The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-27 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 27, 1853.

an the trees rhymes to Captions, whlth she, like Rosa-
lina, Bads sad reads ; 1111111 her reeding of sae et these aft-
dem is probably the nicest bit of hams is the piece. The
1 assessment we mentiosed yesterday. The retreat of the
legitimate king sad his family is discovered by the usurp
ism prince. They ere seised, and abet to be burst alive
in the public square, when they are saved by the interpo-
sition of the protecting fairy, while the usurper is punished
after the fashion of "Don Giovanni."

A piece of this kind requires as good noting as a regular
drama. On the pert of the performers 'here must be ho
appearance of intentional extravagance. To make beelines
really effective, it must have all the semblance of being en•
tirely in earnest: and, to do justice to humour each as Mr.
Planeld's, great refinement and discrimination are de-
manded. Of this the Lyceum actors seem to be fully aware
—they have learned it by long experience. The characters
of the good-natured, cohtented, King Placid, and his
genial helpmate—at ones the queen and the notable
housewife—as represented by Freak Matthews and
Vestris, were full of genuine comedy. The fair manageress,
who appeared for the first time this season, was welcomed
with enthusiasm. She looked well, and sang with the rich
mellow voice and playful grace which have always distin-
guished her. In the character of Prince Brutes Mr
Wright was r ally " Wright at let"—mach more at home
I. it than in anything be Ism done sines he came to this
theatre. Miss St. George was charming as the herniae,
and showed greater vusal powers than we had previously
given her credit for.
But, after all, the most remarkable feature of this piece
is probably its wonderful splendour and beauty as a spec-
tacle. In the scenery Mr. Beverley has really outdone all
hes previous outdoing". Every Mine deserves • separate
description ; but we can only mention particularly the
closing scenes of each act. The first is the interior of a
grotto running under • rocky "ea-shore, with the sealit
water seen entering its mouth, the " ocean home " of the
fairy Aquamarine, and her sea-nymphs, whose gay dances
ao its smooth sands form • beautiful finale to the net. The
',Goodie** great square of the city, where the catastrophe
is ugly effected by the power et the fairy. The
somesaiire *Ammar, abeolately magical ; and though the
seam almost aches at the *oars of light, yet the extreme
beauty of the coxp-ifonl is even more remarkable this its
brilliancy.
The piece was completely enecesafial, being most warmly
applauded by a crowded house. We think, however, that
some curtailment, especially in the emend act, would be
advantageous.

within a few magnates after the opening of the doors, and
there went all the visible and audible signs of that expec-
tant excitement which usually attends the production of a
pantomime on Boxing-night. The entertainments com-
menced with Mr. Mark Lemon's drama of Gestrusigh
VaugAcui, the simple domestic interest of which, however,
failed to arrest the attention of the audience, whose noisy
impatience converted Gwynneth Vaughan into a mere
piece of dumb show. The farce of Delie ,ta Ground,
which follo.cd, met with even were* fortune,
the curtain being dropped in the middle of the
piece in accordance with the loudly expressed wish of the
audience. This was unfortunate, and somewhat hard
upon the lady and gentleman who made their first ap.
penance on the occasion ; and of whose acting it would
be unfair to offer an opinion, as scarcely a syllable of
what they uttered could be heard through the running
acoompaainient kept up by the excited occupants of the
galleries. A lull, however, took place as the great event
of the evening approached—the production of thn panto.
_ __. . . . . _ .

mime of King Hwnning-lop ; o►, Harlequin and as Land
of Toys. The spelling scene introduces us to the abode
of Novelty (personated by Miss Featherstone), whence
we are transported to the Palace of a certain
Prince Chameleon, who, it appears, is in search
of happiness, which hi is led to expect in the Gar-
den of Childhood and the Territory of Toys. Panto-
mime introductions are seldom remarkable for intelligible
or coherent action, and it will be suflUent to say that after
wandering through the Labyrinth of Love to the Bower of
Beauty, we arrive at the Haven of Happiness, where the
usual transformations take place, and the barlequinade

commences. This portion of the pantomime is certainly
superior to the introduction, and is sust►ined by ►n excel-
lest group of pantomimists. M. Milano is a nimble and
agile harlequin, and Miss Annie Cushnie a graceful colum-
bise, while everybody knows that Tom Matthews is one of
the best clowns since Grimaldi. Mr. Mallard made a good
pantaloon, taking the usual amount of bumps and thumps
with the traditioaal meekness attached to the character•
There was also a Harlequias, in the person of Miss Marie
Charles, who formed ea agreeable coadjutor to the
Columbine. Moreover, we had an episodical same with a
juvenile party of pantomimists, and some very elever per-
forename by the Ethair family (in the style of the Risleys).
There was a fsir sprinkling of joky on the current topics of
the day, and some clever tricks sad transformations, tope-
Melly the change from the dead wall in Farringdon-street to

a bosy market with butchers' ahops sad &Wag gar lights.
Oa the whole, the Drary•lane pantomime is a good speci-
osa of its class, and it will be all the better for some con•
demstioa of the introductory portion. There were the
anal episodes of a Boxing night—mu or two forcible ex.
pulalus—sundry practical jokes, such u mimic snow-
storm formed by multitudinous fragments of paper
showered from the upper regions on the heads of the pa-
cks., and a frequent tendency to add a choral accompani-
ment to the stars music.