, and moreover you will lay under personal obligation. Your most obedient Servant, RUSTICULUS. MR. I,EWIS. On Sunday morning died, at his house, ht Westbourn-plact, Mr. Wm. Thomas Lewis, aged 65, a Gentleman poiiessing an excellent private character, of sin..tular merit as a performer, and fir many years manager of Covent Garden Theatre. He en joyed the smiles of a London audience for thiel-six years, during the whole of which long period, he never for a moment departed from his duty ; the, proudest aim of his life was to merit approbation. He would frequently remain by himself for a whole day together, eudeavonring to threw some new light beauties into his different characters. His favourite parts were Belcour, Ranger, Benedict, Afertutio, and the Copper . Captain, in which last he took a final leave of his generous friends and admirers, about eighteen months ago: He then assured the audience that it would be gratifying in his seclusion, to reflect, that during the long period 4n4 had been in their service, he, had never once incurred: their dlipleasure. To his family he was most affectionate ; often denyint himself the enjoyment of the fruits of his labours, in order that he might make them independent of the world. ..iii THEATRICAL DARKNESS. Mr. Er Tort--I am a country gentleman of slender capacity, moderate income, a friend of the buskin, and a constant reader of your esteemed paper ; it is thro' the medium of its print, if you think proper to grant this a place In its publication, that I prop.)so to myself the removal of a grievance sorely complained of in our town, and to ascertain the real cause of your managers' reduction of caudks in your National Theatre. I must give you to understand Mr. Editor that fame has been .t I