The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-27 00:00:00

SURREY.

The manager of this theatre may, with great truth, ex-
claim, Oh ! muckle is the power that lies in" pantomime,
for no sooner were his doors thrown open than pit, gallery,
and boxes were filled to repletion, and the difficulty was
to find not standing, but breathing room. Though nume-

rous, the audience was not very select ; but as the persons

present had obtained admission by means of " the sinews
of war," and not through the medium of free admissions,
they were allowed all those privileges, and somewhat more,
which belong to the real patrons of the drama. In short,
their behaviour was as free and unconstrained, as their
dress and complexions were various. It has long since
been emphatically proclaimed by the good public, that at
Christmas a pantomime is about the most soul-absorbing
entertainment of which the stage can boast, and this fact
was strikingly illustrated here last night. for the " cele-
brated" drama of Oliver Twist passed off in dumb show,
and the pathos and humour of " Boz," were alike dis-
regarded. Until the curtain drew up for " the lion of
the night," the house was a perfect Babel ; but then the
influence of the god of silence prevailed, and all eyes be-

came rivetted on the stage with a laudable anxiety to see
whit the wonders were that the magician of this esta-
.

blishrnent had devised for the amusement of his holiday
visitors. The pantomime (" written," as the bill singu-
larly enough states," by the inventor of other popular pro-

ductions," ejusdem generis) is entitled Harlequin and the
Enchanted Figs ; or, The Little Yellow Man qf the Golden
Mountains, and founded on a well-known nursery tale
under the latter title. Prince Hyadeand, afterwards Har-
lequin (Mr. Deulin), is enamoured of the Princess Ruby-
lip, afterwards Columbine (Miss Sharpe) ; but the hand
of the fair lady is destined by her father Oddnob, King
of the Roundheads, afterwards Clown (Mr. Boleno),
for Prince Littlebrain (Master Young) whose suit
is also favoured by Funnyface, consort of Oddnob,
afterwards Pantaloon (Mr. Simon) Golderkin, the
Gnome King, and Little Yellow Man of the Golden
Mountain (Mr. Morelli), however, favours the pretensions of
Prince Hyadeand ; but the latter, having suffered himself
to be deprived of the charmed horn and belt with which he

had been furnished by his fairy friend, is about to lose his
mistress, when the former comes to his aid, and effects the
transformations which give life and spirit to the scene. The
dumb eloquence of Harlequin, Columbine, the C:own, and
Pantaloon, was highly relished, and their feats of manual
wit and humour obtained for them repeated applause ;
but their exertions were not, we regret to be obliged to
say, seconded to the extent we could have wished by the
mechanists. In the prelude there was some extrava-
gant humour, which as it made people laugh, answered
the end of amusement, but the attempts at satire—that
which gives to pantomime its only true flavour—were
lamentably defective. Some slight reference was made to the
manner in which the managers of the Royal and Adelphi
Theatres cater for the public taste, but little or no advantage
was taken of political matters, with the exception of some
senseless allusions to the register of hackney coaches,
" Durham mustard," and " Cabinet tools for exportation."
Even these topics were not made to tell in the proper way.
The scenery, however, was well painted, and it is impos-
sible to bestow too much praise on Mr. P. Phillips's Picto-
rial Annual, or, Grand Diorama, which represents a tour
on the Danube, commencing with a view of Belgrade,
passing on to Buda and Breste, and then tracing hi its
course the valley and fortress of Bretko, the castle and
ramparts of Presburg, the market-place of Oedenburg,
Vienna at sunset, Schoenbrunn, Durenstein, and St. Mi
chael Melk, and finally Ratisbon, with the French troops
forcing the passage of the bridge against the Austrians, and
Napoleon wounded.