THE THEATRES.
ONE of the Covent Garden novelties alluded to last week was produced on Thursday, under the farcical title of London Assurance ; with a de- gree of success well merited by the capital acting of every part, and the unexampled perfection and splendour of the scenic accessories. Like most modern " comedies," it is only a farce in five acts, with lively dialogue and amusing situations ; having no pretension to ori- ginality of conception or truth of delineation, and setting at nought probability of occurrence, consistency of character, and propriety of conduct. It is described as the first production of Mr. LEE MORETON, a very young man and inexperienced author, who, with a bold disregard of difficulties that daunt the veteran dramatist, has turned his acquaint- ance with modern plays add players to advantage by inlisting the talents of the principal comedians of the Covent Garden company in his ser- vice ; and, aided by fluency, vivacity, and smartness, he has succeeded In hitting the taste of the town by making people laugh. Intrigue forms the business of the plot ; the main circumstance of which is a father and son paying court to the same woman. By way of giving a novel character to this familiar incident, the father is repre- sented as doubting the identity of his son whenever the young fellow Ends it convenient to call himself by another name, on the strength of an altered manner and a neckcloth. This stage-licence, however, to- gether with other liberties of more questionable character, was tolerated by the audience willingly : so that no possible objection on the score of fastidious delicacy can now be made, consistently, to the revival of the comedies of CONCRETE, FARQUHAR, and whatever other profligate wits it has been the fashion of later times to denounce.
FARREN'S Sir Harcourt Courtly, an old debauchee affecting the graces and vices of a young rake, is a finished study of a super- annuated Adonis, the product of the joint labours of tailor, wig- maker, and perfumer. The impassible character attributed to the elderly exquisite, is not sustained throughout ; but the languid air of elegant nonchalance and complacency is only disturbed by the imputa- tion of age, or the raptures of self-adoration when he fancies himself regarded with favour by the object of his pursuit. Mrs. N1SBETT, as Lady Gay Spanker, a high flying horsewoman, who pays morning visits over five-barred gates, greets her friends with a view-halloo, and calls her husband like a pet spaniel, is quite in her element of perpetual gayety and good-humour : the joyous hilarity of her laugh sounds like the voice of the animal spirits, and her feminine grace and abandon make the masculine air and address seem only a masquerading frolic. There is less of the hoyden and more of the arch coquette in this personation than in her Neighbour Constance, which is the original of the character : nothing can be finer than her manner of throwing out a bait-to Sir Harcourt, except the heartiness with which she enters into the scheme of putting the hoary libertine on a false track. Madame VEs-rurs, as Grace Harhaway, a country squire's niece, who, regard- ing matrimony as a matter of course, is indifferent as to whom she marries, till the attentions of the son cause her to loathe the father, plays with her accustomed finesse ; but it is too serious and unsophisticated a character for her artificial style of acting. Mr. ANDERSON, as Charles Courtly, her lover, is a manly gallant ; but his attributes are too robust and inflexible to adapt themselves to the critical nicety of his position : there seemed no possibility of any one mistaking his features when once known. CHARLES MATHEWS is perfectly at home as Mr. Dazzle, a Jeremy Diddler of fashionable life, and the actuary of this " London Assurance" Com- pany, with a stock of impudence enough for all. He insinuates himself into the acquaintance of everybody he meets, gets himself invited to their houses, and claims relationship with every family in the kingdom, though known only to the police and the bailiffs. The polished ease and off-hand frankness with which he carries the impositions, make the social swindler both amusing and agreeable. KEELEY, as Mr. Adolphus Spanker, the shy, rustic, and obedient spouse of Lady Gay, who calls him her "Dolly," is the personification of passive insignifi- _ cance : he seems like a man walking in his sleep ; his faculties are be- wildered ; a fog clouds his visage ; and when elevated by wine an inch above the dense atmosphere through which his perceptions are habi- tually exercised, the rarefaction is too much for his brain. His tipsy attempt to assert his marital authority, and the rapid evaporation of his newly-raised spirit under the raillery and ridicule of his better half, who to cool his courage makes him write a challenge to the Baronet, are the perfection of comic drollery. BARTLEY, as Squire Harkaway, has but to represent a name ; and HARLEY'S part of a legal Paul Pry seems to have been interlined as an afterthought : his caricature acting did not render it unoffensive, for all it provoked laughter : it was only rendered tolerable by his scene with Mrs. Himinv, the paragon of pert lady's maids. BRINDAL'S performance of the valet, Cod, is perfect : he looks an embodied essence of lying.
The stage presents a succession of perfect illusions. The outside of
a country-house with a verandah overgrown with roses and honeysuckle, and a lawn in front with beds of flowers, is not a mere painted scene, but a seeming reality : the visiters go in and out of the French windows, and a carpeted room is seen through them : the drawing-room is as superbly furnished as any mansion need be ; the papered walls, and carved and gilded cornices, and chairs m ith fauteuils and ottoman en suite to the crimson and damask curtains, are set off by large vases, and a chandelier in which green relieves the glare of red and gold: the taste is commensurate with the splendour of the fittings.
Previous page
