The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-24 00:00:00

HAYMARKET.

A most laughable farce, from the pen of Kenny, was
produced at this theatre last evening, under the title of
Love Extempore. The scene is laid at the country resi-
dence of Mrs. Oldstoek (Mrs. Stanley), where we find
that lady's nephew, Sir llarry Nugent (Mr. F. Vining),
desperately in love with his younger cousin Julia (Miss
Charles). Mrs. Oldstock, however, has a due reverence
for the rights of primogeniture, and has accordingly de-
termined that Julia shall not be wedded until her elder
,sister Prudence (Miss P. Horton) shall have been suited
with a husband. • Now, as the said Prudence is a
blue of the deepest dye, this is by no means an easy matter
to accomplish. However, a certain Titus Livingstone
(Mr. David Rees), a gentleman of the Neddy Bray
school, calling to see his old friend Sir Harry Nugent,
the lovers, aided by the Widow Courtney (Mrs. Stir-
ling), determine that he shall.be the victim, and, accord-
! ingly, Titus and Prudence are actually talked into being
in love with each other. It, however, comes to the know-
ledge of Mrs. Courtney that a marriage has been pro-
posed by Sir Edmund Livingstone (Gough) between
his nephew Titus and the widow's sister Caroline, and
as Titus is an excellent match, and heir to a Baronetcy,
she immediately determines to turn the tables on Sir Harry,
and manceuvres so effectually that it is for some time
doubtful whether Titus will not be rescued from his fate,
and the fair and learned Prudence consigned to the con-
jugal care of Sir Harry himself. The widow's sister,
however, chooses for herself and marries an old flame, on
hearing which the politic widow again joins the party o
Sir Harry, and Prudence becomes Mrs. Titus Living-
stone, while Sir Harry weds Julia. The piece never
flags ; joke follows joke, and incident follows incident,
each more ludicrous than its predecessor, with marvellous
rapidity. We never saw David Rees to greater advan-
tage than in the character of Titus Livingstone. His
broad and unctuous humour told excellently, and as
he dil not over-act his part, he was consequently all the
more humourous. Some of his touches were quite Lisa
tonian. It is decidedly the best character he has yet ap-
peared in. Miss P. Horton, as Prudence, was excessively
clever, and elicited roars of laughter by her apt displays
of her literary acquirements. Her manner of singing a
canzonet, accompanied by herself on the piano, was an
excellent quiz upon the usual style of drawing-room
singing, and the satire was made the more piquant by
Titus falling asleep under the operation. Mrs. Stirling's
Mrs. Courtney was an excellent personification of a
good-tempered, rattling, shrewd women of the world;
and Mrs. Stanley as Mrs. Oldstock, was stateliness itself.
Mr. Clark as Pax, a lawyer, appears but in one scene,
and does not utter more than a dozen words, but he did
the little he had to do so inimitably as to elicit three dis-
tinct rounds of applause. Altogether the farce is one of
the most excellent that has appeared of late, and quite
worthy of Kenny. It was announced by David Rees for
repetition every evening, amidst the vociferous applause
of a crowded house.