The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-25 00:00:00

THE CHRISTMAS PANTOMIMES.

If a foreigner, who had been initiated into the hundred
and one mysteries of Mr. John Bull's domestic circle, in
modern Babylon, were asked to particularise the chief
amusement of Londoners at this festive season of the
year, omitting, of course, all allusion to that grosser de-
scription of enjoyment which consists in the immolation
of turkeys, geese, and plum-pudding, he would assuredly
say pantomime--that strange and incongruous mixture
of wit and nonsense, frolic and display, which has always
been paramount orrour metropolitan stages at Christmas.
In fact, pantomime has become so much a necessary of
London life, that it may be reasonably doubted whether,
without its laughter-moving- and exciting tendencies, dy-
spepsia, the epidemic of Christmas, and alias concomitant
evils would not become more virulent, and tinge our temper
with moroseness and ill nature during a good portion of
the coming New Year. To those who take this view
of the matter, it will be gratifying to know that at all
the London theatres—east, west, north, and south—the
greatest activity has been displayed for many days, nay,
even weeks, past in getting up their several productions
for boxing night. Some of them are by first-rate hands,
who are experienced in this particular branch of busi-
ness, and all of them, judging from what we have seen
and heard, promise no lack offun and no end of novelty.
There will be no less than thirteen theatres opened to
the holiday people on Monday, and, in addition to these,
there are exhibitions, panoramas, and musical and dra-
matic saloons out of number.
Old Drury, after all its unfortunate mutations, and in
spite of the predictions that it would henceforth be con-
verted to a purpose hitherto foreign to its walls, has
again become the temple of dramatic and pantomimic
entertainment. Mr. E. T. Smith, formerly of the Mary-
lebone Theatre, is the lessee ; it may perhaps be said that
he enters upon his undertaking with more courage than
disCretion, but certainly his laudable endeavours to re-
store the building to its original uses deserve, if they do
not receive, the encouragement of the public. In setting
about his hazardous, but we trust successful, experiment,
he has' evinced a degree of spirit and an amount of judg-
ment which, to say the least, is highly commendable. He
has engaged several artistes of note and undoubted abi-
lity, among whom we may mention Henry Wallack,
Henry Betty, Geo. Wild, and Charles Selby.. The per-
formances are"to commence with a new dramatised ver-
sion of Uncle Tom's Cabin, in three acts, by Mr. E. Fitz-
ball, who earned a well-deserved reputation by his adap-
tation of the beautiful production of Azad to the English
stage. This is to be followed by a grand comic panto-
mime by Mr. E. L. Blanchard, entitled Harlequin Hu-
dibras, or Old Dame Durdan and the droll days
of the Merry Monarch, which is founded on the
well-known adventures of Hudibras and his squire,
and brings before the audience the " Merry Monarch,''
Charles 11., while escaping from the Roundheads
after the battle of Worcester. The subject affords
excellent scope for the pencil of an artist, and we are in-
formed that the scenery will be extremely varied and of
surpassing brilliancy. An excellent clown is secured in
the person of Tom Matthews ; Louise Blanche will be a
most bewitching Columbine ; and Devain, the celebrated
contortionist, will no doubt prove himself a sprite of
wonderful elasticity as well as activity. The brothers
Siegrist, from Paris, who last season created quite a
sensation at Cremorne, are to introduce their perform-
ances on la perche, which alone are worth a visit. Mr.
E. Stirling is to be stage manager, and the orchestra
will be under the management of the veteran Blewett
The prices of admission are to be considerably reduced—
the dress circle will be 35., the first and second tier 2s
6d., the pit 25., and the galleries is. and 6d.

Passing on to the Haymarket, we find that Mr.
Webster has determined to leave nothing undone to render
his farewell season as memorable in novelties as any which
has preceded it. After the successful new comedy of
Masks and Faces, the audience will be treated with a
grand Christmas extravangza, of course " never acted"
before, called Leo the Terrible, which is said to pro-
; ceed from the joint pens of Mr. Stirling Coyne and Mr.
Francis Talfourd. The spirits of the two great fabulists
YEsop and Gay are wafted by the authors to the banks
of the Styx, where the former complains among other
grievances of the depreciation in which fable is held ;
Gay, thereupon, introduces him into the kingdom of
Leo, where there is said to be a living fable, uncommon
nonsense having usurped the place of common sense
among the fickle subjects of that renowned individual.
There is, as a matter of course, a denouement, but we will
leave the reader to ascertain what it is by apersonal visit.
The dialogue is smartly written, and pregnant here and
there with telling jokes and hits. The principal cha-
racters will be sustained by Buckstone, Keeley, Bland,
Caulfield, and Rogers.
At the Princess's Theatre, thepantomime is, we under-
stant a combination of gorgeous splendour, mixed up
with surpassing fun. The subject is taken from the ce-
lebrated fairy tale, by the Countess Daras, called "Cherry
and Fair Star." Many will recollect the
splendid spec-
tacle at Covent Garden Theatre, some 30 years ago,
bearing the same name ; but'the incidents are now ma-
terially altered. The hero is dispatche iin search of the
"Green Bird," the "Dancing Waters," and the "Sing-
ing Tree," all of which he must acquire possession of to
liberate his cousin and betrothed wife, the lovely Fair
Star, from the power of a potent evil geni, rejoicing in
the name of Djim Sling. The lovers are assisted by
Eve7werana, the Peri Queen, and her faithful attendants,
Innocence and Truth. After many miraculous adven-
tures and hair-breadth escapes, surpassing any that have
ever yet been described, either by Marco Polo, Sir John
Mandeville, or Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, all ends, of
course, happily—the lovers being united, after under-
going the inseparable probation of the usual temporary
change into Harlequin and Columbine, with their per-
secutors as the Clown and Pantaloon. The story, as it
is handled, affords an almost unlimited scope for mecha-
nical effects, actice evolutions, fairy metamorphoses,
graceful Terpsichorean tableaux, and scenic display.
The pantomime is by Mr. Ceorge Ellis, the stage ma-
nager, assisted by Mr. Cormack in the harlequinade.
The resources of the establishment have been actively
employed, from the very commencement of the season,
to place this grand Christmas entertainment before the
public in a style unprecedented at this theatre. Our
old friend Planche is again the genius of burlesque at
this horse. The title of the new piece upon which he
has employed his practised hand this year is the Old
Woman in the Wood. It is an an adaptation to the
stage of the old fairy tale, La Bonne Femme, by Made-
moiselle De la Force, and judges have pronounced it one
of Planche's best efforts. Madame Vestris is to be the
Good Woman ; the other principal parts will be sus-
tained by the Misses St. George, Robertson,
and Wyndham, and by Mr. Frank Matthews. The
scenery, it is said, will even surpass in gorgeousness all
the former productions of Mr. Beverley and his as-
sistants.