The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-27 00:00:00

COVENT GARDEN.

In the olden days, when Covent Garden was ex-
clusively an English theatre, its renown for pan-
tomime was great. Rich and' Harris were names
of strength in the managenunt for years before the
mcir.ory of the present generation c in reach. The
formr.r, ri h :rl,friin by prof •s,,ion, though rfuncm-
berA last by the mat relating to the " Beggar's
Open," which made " Rich Gay and Gay Rich,"
was great in pantomime, and so the ell theatre con-
tained until, twenty years ago, when it was rebuiit,
interiorly, arid turned into an Italian Opera-house,
for the seceding artists of her Majesty's Theatre,
Grisi, Mario, Costa, and their following; and thus,
despite the lamentable smash of its first proprietor,
Mr. Delatield, it remained. The new opera-house
which arose upon its ashes has, however, been the
home of English opera, under Pyne and Harrison,
r;s well as Italian, and has had its winter dramatic
season for our home-born holiday folk, great and
little, and long may it remain so.
Last evening, after the laughable farca of `'The
Goose with the Golden Eggs," the grand Christmas
Pantomime was produced. The bootie by Mr.

We shall not pass sentence on Mr. A'Beckett's
libretto until we have seen what can be done with
it in the way of pruning, for, like most young
writers, he has written a great deal more than is
worth learning or repeating, and if worth both
more than any judicious audience can endure. Th
result of this, and somewhat too much made of a
bedroom scene of the Baron, and a rumpus with
the servants of the grot:sque how chola, delayed
the transformation scene beyond eleven o'clock,
and gave to the introduction much clown's work
that was due to the harlequinade. That the pretty
actresses, Mesdames Maria Harris, Amy Sheridan,
Polly Marshall, and .Nelly Tiaras, with the Merry
Men (of the corps (IC bullet) of S:lerwood Forest,
did not console us for the length of the introduc-
tion it would be uncaudid to deny. Still, people
who go to see a pantomime have some fixed ideas,
and do expect a fair half to be given to redhot
pokers, petty larceny, assault, battery, and murder,
with the other recreations to which Punch and the
Clown have a prescriptive right. A word, however,
of the scenery. He who does not see Batt. Morgan's
" Realms of the White Diamond" and " The Fleet-
ing Seasons" has lost a standard of comparison in
the merits of scene-painting. Another delicious bit
of built-up forrest is " The Merry Greenwood," in
which Robin Hood and his pretty men pic-nic. On
its disclosure a general call for the artist was
answered by the manager, who stated that Mr.
Hawes Craven was not in the house. The transfor-
mation scene is a coruscation of changing splen-
dours, in which the art of colour-blending brilliancy
of reflection, and the aids of machinery, dresses,
and the most statuesque positions of graceful
female forms are tceated with a happy combination
that approaches cur idea of the perfection of stage
spectacle.

Description is futile, and nothing but a visit and
an attentive admiration can convey a true idea of
its splendour and taste. Of the actors in the in-
troduction, Messrs. Payne were, as they are well
known to be, nulli secundus in pantomime. Mr.
J. 1). Stoyle sang and acted capitally as the Vil-
lain ; he was to the very Coburg manner bred and
born ; his sword light with the Baron (Mr. W. H.
Payne) embodied all the old glories of the days of
Bradley and Blanchard, Hicks and Cathcart, when
" grand combats" filled the transportine theatres
nightly.

Of the harlequinade we can say that what there
was of it was good, and smartly played by the
Harlequin, Mr. F. Payne ; Columbine, Mdlle Esta;
Clown, Mr. Harry Payne; and Pantaloon, Mr.
Paul Herring. The events of the year and the
follies of the fashions were satirised in the usual
way, and the pantomime succeeded in giving gene-
ral satisfaction ; though the dense fog during the
evening had so cleared the streets of conveyances,
that we fear many of the visitors must have been
compelled to resort to the most primitive method of
reaching home.

The Adelphi opened last night with a dramatised
version of "No Thoroughfare," a Christmas story,
which, as all the world now knows, is written by
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. The drama-
tising of the story has been well done ; the dialogue
is lively and characteristic ; the scenery, comprising
wine-cellars, London streets, Alpine heights, with
great gulfs of empty space seen between the peaks,
is admirable. On the whole, we think that the Adel-
phi will be found to be one of the most generously
patronised places of entertainment in these London
holiday times. Apart from the prestige which the
place derives from the fact that its framer is the
greatest living novelist, "No Thoroughfare" is so
well performed, that its excellence in its dramatised
shape seems to be native, Better acting than Mr.
Fechter's Obenreizer it would be difficult to con-
ceive ; Mr. Neville is respectable as Mr. Vendale ;
Mr. Belmore is capital as the sharp lawyer, who
takes care of the Vendale interest ; Miss Carlotta
Lcclercci is pleasing in her little part of Marguerita;
Mr. Webster is unctous as Joey Ladle, who takes it
in " at the pores;" and the other parts are well
filled. Last night was' perhapsl, a somewhat
unfavourable one for securing a first performance to
advantage. There was something careless and in-
sincere in everybody's acting. The holiday feeling
had evidently reached the stage. At one point Mr.
Fechter, who is full, not to say overflowing, with
confidence in his interpretation of " Obenreizer,"
was so observably careless and inattentive to the
character he represented that he appeared to be
playing with, but not playing, his part. As so
much depends upon realisation and vraisemblance
in "No Thoroughfare "—the plot being full
of situations which are, to say the least,
unusual any carelessness or insincerity in
the acting is decidedly reprehensible. But the
quick, electric force of this gentleman's
acting in certain scenes is marvellous. The scene
in the Swiss chalet is carried out with admiration,
spirit, and verve, and the mountain scenes are im-
pressive and charmingly rendered. The Adelphi
will no doubt continue to be well filled at this sea-
son, and we can only say here briefly that it deserves
all the patronage it is likely to have.