The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-27 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIEF,

DIMWIT-LANE THEATRE,

lEVIVA L OF THE LEGITIMATi;

DRAMA.
At length Old Drury is itself again. The star
which Keroble, and Siddons, and Kean trod, is
longer desecrated by wild beasts, or tame horses,
foreign dancers. Old Drury is no longer either •
menagerie, or a circus, or a casino, or a place of es.
more questionable character. The intruders who la
for a while polluted the shrine by their presence be
been ejected—the temple of the drama has be
purified, and is now restored to the worship
Shakcspere—and the public gratitude is in an espec '
manner due to Mr. James Anderson for the spirit:
manner in which he has come forward to reste
to the legitimate drama this, its legitima.
home. Mr. Anderson commenced his manager
career last evening, and so crowded an audience b
seldom been assembled within the walls of old Dru
as met together there last night to give Mr. And,
son a housewarming. Long before the doors we
opened a crowd was assembled at each of the
which reminded us of the palmy days of the dran
and wit Lin ten minutes after the doors were open
the theatre was crammed to :suffocation in every pa
and several hundreds were sent away from the dot • •
unable to obtain admission. The play chosen for t
opening night was the Merchant of Venice, in wbi
Mr. Anderson appeared as Shylock and Miss Lau
Addison as Portia; but no sooner had the curt"; s
dawn up than " the gods" commenced " a dread
pother o'er our heads," by stamping, whi
ling, and vociferating with Stentorian lun,
" Pantomime, pantomime " It was in vain that t
performers attempted to make themselves heard. Ey
that always distinct and most audible of actors, Jo:
Cooper, failed on this occasion to Ins
himself beard, and the first act of the p 1
was mere dumb show. The noise seem
somewhat to lull when Mr. Anderson ca.
forward to address the audience, and he was listen•
to with something like attention. He thanked tin
fur the magnificent housewarming they had giv•
him, regretted that they should have experienced a'
inconvenience from the crowded state of the how
and offered to return the money or to give tickets •
another night to those who suffered into
nience. Ile was appleusled, but the vocifes
tines of " Pantomime, pantomime," were resum
with greater energy than ever, and the play it:
for the first three acts was, in consequence, pant
mime and pantomime merely. It was in vain V
Mr. Anderson repeatedly addressed the disturb('
sometimes in deprecatory, sometimes in command'
mood, the only effect produced was to render I
gods mischievous, and they tore down
draperies of the lower gallery and threw them i'
the pit. At length the drop drew up for the foul
act, it was the trial scene during the earl
portion the uproar continued, but when Portia co;
menced the mercy speech the noise was stilled ; by
magic of Miss Laura Addison's acting ; the riot'
were fascinated into silence, and richly were
rewarded for that silence. Never have we heard tl
celebrated speech so beautifully, so perfectly (1
claimed as it was by Miss Laura Addison—ne'
have we seen the trial scene so excellently act
There was a majesty, and at the same time a worm'
feeling about the acting of Miss Laura Addison in t`,
scene which we have never seen surpassed, it was t
perfect union of "dignity and love." The Fee
ended, the uproar was renewed, and continv
throughout the whole of the fifth act, and at
conclusion Mr. Anderson again came forward
address the audience, and as the pantomime was 11.-:.
within sight he was listened to with attention. '
thanked the crowded audience for their support, '
gretted the unpleasantness which had occurred, A
declared his object of giving the drama a central h°'
while he admitted the merits of the suburban dire
tors. In managing the noisy holiday folks e
Anderson had a difficult task to perform, and he e'
tainly got through it with much firmness and also ts''
much good humour. The pantomine, one of the P
that has been produced for years, is from the P ;.;
of the author of Bluff King Hal,
is entitled Harlequin and Good Queen Pe.;
The opening scene is admirable. Old Father Corr
mas applies to the spirit of John Rich the origli
inventor of pantomimes, for a pantomime to celehrs
the re-opening of Drury- The genius of traged99
more property speaking, the genius of the g'`,
unacted, presents a tragedy on the subject of CZLI,
Bess to Rich, who forthwith puts it into his pantornly.
cauldron and therefrom issues "the pantornill?'
The opening scenes were full of rich exaggerated fin's
We have the dressing, the dancing, the flirting' rt
the courting of Good Queen Bess, who folio $,
most grotesque representative in Mr. R. Romer ;
extravagant dandyism of Leicester, acted by M. Deal
with a true Pavneish spirit; the deep, deep woe
Amy Robsart, and the dancing and squalling of
" beautiful babby," the rage of the rejected suitors ;
Queen Bess, and the rage of the Queen when she fin
that she herself is rejected, that Amy is the wife t
Leicester—the whole winds up, like the trageci.Y.',,,
Mr. Puff, with the destruction of the Sean r,
Armada, after which the transformations is
ri
place, and the harlequinade commences, ,
certainly Mr. Anderson has secured the lie
vices of the most agile Harlequin (M. De°
the most graceful Columbine (Miss Theodore), ti.,
most lively and active Clown (Mr. C. Stilt), and
best Pantaloon (Mr. J. Deulin), that we have ee
for many seasons past. Mr. Seymour, who acted
uti
part of a sprite, is ene of the most suprising of nos,tpii:
maaters, and little Stilt, who appeared as the joYesf,
Clown, and went through a series of wondet
L 4
performances with his father, will rival
Risleys in popularity, as he does ahead,: 0,,F
gracefulness and activity. The tricks were all
ruirable, the harlequinade never flagged, and the 'cot
at the follies of the day were excellent, and told 1114
effectively. The whole concluded with a grand movilet
Diorama (painted by Brunning) of the voysge of
hich
Majesty from the Isle of Wight to Cork, w"le•
is one of the most beautiful ever exhibited, is
calling to the memory of the old playgoer the "
when Stanfield lent the magic of his pencil to the
lustration of the Old Drury pantomime.
(From the Times.) id
Mr. Anderson, who comes forward to restore °hp
Drury to its pristine glories, was honoured lastntBol
with a real boxing night audience of the old se "0°,4
—a set of jovial souls, determined not to hear a lybe
of the play, but to reserve all their attention for ttivit
pantomime. At first Mr. Anderson, finding ear,
not a syllable of his Shylock could reach allYo,
came forward, and taking a good-humoured vie un
the case, said he was pleased at the " house-w 3, rtee
ing." Then, observing the crowded condition woe.
gods—indeed the whole house was crammed to " is
cation—he stated that the numbers of his suPrirjeii,
showed they meant him well, though, be Au it,
they had rather an odd way of showiligtbeir
The occupants of the galleries continued
,0,
vociferations, expressing, by divers idiomatic reread
their belief that they were too densely throngeutelog
adding practical force to those remarks by teP, it
down the drapery within their reach and pitelli%od
into the pit. The noise at last became tiresome, jo
elicited two more speeches from Mr. Andersorhtes
which he stated that he had given orders to returned
admission money to the inconvenienced, and pro" the
that he would raise his prides if the gentry in uo
gallery did not reform their manners. The only Phis
in the uproar was in_ the trial scene, when, roe,
Laura Addison, who played the -Character of .1:-° one
came forward as the advocate of the oppressed Allt°o3-
The audience gave her a round of applause, todweees
sented to hear this principal scene of the play- "dis
the curtain had fallen Mr. Anderson re-apPearen tieplain clothes, and in a very good spirit settled a"
differences of the evening.
(Prom the Chronicle.) , 100
Mr. James Anderson, the tragic actor, has it'tbot
Drury-lane Theatre for a period of three years'
he may make one effort more to reinstate the Or,stios
drama in this:its ancient sanctuary. Remember
the discouraging, and sometimes disastrous retiee,
that have attended former attempts in this direchhere
and looking at the vastness of the undertakiag•
cannot be a doubt that Mr. Anderson, were it for erg
boldness and enterprising spirit alone, deserves C
possible and reasonable encouragement fr°ll/bteft
theatre-going public. Nor do we entertain the sligat,
doubt that Mr. Anderson will receive this suPrtees
notwithstanding a certain querulousness 01 the
observable in the advocates of a restoration °' bad
legitimate drama, as if they thought that 00,,y
been treated with an undeserved neglect. If syeerse°
judge by the few words addressed by Mr. Andjet,
to the audience at the close of the play last, -011efl.
he does not himself participate in any such le lea'
On the contrary, after a very handsome stek°°lreosed
ment of the enterprise of other managers, he exPro for
his conviction that the other theatres now or b ac'
the "legitimate" drama did not afford ennog jeolc
commodation for the public, which does not eie°
very like a want of patronage. If any confirr:
of this hopeful view of the prospects of the ne to be
dertaking were required, .it certainly was ea he'
found in the aspect of Drury-lane Theatre tee
fore the drawing up of the curtain last evion e''
crammed as it was to the ceiling. It vt'nieiefi
present be premature to offer any
.(4-
on the probabilities of Mr. Andersen's pa"
mate success, because he has not Yent natO
forth the full strength of his present eoineuee,
and, as he stated last night to the aua.blish:
the present arrangements of other esi;o4ell;
ments precluded his availing himself of
ntherwi'e engaged. But anov, inn' l"euter
difficulties the dramatic portion of last night '5
,
tainment, as far as the noise made from first to labs
the " gods"—according to their prescriptive PD