Old playgoers will doubtless recollect a piece called Matrimony, in
which Mrs. Jordan and Mr. Elliston played a husband and wife, who al- most commencing their matrimonial career with a separation, speedily wind up with a mutual reparation; whence 'the name of Separation and Reparation is sometimes bestowed upon the piece when revived in the provinces. A husband and wife similarly placed are the hero and heroine of Mr. W. B. Bernard's new petite comedic of The Balance of Comfort, produced 'this week at the Haymarket, with well-merited sac- . cess. The gentleman loves travel and excitement ; the lady laves tome and tranquillity ; therefore they separate. However, in the course of a visit which the gentleman pays to the lady, it turns out that he is a little weary of roving, and she is somewhat tired of solitude. Smothered affec- tion, now reviving, completes the work of ennui, and the temporary meeting is expanded into a perpetual union. Several amusing incidents, here and there a little too improbable, serve to decorate an old idea ; "an3 as the dialogue is careful and_ elegant, the acting by Miss Reynolds
and Mr. Howe all that could be desired, and the roomia which the ac- tion takes place a perfect marvel of upholstery, the whole affair is a plea- sant trifle, with more pretensions to the character of a rational entertain- ment than the generality of stage-productions.
This elegant little comedy came just in time to obliterate the remem- brance of a blunder committed in the -production of a piece called The Sentinel of the Alma. In that case the manager seemed to have forgotten that the Haymarket is not Astley's. The public however, was perfectly clear on the subject, and put an end to the military' intrusion.
Previous page
