The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-28 00:00:00

CO VENT-GARDEN.

The announcement of the new Pantomime, as a matter
of course, drew a great crowd to this house, which at
half-price was filled to overflowing. The first performance
was Cc.llev Cibber's comedy of She Woe!! and She
Would Not, the plot of which is so well-known that it
would be superfluous to analyze it. Like most of its au-
thor's, it is full of intrigues, the principal agents in which
are a sharp-witted servant (Harley), a brace of lovers
(Walter Lacy and Cooper), with the latter's sweet-heart
in male clothes (Mrs. Nesbitt) and her cunning maid
(Mrs. Walter Lacy) also in male attire; and the
humour of the piece consists in the strange tricks
these disguised characters play off on an obstinate,
proud old Spaniard (IV. Farren), in order to compel
him to marry his daughter (Miss Cooper) to the
man of her choice. The comedy was exceedingly
well played, especially by Farren and Harley,
the former of whom made a dull scene go off with
spirit and vivacity by his admirable bye-play, which
was so full of appropriate comic expression that every
Point told. I farley, too, as usual, abounded in sprightly
bustle, but he had so few good things'to say thst we
were surprised he could make so much of his part. Mrs.
Nesbitt threw an air of archness and humour over a
character of great insignificance, and which, in the hands
of a less adroit performer, would have been a miserable
failure. On the whole the play went off flatly ; and no
wonder, for it is deficient in the two leading requisites of
comedy, humour and character. The audience witnessed
its performance with remarkable patience ; and listened
to some of the drawling scenes in the first act with all the
gravity of a congregation at a church. After the • play,
the new pantomime entitled, Guy, Earl of Warwick ; or,
Harlequin and the Dun Cow, was produced., It opened
with a moving panoramic view of Warwick Castle and its

PRICE 5d

neighbourhood, and the return of the hero Guy and his
Squire from the Holy Land. With some difficulty Guy,
who was personated with infinite drollery by Mr. W. IL
Payne, gets admission into his castle, when he- finds that
his lady has given all the servants a holiday, so that he is
compelled to act as his own cook, housemaid, shoe-black,
&c. This part of the pantomime was received with much
impatience ; and not undeservedly so, for it was greatly
spun out, and the fun of the incidents was:by no means
obvious. The audience, however, were soon put into a
more favourable mcod, by the uncommon splendour of
the moving panoramic scenes, illustrative of Guy's ex-
pedition to the enchanted castle of the Danish King
Eskeldered, where the Dun Cow is kept, which has
caused great destruction in the vicinity. After encounter-
ing divers difficulties, Guy contrives to force' his wav
into the enchanted abode of the Dane, kills his Majesty
and eke his Cow, and delivers the Lady Phwbe, the
' daughter of a Warwickshire nobleman, who had been in-
veigled from home by the artifices of the Royal magician.
The u,,tal transformations now commence. Harlequin
(Mr. J. H. Ridgway), Columbine (Miss Fairbrother),
eantaloon (Mr. baruen), and Clown (M r. T. Ridgway),
throw off their respective disguises, and set forward on
their' merry ceaseless whirl through life. The Albert
Gate at Ilyde Park, " as it is to be," gave rise to some
ingenious tricks. Patent telescopes are brought on the
stage, and the spectators as they look through them, see
clearly Windsor Castle in the distance, which suddenly
rises up between the pillars of the
.gate ; and also the
young Prince of Wales fast asleep in his cradle. This
trick was managed with uncommon adroitness, and was
welcomed with shouts of applause. The Toy-shop was
also a clever bustling scene, •particularly that portion of
it, when, by a single wave of Harlequin's wand, all the
toys suddenly become animated, and-the boa constrictors,
stretching out to an immense length, threaten to crush
the affrighted Clown within their scaly folds. In this
scene, Mr. J. 11. Ridgway exhibited extraordi-
nary- pliability of muscle, and, immediately after-
wards; with equal effect, the stiffness and rigidity of
death. In the view of • Greenwich, and the
Itailroad, as seen from New Cross, the Clown sud-
denly enters and blows out the moon with a pair of bel-
lows—an idea which seemed to occasion the galleries a
world of diversion. But perhaps the cleverest conceit in
the pantomime was where the Clown turns quack doctor,
and proposes to cure a fitt elderly gentleman of gout, by
administering arsenic pills every ten minutes. The re-
medy, as may be surmised, was admirably efficacious,
for the invalid was speedily cured of gout, as well as
every other of earth's maladies. The last scene was a
view of Woolwich dockyard, and the launch of the man-
of-war Trafalgar, which was, without exception, one of
the most splendid spectacles we ever witnessed at a
theatre. Altogether, the pantomime may be-considered
a fair enough average one. It is not remarkable for the
humour or ingenuity of its tricks, which have seldom
novelty to recommend them ; but the scenery through-
out is uncommonly splendid, and no expense seems to
have been spared in the getting up. It was most favour-
ably received, and will, we doubt not, have the usual
rua of such entertainments.