The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-19 00:00:00

'~:,, _,

RAY MARKET THEATRE.

:------ .
PRIZE COMEDY.
'Ito:ILI:1 i.e',ldiipt,h; TIEQ. or The Dag of Dupes, the co m e lye
I).riZe. Compdy Committee unanimouy
for e prize of 500/. proposed by Mr. Webst.er,
totsbileit:iihgeerhstlja:lnsadtv
customs,p'l'o'-ee come 0
,iluleuesatraiaisi illustrative ee
evening,
i nßg.
,riatpi British
44,x' there waes been
expected, the House was crowded
tp 'es in every part. Long before the curtain drew
not a nook or corner of the house
~evenp►e'l' 110x,s,pit, galleries, Were all crammed
.t--€ierven,. tile heats behind the pirars in the second.
to et boxes, whence it is all , but impossible
eti
.eateh a glirnik;e of the stage—were cc-
eoped.
ons
into
wotild have been impossible by, any
°_eeirab!e means to have. crammed ten more
yin, ts any- part of the house. The overture
kid Z'ren performed, Mr. Web,ter came forward
tooy_tAce a prologue, of which the following is a
..-----

e,tablisli'd rule from age to age
lithorise,l the lessons of the stage,
"ned the pleasant duty lies
bp int the manners living as they rise;'
,resent fair folly's face reflected here,
it.ool with a smile, and chasten by a sneer;
Lif.lsenn!e to turn some newer page, and show
The s, and manners as they go
Ali 44Y to keep him' keeps no lover now;
Tie „.1,1,,the wro.ng' forestalls no broken vo
• An, :zs and stiff brocades our faith defeat
en'sulte moralities are obsolete !
entioAß prose hath said its parting say ;
vv')'n, with a thousand arms, hath clear'u the way;
Theailroad waits f speechifying, man,—
world's a game of Catch him if you can !
But i'
f, in its perplex'd and motley scene,
Tubule Pleakuit in terludes ee it
eoe Rtage should ,how—hi
true naendry anise recorder,
• nfusion, worse confounded, brought to order!
ii our aim our cost and care
Ap„ 370}irs • a pictiire—English manne they are.
the kind requital ofourask!
s„Pat!ellt audience is the boon we ask.
11,,,,i:initted long to your supreme h.liest, •
sh ester and manager have done their best.
n(t'llid you condemn. to your decree we bow,
A h °II! in justice, hear us, HEAR L'S NOW."
iti:ler the prologue, whi :h was well received, the cur-
tty it°se, mil discovered to us the exterior of a coun-
h. til, at which Lieut. Henry Grigson, R.N, (Mr.
ittst,l)), and Cant. Sippett (Mr. Buckstone) have
tr • 'rived per railroad—the Lieutenant to meet by
tlisPPsw4.l,4lent his aunt, Mrs. Grigson (Mrs. Glover),
shutisiiiss," a retired tradesman, residing in the neigh-
% , and the Captain, who is an inveterate tuft-
susln
(sir? Proceed to the seat of the Earl of Huns-
toisStuart), to superintend the getting up of
jsish ?rivate theatricals. Lord Bellamont (Mrs.
its e,t.), an Eton boy, the eldest son of the Earl,
saseaunlirable specimen of the aristocracy of the
the c'e°nrse and the betting-room, arrives to drive
Lord aPtain in his phaeton to Hunsdon Castle, and his
it 0,8'9 having learned from Sippett that Henry
tekk;enephew of "Hollyhock Lodge," as he
the Q. t, Hollyhock Lodge being the place of
Isisziriig-sons, determines to indulge in the luxury of
Ipst, himself
a snob, and is on the point of drawing down
lass uirnself the summary punishment of the said
troutswhten Sippett very adroitly gets him off the
by drawing his attention to the country and
it ini'• the horses in his phaeton. Mrs. Grigson,.
Vlis4"'spoken excellent-hearted, vulgar woman,
qra hates gentility and sighs for the bustle of
issoereshurch.street and the shop, then enters and
hes tiiins her nephew that she has desired him to meet
out there. in order to be enabled effectually to carry
lisitcn,seheme which she had always entertained of
loess"g,_ him to her daughter. True, it is, that they
old G
°Otralled as children, with the consent of
froto s'igson, but since that period Grigson has retired
ths isu",llsiness, set up as a fine gentleman, become
tes4;nnate associate of Lord Hunsdon, and so de-
l% sianed worshipper of rank that he will not suffer
thse„sughter to wed any one save a lord. In order,
that'ire, to win the old man's favour, she proposes
affee,
who has been at sea ever since he VMS
Labebe -1; should introduce himself as a nobleman ; and
,Alg„ has been for some years messmate with Lord
lan-isru°ll Fitzurse, second son of the Marquis of
Ilits,";genet, it is determined that he shall introduce
elf to old Grigson under that title. In the next
Stuart). re introduced to the Earl of Hunsdon
Th,Vand his agent, Mr. Cogit (Mr. Tilbury).
tioos'ari is a high-born, high-mannered, cold, ambi-
totce aristocrat—Cogit a shrewd, unscrupulous
The
Y;, raising himself by ruining his patron. The
Is 0 is endeavouring to raise money. on mortgage,
044,11 Ur to contest the county, hoping, that if he
.418 h'urn the county members and the member fa.n.
„41 s4)ruligh of Oldffeld, to keep up his interest, in
borough 'he condescends to patronise Mr.
814", he may be enabled to secure to himself the
t (jr.' the great object of his ambition. The second
AIN fens with an admirable scene between Mr. and
tri,...1714'50n, in which old Jeremy Grigson (Mr.
eso4hsnd)• announces his intention of becoming the
st ti'late for Oldfield under the auspices of the Earl
(-110 ;,cnsdon. The acting of Strickland and Mrs.
',lttsrv: this scene was excellent, and kept the
les I'srs'" in a roar; and the manner in which El-
kosrs. Edwin Yarnold) entered, and he care-
the '4Y, in
kissed her forehead, adding that that was
`vas 6'4Y, in which Lord Hunsdon did the paternal,
tfle .I'l' in the extreme. Henry enters as Lord Al.
rtij'sn, and is, of course, received by Jeremy in the
resi.` "i 1 v ceremonious manner imaginable, to the
tIoW idelight of Mrs. Grigson. The Countess of
(Mis. \V": Clifford), accompanied by her
fiti4C• ter, Lady Mary Rivers (Miss Julia Bennett).
114,-„TPett, are announced. They have come for the
therts of asking the Grigsons over to the private
(Iss-ssrleals at the castle, and on Henry being intro-
Thel,,as Lord Algernon, Sippett is all obsequiousness.
the s'nuntess insists on his returning with them to
Atsb.`sas,tie, recommending her daughter to pay him
stito-ssu,lar attention, " for his, elder brother is in a con-
isiar,"°n"—vvhile Jeremy Grigson recommends his
Als'ss'iter also to pay particular attention to Lord
tt4s'-',?011. Mrs. Grigson is delighted with the sue-
' her o' her plot ; but Ellen has no heart to give to
114:13,11"0°' lin in either of his characters. Her affections
1111;• „; been bestowed upon Rivers (Mr. Howe),
nietsi-all to the Earl, and nephew to Sir George
is—ent (Mr, W. Farren), a rich old bachelor, who
tule4s visit at -the castle, and whose acerbities are
the rated by the Earl and his family on account of
tiffes,r7at expectances they have from him. This love
pen 's• nearly discovered through the prying pro-
kJ's\ of Bridget Prim (capitally acted by Mrs.
• '`,-):‘11, the servant of the Grigsons. However, old
414ii,'Irigson treats all Bridget's hints with contempt,
teto„Ue real state of the young young lady's affections
inn is undiscovered. The scene then changes to
Ivlio5s.":1 Castle, where Rivers has joined Mordent,
of }fad imagined that Lady Mary was the object
not t? secret attentions, but finding that such is
Ystit le case, he introduces him as Mr. Francis, a
musician, who is desirous of superintending the
keastiswtril arrangements. of the private theatricals.
Peet une Sippett and Lord Bellamont begin to
thesus-
brio , truth as regards Henry, and, in order to
Al/: matters to a crisis, they spread a report that Lord
I.'svf.tnnn has left his ship in India, in consequence of
, lensn killed a brother officer in a duel, and Henry
the s n'ediatel3- placed unAer arrest, notwithstanding
her earnest as of Mrs. Grigson that he is
lallaiePhsw, and Lord Hunsdon goes to town to make
Crrirtes at the Admiralty. A letter from Mrs.
to to her nephew, while in durance, happening
eia 11 h Into the hands of old-Grigson, he takes it into
°,„f thess'd to wax jealous, 'while Ellen takes advantage
-elnfusion to wed Rivers, a match at which
's nis ill indignant,until he hears that Rivers
ssagi 3
41.0 rd atlve of the Earl, and is the heir to Sir G.
kit nit when his sorrow is turned into joy, and he
'4lll:ledges Rivers as his son-in-law. The Earl
s'AdArfroul London ; but his return is too late, for
ii•ting in her tnother's advice, has made
thus s"greea'ol eto Ile sry that they also are married,
bya',°"lnecting the Grigson family with nobility
sleeti doable alliimee. In the ineastime the hour
,"-Irig2,a for Old 161 has passed over—and no Mr.
oft he ni,aPParing, Cogit, Who NN Ili in possession
Ole Fuel's letter of recommendation to the respect-
fur eirPoration of the borough, which was intended
he ex s,"' Grigson, uses it on his own account, and, as
elite '',re'ses it, in order to preserve the Earl's influ.
for 'ts and is returned Member of Parliament
dims us borough, thus completing the day of
loji-ti.a. The comedy was followed by a lively epi-
nt tiel'swell spoken by Mrs. Nisbett. The dialogue
brilliant is very well written, and at times
and sparkling, and the actors all exerted
, first ',lves to the utmost. It was evident from the
on condoLu there was a party in the house bent
to ,nsoing
oe possible,
it ifand this was naturally
sett in Peeted. There were ninety-eight comedies
ninet ' consequently there must have been at least
that, tseven persons, each of whom was convinced
kosuesc' swas an ill-used individual, and that he had
eosoeu a comedy infinitely superior to the prize
friends' It was, therefore, natural to expect that the
stroW 0f the disappointed 'candidates would muster
last evening. Their disapprobation, however,
stilii,s,Tolvned in applause until the end of the comedy,
lOCCie't
e.ir.inkorous effort was made to prevent the epi-
arid brie g heard. 'Webster, however, came forward
Was restored
addressed the audience, after which quiet
,seal,.'Ored, and the epilogue spoken, and atten-
• io 4.Y4.l.ols.tened to and applauded. The applauders were
tassedc
414 d majority during the evening, and having
to sho'fro ugh the ordeal of the first night, there is
has ss,..‘ but that the comedy will have a run. It
. 7,101,, put on the stage in the best possible manner,
goo4wl, „II with some judicious curtailment, make a
tight lively, bustling acting play. 'Webster was quite
as it"' under the circumstances, to produce it at first
Was originally• I, •
1101,‘, sent, in ; having done so, he may
towa,sw, e think, venture to condense it—particularly
hie
the close—so as to bring about the denouement
• thei, rapidly. Great praise is due to all the actors for
, sr exertions and
Mr. more particularly is honour due
,• Farren for taking such a part as Mordent
any other hands it would have been a