The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-27 00:00:00

HAYMARKET.

Mr. Buckstone having succeeded last year in produc-
ing a pantomime peculiarly suited to the refined audi-
ences of this theatre, has judiciously followed up his
resolution by another pantomime, we may say of equal
grace, and smartness, and interest. Miss Lydia Thomp-
son, one of the most charming of dancers, because so
simple and elegant, is again the representer of the open-
ing heroine, and most charmingly she enacts it. The
foundation of the story is the brief nursery legend of
" Little 80-Peep who lest her Sheep." A presiding
fairy, of course, watches over Little 80-Peep, who is in-
clined to be lazy, and let her sheep stray, and evil genius,
Wolf, taking advantage of the little shepherdess's list-
lessness, steals the sheep, and, cutting off their tails,
hangs them on trees. A beautiful vision of careful shep-
herds and happyflocks is shown to 80-Peep in her dreams,
and she ultimately recovers her sheep, who do not bring
their tails behind thein, but she contrives to get them all
tacked on by her fellow shepherdesses ; and invincible in
her love of dozing and idling she gets her lover, Colin,
to watch whilst she goes to sleep. Wolf, enamoured of
her, attacks her in spite of her quadruped guardians, the
watch-dog and an old black ram, and is near succeeding
when the good genius appears, and eaves her proteges
by a grand transformation into Harlequin and Columbine,
and Clown and Pantaloon. The opening portion is painted
by Mr. Callcott, and shows all that imagination and
truthfulness which characterised the scenery last year.
A scene of the Wolf's cave is fanciful, and that of the
Mountains in Arcadia by Sunrise truly picturesque ; the
vision of little 80-Peep is very tastefully managed ; and
the transformation scene, a Fairy Conservatory, though
crowded with theatrical guads, is so tastefully managed,
that it subdues the glai-e, and it is novel and pleasing, as
well as gorgeous. It is one of the prettiest things of
the kind we have seen.
The Harlequinade is conducted by M. Chapino, as
Harlequin ; Clown, Lie. Appleby ; Pantaloon, Mr. A.
Barnes ; Columbine, Miss Mary Brown. M. Chapino
is a good Harlequin. Mr. Appleby is a new importa-
tion from Liverpool. He is facetious and larcenious,
but in no way rernarkab'e. Miss Mary Brown is a
handsome Columbine, and Mr. A. Barnes is an old
favourite, and certainly one of the best representatives
of the traditionary old simpleton. The scenery, espe-

cially of the opening, as we have said, is beautifu:

and that of the Harlequinade is clever and striking, by
Messrs. O'Connor and Morris, particularly the scenes
at the Sydenham Palace—a grand saloon, and the
closing one of the Patriotic Temple. The chief allu-
sions to the war are compliments to our Allies, r.-4.d a
band of Lilliputian Guides, but, very wisely, this sub-
ject is but slightly touched upon. The tricks and trans-
formations are numerous and good, especially the rapid
change of the sofas of a saloon into a coach and pair,
and a plum pudding into Harlequin. The baby show
is the subject of great mirth, and gives ample room fur
the barbarities of the Clown end Pantaloon. The pan-
tomime was well received by the audience, and will,
doubtless, have the usual run of Mr. Buckstone's well-
concocted pieces.

PRINCESS'S.
Mr. Charles Kean has selected for his Christmas piece
the venerable subject of Blue BeaPd, whose history is
treated by Mr. Morton (the author of the pantomime)
with such fidelity to the received version as to render

description superfluous. Still, the reader may perhaps

be interested by the information that Fatima's escapo
from the tragic fate of her predecessors was really due

to supernatural influences. It seems, from what we saw
last night, that there was a kind of used-hp wizard, of

the name of Rusti-Fusti, who had once upon a time to

complain of the decay of pantomime. In fact, his spells
Harlequin and Little One Eye, Little Two Eyes, and
SURREY.
or Beasts and Beauties, is the title of
(which somehow appear to have derived their potency
the pantomime, which according to almost immemorial
from that favourite domain of the marvellous) had utterly Little Three Los,
custom ushers in the Christmas season at this theatre.
failed ; and, in despair, he summoned to his- aid his
It is fully as extravagant as the most inveterate admirer
" faithful witches." The witches, however, turned out
of this species of the burlesque could desire—and if
not to be faithful after all, for they suddenly revolted ;
there be in some respects a dearth of wit the deficiency
and the case of Blue Beard being mentioned the Wizard
and his rebellious familiars took opposite sides. Here-
upon the witches, in a scene of surpassing splendour,
habitués of the Surrey) by the patriotism of the senti-
is more than compensated (at least in the opinion of the
ment, which seems to form the basis of the introductory
develop ethemselves after the Lancashire manner, and
action, and by some of the most gorgeous scenery which
promised to assist Fatima. In the following scenes we
eofbßeelnueoßddea.erndo,uwghhi.ch,Thtoe
has probably ever been put upon the stage. The extra-
" goes in " for love- 1 vaganza which precedes the harlequinade introduces us
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fsashion of predestinated
making much ,j to King Ursaworsagrowlalouda, Emperor of all the
clowns ; and even the wooing of Selim has more beasts, and of course "of 'all the Russias," who per-
of' brusquer te in • it than is found in young gentlemen forms all the feats of absurd tyranny which ar

generally attributed to the veritable Nicholas, and
v_lt the I.isappointrnent an,l 1

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this case, however, his object is not exactly to seize upon
kingdoms, but merely to carve a " Turkey " for his
luncheon, and to obtain a handsome wife in the person
of Little Two Eyes, a subject of a neighbouring sove-
reign, who bears the somewhatquestionable and certainly
difficult name of Unioueeyerumifustibustiboo, but whose
white uniform and the appearance of whose court would
lead one to guess what was intended to represent no less
a personage than the emperor of Austria. Of course
the two emperors agree, in the first instance, to aid each
other, and, equally, of course, the emperor of the beasts
being thwarted in all his designs by the fairy island
queen, is left in the lurch by his quondam ally. Little
Two Eyes becomes the legitimate possessor of a less
distinguished but a more agreeable lover, in the person
of a miller's son, who, with the Man-in-the-Moon, a host
of fairies, our old friend and contemporary the veritable
Punch, and a certain other and somewhat older Nicho-
las than even the great Czar himself, whose jealousy
seems to have been roused by the superior atrocity of
his namesake, contribute to the discomfiture of the Au-
tocrat. In the harlequinade the King of the Queerib-
leanfunileeris (Austria) becomes clown, the Emperor of
the Beasts, sprite, the miller's son, harlequin, and Two
Little Eyes, columbine, which characters were very
effectively filled in the introduction by Mr. Butler, Mr.
G. Yarnold, Mr. M. Sanders, and Miss Douglas ; and in
the pantomimic part by Mr. Buck, Mr. Longo, Mr. H.
Sanders, and Miss E. Guinness. Pantaloon was well repre-
sented by Mr. Bradbury, a second sprite, by Signor C.
Longo, and Harlequina by Miss Guinness. The tricks
were of the usual order, but were worked with less of the
difficulty than is generally experienced. The scenery is
painted by Mr. Dalby, and does him great credit. "The
Satin Boudoir of the Island Queen," and "The Palace
of Beauty," are beautiful specimens of scenic effect, and
were so highly appreciated by the audience that they in-
sisted upon the manager's appearance and re-appearance
on the stage to receive their congratulations. In the
course of the production a ballet divertissement was in-
troduced, in which the Misses Guinness executed some
pleasing pas with much grace.