The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-08 00:00:00

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.

A new comedy entitled the. Irish Heiress, was pro-
duced last night at this theatre. It is from the pen of
M. Bourcicault, whose lively play of London Aisur-
once was, it may -be remembered, deservedly success-
ful last season, notwithstanding that it was too much an.
echo of our earlier comic writers. In the present pro-
duction there is much less of the imitative. The author
trusts more to his own resources; and though he ex-
hibits no characters nor incidents marked by decided
originality, yet he is not constantly reminding us, as in
his London Assurance, of Congreve, Cibber, and.
more especially. of Sheridan. The plot of his comedy
is complex, but its leading features are as
follow :—Sir William Stanmore • (Mr. G. Van-
denhoff) is a fashionable young roue, who
is anxious to rid him Self of an incumbrance, in the
shape of a young lady whom he has seduced, as he
imagines, by a counterfeit marriage.' With this view,
he applies to his French valet, Lenoir (Wigan), whom
he prevails on to escort the deserted girl to India, and
there make her his wife. Having so far arranged his
plans, he pays insidious -court to Miss Merrion, whom
he kr.ows to be a rich Irish heiress;' but not being
by any means confident of the success of his suit,
as she has already evinced a penchant for Percy Ardent.
(Charles Mathews), he strives hard to get up a quar-
rel between her and her lover, which. may have
the effect of estranging them from each other. In order
to accomplish these ends, he purposely sets by the ears
Lord Daventry (William Farren), at whose house the
Irish heiress is residing, • and his young wife, by leading
each into the belief that the other is faithless—that
Lordship, for instance, is carrying on an intrigue with
the young Irish girl, and that her Ladyship is at-
tached to Percy Ardent. Out of these mistakes and
fancies arises the chief fun of the comedy.
.Lord
Daventry is jealous—his wife, ditto. A separation is
talked of, and the articles are about to-be signed when
the lawyer, Supple (Cooper), who is to sign them,
makes the startling discovery that the girl whom Sir
William Stanmore has seduced is • his own daughter.
Of course, the outraged father insists on reparation be
ing made to his child, when he makes a second inoite
welcome discovery than the first—that as the marriage
between the parties had been solemnised - in Scotland, it
is valid, however imagined to be otherwise. Sir
thus foiled, finds that he has no resource left but
to be honest, so makes all - due reparation to
the various parties whom- he has offended,
.4y
agreeing to marry Supple's daughter, and confessing the
intrigues by which he had produced a tetnporary.aliena-,
tiou between Lord Daventry and his wife. Percy. Ar-.
dent, who has been Sir William's tool throughout the
affair, marries the " -Wild Irish girl ;" and a Mrs. Com-
fort (Mrs. Orger)-L-Who "plays a very unintelligible part
in the intrigues—espouses a certain Major Fuss (Har
ley), whose business throughout the comedy appears to
be to twirl his fingers, and fidget about the stage as if
he had got St. Vitus's dance. The above is as cor-
rect an analysis of the plot as we can give ; but Ave
honestly confess that there are portions of it Which.
completely perplexed us. Tested, indeed, by his con-
structive faculty, Mr. Bourcicault must be pronounced
sadly deficient as a comic dramatist; but his stnartness—
his fancy---his power of ready repartee—his cordiality, of
true Irish growth—and, above all, the fine play of his ani-
mal spirits,—these are the qualifications which he possesses
in an eminent degree ; and in these are to be found the
true secrets of his success. Whether right or wrong, he
seldom fails to carry the audience along with him, who
laugh, not at him, but with him. His language is uni-
formly neat and perspicuous, sometimes even approach-
ing to elegance ; and when it is sentimental, it has the
rare merit of being so without an effort. As re-
gards the characters, Lord Daventry -bears a slight
resemblance to Sir Peter Teazle ; and there is a
little- of her Ladyship in his young wife ; but the imi-
tation is by no means servile. Mrs. Comfort; like most
of her class, is a tLere fashionable nonentity, and Major
FuSs has his prototype in Marplot. The most original
character is decidedty that -of the Irish girl, which Ma-
dame Vestris sustained nith great taste and spirit. The
brogue was full of racy humour, soft and oily; and her
mingled vivacity and deep tenderness equally charac-
teristic. Farren play gd the part of an elderly Benedi.ck
to perfection. His drunken scene was Ldnirable,
though too much spun out; and he had the
shrewdness not to forget the gentleman in his
cups. A few passages of- serious import he de-
livered with a grace and proktriety that show how
strongly he entered into the spirit of the character as-
signed him by the author. It is seldom that art and
nature play so adroitly into each others' hands—each
assisting, not encumbering the other's movements--as
in the performance of this very superior actor. Mrs.
Orger played an insignificant part with consummate
ease and self-possession,- and mentioned the fact of
her having "paid five hundred pounds to lodge
her pour clear departed husband in the family vault,
which was a great relief to her feelings," with exceed-

ing unction.— Her reminiscences, indeed, were rich
throughout. We have spoken of Mr..Bourcicault's viva-
city and archness of dialogue. We will subjoin a few
instances. Percy Ardent, having talked of going to a
fashionable party in a cab, his companion replies,
" What, go there with a surreptious straw bear-
ing King's evidence against you in your strap ?"
Again Lord Daventry, remonstrating with his wife fur
her objecting to his dress, and more particularly to his
" vulgar indulgences of cloth" in his coat, and adding
that he should not seem too fond of her in public, 11,-
replies, "Is connubial affection, then,.cOntraband, and to
be seized at Hyde Park-corner as illegal import ?"
MiSs Merrion, speaking of the admirable qualities of an
Irish horse, thus sums up her eulogiums To get
upon its back is impracticable ; to keep your seat
when you are on it, is impossible." We close our
hasty and imperfect notice, by saying that the comedy is
one which. when curtailed—for it greatly needs curtail-
ment—is likely to have a run, notwithstanding its im-
probabilities, which, fortunately are not of a very glaring
character. The author has the true comic spirit, and
greatly shall we be mistaken if he do not, ere long over-
top all contemporary writers in this department of litera-
ture. The scenery was throughout admirable, and the
piece received with great applause.