The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-02 00:00:00

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

An original farce, from the pen of Mr. Bernard, was
produced at this theatre last evening, under the title of
The Boarding School. The scene is laid at a village in
Devonshire, during the reign of the redoubted Swing, in
1839, where Lieut. Varley (Webster), Capt. Harcourt
(J. Webster), and Cornet Kavanagh (F. Vining), of-
ficers in command of the district, prefer raising the flame
of Love to extinguishing the flames of Swing, and ac-
cordingly sit down in form to lay regular siege to a
boarding•school for young ladies, kept by Mrs. Grosde-
nap (Mrs. W. Clifford). After making the regular ad-
vances by serenades, letters, &c., they each make a lodge-
ment in the heart of a younglady, the Captain taking pos-
session of that of Miss Caroline Blythe (Mrs. Stirling),
while those of Julia Manvers (Miss Charles), and of.
Miss Mary Mite (Miss P. Horten), the daughter of a
rich cheesemonger, are respectively surrendered to the
Lieutenant and Cornet. The officers have just managed
to scale the walls of the play-ground when Mrs. Gros-
denap, accompanied by Farmer Holly (Mr. Clark), the
father of a pupil in prospective, enters, and re she utters
the words, " And now Sir, you will see my pupils at
their amusements," turns, and perceives each of these
three young ladies with an officer at her feet. The si-
tuation told admirably, producing roars of laughter.
. The officers thus foiled send off Mrs. Grosdenap on
a. fool's errand, by a pretended letter from the Earl
of Aldgate, who is desirous of placing his daughter at
her establishment, and then introduced themselves as
deputies to the writing-master, the geography-master,
and the dancing-master. These respectable gentlemen hav-
ing been waylaid and nearly murdered by a Swing mob
on their way to the school, they make the most of their
time, and have got the consent of the „ladies to elope,
when Mrs. Grosdenap returns and disconcerts all their
measures. They escape out of a window. She raises an
alarm of thieves, and the officers re-appear in their pro-
per characters, and are welcoMed by Mrs. Grosdenap as
her preservers from the villains who had entered her
dwelling, evidently for some very horrible purpose.
The Captain replies to her welcome, by a most
flattering eulogy, and all the officers joining him in
expressing a hope that every one will be as
well satisfied with Mrs. Grosdenap's boarding-school
as they have reason to be the curtain falls. The piece
was most 'successful, and deservedly so. The dialogue
is carefully written, and is full of good hits, and the in-
cidents and situations are broadly humorous. The
character of Cornet Kavanagh was evidently originally
written for poor Power, and the melancholy thought of
the unfortunate fate of that exquisite actor, and most
worthy and kind-hearted man, prevented our en-
joying the farce so heartily as we should other-
wise have done. F. Vining acted the character most
judiciously. He was evidently aware of the disadvan-
tage under which he was placed, and, therefore, with
-excellent taste, avoided everything that could raise a
comparison between himself and poor Power. Web
ster's Dancing-master was the richest thing we
have seen since Liston's Opollo Belvi ; and the
Farmer Holly of Mr. Clark was a trifling part
made of consequence by the excellence of the acting.
This gentleman is exceedingly clever, and bids fair to take
high rank in his profession. David Rees acted the part
of James, a Billy Lack-a-day sort of servant with great
unction. His appearance on the stage was the signal for a
roar. Mrs. Stirling's naivette told excellent in the
character of Caroline Blythe, the unsophisticated good-
tempered school girl, and Miss P. Horton and Miss
Charles as the vulgar and the sentimental young lady
were both admirable. Mrs. Clifford as Mrs. Grosdenap
was the very personification of pompous ignorant
quackery. At the fall of the curtain Webster announced
the piece for • repetition every evening amidst the most
flattering of all applause, for a broad farce,, the hearty
laughter of a crowded house.