The National Register.
London, England, 1819-02-21 00:00:00

DRURY LANE.

Ott Thereby' week was presented a new farce, en.
titled 21:rotioa s ; or, .4 Trip to Exmouth. The
plot may be told in. a few words FrederickAn-
gustus Pageant, Baronet (Nlunden), having, in con.
sequence of the stelden death of an elder brother, suc-
ceeded to the title and a large estate, escapes front the
thraldom of a clue:se-shop in the Borough, with a more
titan ordinary share of vulgarity, and becomes passion..
utely enamoured 'of high titles and ancient Nobility,
The old Gentleman has a niece (Miss Cubitt), hand-
some and accomplished, by whotn he is I.e.:Jived to ob-
taiu an allianee with the Peerage; brat the voting Lady
has most perversely, though without her uncle's
knowleage admitted a plait Commoner (T. Caoke)
tile undisputed passe ion of. her heart. Sir Frederic::.
accompanied lay his niece, her in lid arthm< Mrs. Alsop,)
and his man Thu (Knight), as. the Baronet expresses it,
"all in the famity way," takes a summer trip to Ex-
.mouth," in the hope of there m.:cting with some oppo:.
Milky ofgratifyinghis High Notions; and thither Frank.
lin the lover, with el: ip his servant (Russell), fo:low them.
Skip, to obtain ill/ introduction into the Baronet's house
disgeiscs himself as Master of the Ceremonies; and
'while he delights the car of the Baronet with the pr . •
mite of introducing. him to some foreign Duke, et'
immense wealtli and consequence, he contrives to
convey a letter to the neice from Franklin, apprising
her of the plot. The Master of the Ceremonies re.
tires, and Seip soon after returns disguised as the
premised Duke, and by drop pin„ a letter, which the
ilartmot picks upe and reads, he makes him believe
that he perneses to have the Baronet's name inserted
in " the new batch of' Peers," and that Franklin is a
Lord of ancient family in disguise. The trick succeeds
and the lovers are happy.

This cu:line is completed by an ea,y and sprightly
dialogue, amusing incidents, and soine very pleasing
singing. Minden and Knight sang a very good duo
on the charms of a substantial dinner, Scc. which was
loudly encored , and even called for a third time. These
popular actors exerted themselves mast ably and most
successfully, and kept the bons., in roars of laughter.
Miss Cubits and Mr. T. Cooke were hielly ap:)laudeil
in several songs, some of which ware encored.' The
part of Martha was much too trifling for to ch an ar.
tress as Mrs. Alm); she, however, help,!,l to conce it its
insignificance.. Reuel rendered the Mal er of the•
Ceremonies, and the Spanish Grandee, very amasin;;.
personages.
Both the mule and the dialogue arc the productions
of Mr. Parry. It was receive I in a most flattcriug
msnner, and is likely to become a fairJarite with the
Public.

Monday night a new Tragedy, which had been.an-
nounced for some time as being in preparation, was
produced at this house, under the title of Srviber.'and.
Public r. port had previously announced it as coming
from the pen of Miss Porter, and expectation was raised
to the highest pitch to witness this dramatic offspring
of the writer of " Thaddeus of Warsaw," " The Pas-
tor's Fireside," and several other tlesrvedly favourite
Novels.Tbe house was crowded in every part previous to
the rising of the curtain; and the reception given to Mr.
Rae,who spoke the Prologue, proved the disaosition of
the audience to be of the most favourable / i tion.The
Piece cotn.aencei under the most promising auspices;
but even before the first act concluded, the fate which
awaited it was obvious. It is at all times a painful task
for us to speak in terms of harshness and severity of
any unfortunate Author: it is more especially ars when
the subject of our comments springs from the•pen of
female. Justice, however, demands we should, on this
eccasioa, ded ire, .th it never did we hear a piece con•
demncd which more jnstly merited its • fate than the
pr 'auction of this evening. As Srvitzer:and is consigned
to the tomb of all the Copulas, it is scarcely requisite
we should enter into any description of the plot. It is
fortunate fur us we have this excuse for deporting from
our usual custom ; our difficulty would otherwise have
been insurmountable ; fbr we must conf.:ss the plot, if
were was any, soared very fir beyond our comprehee-
ajar,. We are involved in as much ignorance of t o
motives which governed the actions of the several per-
sons of the Drama at the fallio4 of the curtain, as ee
were at the conclusion of the Prologue; bat if the pint
thus rose above comprehension, its flight was •in some
measure balanced by the lan4uage, which fell far below
mediocrity. Kean, who, of course, had the p:incipal
male character assigned to him, and appears in
almost every scene, merely walked throuat his part.
We never saw him so entirely fail to produce effect, or
make an impression on his uunience, as in 11:4 perftwir.
once this evening. Mr. Kean will, p.a haps, justify him-
self fur thus disappointing the expcctaLions of the PO,-
lie, by saying he did not like nut character, and the
piece w toted merit. This, however, is no excuse, either
to the author or the Public, An author may thus
be ruined, and the public disappointed, by the fanciful
caprice of a performer, whew utmost exertions are the
pyoperty of both the author and the Public, if he is
honoured with pubic patronage. The play was in

FED. el'

ether respects injudiciouely cast : Rae, who is certainly
a respectable performer in his line, and a tlivourite with
the Puhlic, had only the task aesigned to him of speak-
ing the prologue ; while Mr. 11. Kemble was thrust
into a character he could very ill sustain. Mrs. West
exerted herself to the utmost, but received a fell por-
tion of the disapprobation of the audience; who, how-
ever, by the applause they bestowed upon her when
she entered to speak the Epilogue, sheaved that the
ilieapprohation was not intended for her, but flu the
chmeeter she had to sipport.The curtain MI at length,
amidst the most marked disapprobation. There was a
general cry for the Manager; .\lr. 11. Johnston, how-
ever, came fie-ward to announce the piece for repetiti m,
but was obliged to retire ; and the cry for the Manager
was repeated,but no Manager appeared. The overture of
the force was played, the curtain rose, and the force of '
High Nigiatis commenced. MN. Bland and Knight
appeared; but the cry for the Manager became still
loader, and they retired. The stage remained unoccu-
pied fur 10 minutes, when Mrs. Bland and Knight
again appeared, and another attempt was made to pro-
ceed with the fltree ; this excited the indignation of the
audience ; the performers were assailed with a shower
of oranges and apples, and &Aged to retire •a second
time. The tumult and cry of " Shame, Manager
arose still higher, and Mr. S. Kemble at length op-
peered. He was saluted with a shower of oranges,
and apples, and other missiles, and we were sorry to
olizerve a piece of orange strike him on the face with
considerable force, As soou as he could obtain a hear-
ing he addressed ehe audience ,is follows—" Ladies and
(*sidemen, It is your province to give the low, and
ours to submit "—[Cries of ‘• Why did you not come
forward when you were called for ?"j—"Though I
cannot but regret the failure of the Piece to.nights
may perhaps be allowed to make one observation. We
have produced several new Pieces this season, all of
which have fortunately met with your approbatien.—
(Applause.)—Lalies and Gentlemen—l have only to
aide, that, in compliance with your command, this
Piece has been withdrawn." Mr. Kemble bowed and
retired, amidst loud applause; quiet was restored, and
the Face of High Notions procoelett and restored good
humour.