Haymarket Theatre.
The Times, 1824-09-13T00:00:00

Colman antd Garrick's comedy of thc Clandestine Afarriage wat performed at tihis house last night, but not in a way (very materially' toassist the reputation of thetthcatre. Theplayitselfisone ofthrsi which it is diffia lt,even in our winter theatres,to "case' well through. out; and it is, moreover, of an order peculiarly fitted to be deslroyes by the introduction of clumsy actors in its minor c'haracters. Al th( gentlemen-the jtveniles especially-are people of the Chesterfieltd school-very dlidactic and sentimental. They are a very courtly, ce- remonious, minuet-walking, set speech.mtiting, gort of person. ages, with whom there is no getting on at all without dewortimemtn quality of which the laaymarket eomedians generally are but ill provided. Lovewoell, for instance-(the gentleman represented by nlr. Coopar)-ha. a very nic'e role throughiout the plav, to manage. In more than halt his scenes-being hinmself a very tall, scribus, interesting person-he has nothing to (to but stand still, and be acted at by Lord 04eby and Sir John Melvill6. Nobody ever dili thlis well, within our recollections, but Mr. Charle Kemble. ir. Cooper is a very usef:ul performer; but lie cannot (ofthis mere motle of doing things) lift a character. lie has not about hirn that manner-that pecullar lourgnre-which will carry a man withi perfect ease thr)ugh a situation of pertect difficulty. The effect is, that the lover's dignity is lost ; that of his mnistress necessarily fades along with it; Monsiour Loverwell becomes rather the butt and 'scape-goat of thie comedy; anmI we go short al- together of our i' nice young man," who shoul(d sigh (in fact) for the benefit of all the yoting ladies in the theatre. For anothier ex- ample of the same deficency (anti a brighter)-an actor like Mtr. Vining, wwhose aqgrencntrs are about those of a decent banker's clerk- an actor or this calibre sinks entirely tinder the very thought of such a character as Sir Johnt A1frcvill. 'Th e cocked-hat-full-dress suit- quality title-and long, niceiv-balanced specches-entirely set at nouglit even his own estimate of his own powers. iMlr. Vining (of whom we wish to speak wvith great kindtiess) is not inore able to utter the luere text put into the mouth of Sir Johit Mleluille, thian ilr. Wext, who detormed tie part of Caniton, is competent to play any one of tlhe characters nightly intruatedi to hinl ; and then, tomake up for this incapability to act any thing applroaching to comedy, the plays are all pulled down into what managers (because the chimney-sweeps sometimes laugh at it) fancy to be "farce." It is but once a year, ever that we grow critical ; but Mrs. Windsor has no right to maVe a hit rt the gods, in the part of ,frs. Ifeidelberg, he leading the Frenchman off the stage, irmch as our friend Poli-hinciie, in a pantomime, might lead off the Devil. Valuable performers have still less tile to rcsort to extravagance and riding.house trick. Harley plaeves Brush-as le nlays every thing else he itoes-with very great c everness;-bne, wvy should he de- scend to the silliness ot blackng his mouth i c the drunken scene-as if he hail been intoxicating himself with ik? Again, Nrs. Gibbs, in M1is Sterlingin the scene where she speaks of the " gallantries" of I.o-d Ogleby, and his " comical ex- prestio,nsof tertderness" sigeali,iost doubts whether this young lady would mimic the old lord's cracked voice, and wrinkil features- (to the extent, to soy the least, that the MiM Stcrl/agsrenerally do it)-unless she had anotion that the p.alleriea vwere parties to the joke. And, particularly for Air. Farren, who has gained such high creilit by his performance of Lordl Oglebynothing atn ex~cuse his losing sigit of the high breeding-the tonie-the lligllity-even the somewhat ceremonious formality wiicth distinguishes the old peer anmidst all his fbolies. The scene in which Mi.rs Pamnup-as lie ttinks-discloses her penchant for him, ought to be played *nth a delicacy absolitely ehevaleresque. Tile finest contrast to the ridiculousness of AMi/ord's real s.ituation, is tle elegance. anti high gallantry, with which lie conducts hinrself in his sup- posed one. In this scene, as woll as in the quizzing Sterling about his garilens antI so forth, we have seen Mr. Farrell play better than hac did last night: but lis ierfornimsce was nevertheless of a very high order. MIr. Harley, anti Ml rs. Gibbs, antI MlimS Chester were al good; MIr. WIrilliams in Sterline, better than respectable. For the rest of the piece-if' suimner theatre performsances are to be taken as pretensions to acting-it was as bad, for the most part, as criticism eoultidesire. After The Chslaleszitc Mfarriage, a new farce in two acts, called 'Twotldl puzzle a Cojiror-, was pe formed for the firs, time. This title, thoug,h expressive, does only partial ju,tice to the piece- whichi might not only puzzle one conjuror, but tire (upon themost moderate calculation) twenty. We are prevented isoin giving any ac- count of its plot or fable, by tile circiutstance of its not happeting to have any. The rcene lies principally in a dock-yard at Sar- dam, in 1l6llatit, t,t the perio. when Peter tihe Great of' Russia so- lourneil to learn sitip-building in that country; and the businesY- (if a gr.at deal of absurd equivolue and bustle may be so desig- nated)-arises out of' the anxiety of the several potentates of Eu- rope, some to seize the Czar's person, and otiters to secure his alliance. How tar thje anecdote upon this subject skilfully tehtl night have been effective, it is not fi)r us to determine. The present piece looks as if it came from the hand of tIr. Dibdin ; andi is a slovenly, irregular, circus-like sort of affair. Why so much fuss is nade about the Czar," is not very well explained; but it ends, after all, (as well as we could und6rstand) ir. nothing. Then the whole affair is prodigiously political ;-titles are rifer even than atAst- ley's theatre, or tile Coburg. One can't stir for Kings, anI Coutits, ernd Aihiirals, anud Barotis, playinug at bo-peep * and we have an em. peror, three aisbassatlors, anti a burgom?aster, all in the same pu1blic. house atorce. Tothis hotch-potch, liowever,-suchi as it is-lharley and Liston give Cite priicipal stipport. Listots is the Burgomaster, w-ho hac one joke-(that he can'tre.;td)-and whogoes along mixed up with all the plots-((God wot as we did !)-without comprehendling c-hat they tend to. tIarley plays a shipiright, witti elie same jokeas lhehBurgoamster_(whiceh is making the most out ofagood thir,g)-for 1hecan't read neither; and his ilanie being Peter, and lie being de- serter from the Russian ar ny as well, two or three very grave diplo- matists miistake hint for the Czar. Out of this particutlar blundier, two or tlirce little dilemnmnas arise, at which those persons may laugh who have tne faculty of being amused very strong upion thern. For the rest, somlething is doine by the arranigemnent of thc drosiuatis per. ronteconstanily throwing themselves into such situations as must excite mirth fron their ab8urdity. .A r. Liston came forward, and asked leave to repeat the piece, in a pair ef rhoe-roses which) he knew, betbrehatnd, were irresistible; asid the permission was record- ed (in spite of all faults) in a vote, from. the house, of pretty genetal approbation. lfdYMIlRKVr TTHPlATRE.