The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-29 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

is Jack of all trades, and consequently, in obedience I
to the dictates of the old proverb, master of none ;
for, in spite of some very good singing from Miss
Mary Keeley in the burlesque, and some excellent
harlequinade from Madame Celeste in the panto-
mime, the whole went "tardily off," and fell very
tamely even on an Adelphi audience at Christmas.
The burlesque opens with a conversation between
Mother Goose (Miss Wyndham)—to whom one might,
with perfect justice, though perhaps not with perfect
propriety, apply the endearing term which Mrs.
Corney employed in favour of Mr. Bumble before
their union, so charming a " Dame" did she appear—
Burlesque (Miss E. Arden), and Old Adelphi Panto-
mime (Mr. Saunders), the spirits of past burlesque
being passed in review before them. It is discovered
that the father of Jack, a Sir Gilbert Something (Mr.
Bland), has been carried off by order of the giant,Grim
Griffinhoof, to whom he has been compelled to become
gamekeeper, the duties of the office consisting in pro-
viding a gentleman per diem for the giant's larder, on
pain of death to the purveyor in case of failure.
After a lapse of sixteen years, we find the knight's
son Jack grown up into a "great, big, lubberly boy,"
mamma's darling, and as perfectly useless to her and
the rest of the world as such young gentlemen
always are ; the cow, on which the two depend for their
support, is allowed to starve, while Jack amuses
himself by blowing bubbles and laughing at his
mother. To crown all, he is " done "by a gambling
butcher out of the animal in return for a bean ; and
matters appear to be at their minimum of badness,
when Mother Goose makes her appearance, and per-
suades him to plant the bean forthwith. This
"plant" succeeds ; as we all know, the bean springs
up with the velocity of the electric telegraph, or a
young lady's friendship, and soon forms a ladder
between terra firma and Snowland, where Griffinhoof
resides. Jack ascends the beanstalk, persuades his
father, the Spirit of the Harp (Miss M. Keeley), and
the Spirit of the Golden Hen (Miss K. Kelly), to
escape from their bondage during Griffinhoofs
drunken slumbers, and, having reached the earth in
safety again, just in time to avoid the giant's paws,
cuts down the beanstalk and finishes the monster's
career for good. The giant's fall terminates the
burlesque, which, though smartly written in parts, is
much too long, and was only saved from disapproba-
tion by the very excellent singing of Miss M. Keeley.
The introduction is carefully composed, however,
and contains some happy allusions to daily topics,
among which a neat description of seaside lodging-
houses may be especially mentioned, but as a whole
the dialogue is not lively, and wants point; in-
deed the burlesque presents few attractions, consi-
dering its length, except the songs, which are all
well chosen and very tastefully sung. The giant
Griffinhoof is played by Mr. Paul Bedford—
or Mr. Bawl Bedford, us he might with great
propriety be nicknamed who materially adds
to the heaviness of the piece by a larger in-
dulgence than usual in his ponderous style of comi-
cality ; he failed, however, to raise a laugh even in
his Adelphi admirers. Jack, in the burlesque, is
asssigned to Madame Celeste, who, having nothing
at all to do in the character, did it to perfection ; in
which she was assisted by Mr. James Bland, as the
unfortunate gamekeeper. The scenery is only tole-
rably good—the seaside scene in the opening
of the burlesque being about the best executed
of the whole.