The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-28 00:00:00

HOLIDAY AMUSEMENTS

SURREY THEATRE.

The Surrey Theatre was besieged on Thursday by an
enormous crowd, who, we might say, took possession
of it when the doors were opened ; for the throng
was so great as to be quite beyond the control of the
officers of the establishment, however efficient and
judicious—and we have not a word to say against
them. But it was as geodhumoured a crowd as
ever assembled in her Majesty's dominions, although
the temper of some must have been sorely tried. It
took nearly two hours of squeezing, and pushing, and
manoeuvring, to get the people finally into position;
and when we saw men struggling for all that time,
and now and then missing a head that had fallen in
the struggle, observed its place supplied by a pair of
waving highlows, and as the face was fished up by
some sympathizing friends it presented a good honest
broad grin, we could not help thinking there must be
some virtue in Christmas and Boxing. day. The most
spiteful thing that was done must be laid to the
charge of those who, as far as the box- office was con-
cerned, were supposed to be in the boxes, but who,
seeing litle chance of really reaching them, certainly
did more than once or twice conspire in the lobby to
shape their complaint in song, such a: prevented any
sound from the stage being heard while they were
proclaiming, that if the audience hoped for their sub-
mitting quietly to exclusion and departing to their
homes, it was a movement which would not occur
" till morning." However, these troubles were gra-
dually got under by good management and good
packing, while the first piece, which nobody came to
see, was being played; and all the inconvenience sus-
tained was abundantly recompensed when the cur-
tain rose for the pantomime— The Merry Wives of
Windsor; or, Harlequin and Sir John Falstaff, and
the Demon Hunter of the Enchanted Dell. The
title tells the story of " the opening" at once ; it is,
of course, a burlesque, founded on Shakspere.
The adventures of Falstaff with the merry
wives are supposed to be contrived by faries in
order to punish Ford and Page for thwarting
the true love of Fenton' 'and " sweet Anne Page ;
the aid of Herne the Hunter is invoked by the
maiden's father, but the Demon Hunter seeks her for
his own bride. It will easily be seen that here is
matter for all sorts of " spiriting ;" and it is very well
done. Falstaff's chief misfortunes—the hiding in
the buck-basket and ducking in the water not omitted
—form good subjects for burlesque; but, alas, that
we should have lived to see Mrs. Page and Mrs.
Ford of purpose turned into wretched crones that
might scare the birds from a field. So it is, how-
ever. The whole of the introductory part is admi-
rably put upon the stage, and the chief parts—Fal-
staff (Mr. J. W. Collier), and the Queen of the
Fairies and Puck (the Misses Coveney)—were well
sustained. All these scenes went off satisfactorily ;
but when, at their conclusion, the various characters,
mortal and supernatural, were gathered in a pavilion
illuminated by variegated fires, and emblazoned
with coloured crests of fairy heraldly, the splendour of
the spectacle secured the triumph of the piece beyond
all risk. In presence of this scene, one of the richest
and sweetest we have looked upon for a long time, the
transformations take place, and Fenton and Anne
Page, as Harlequin and Columbine, are to be pursued
by the Hunter's attendant Sprite, and by Falstaff as
Pantaloon, and Ford as Clown—characters which fall
to M. Lupino, Mademoiselle Beaufort, Herr Deani,
Signor Bradbury, and Mr. G. Anderson. The re-
mainder of the pantomime is occupied with practical
and mechanic wit of the usual order, but selected and
arranged with care and skill ; as in all these cases, it
will be advisable to prune a little, and bring the
matter together, but there is good ground to work
upon. It would spoil the humour to be transfer-
ring some of the jokes to paper; extracts of that
kind lose their essence and force ; but we may
mention, for the guidance of our young friends—
though not the young alone—that they will do
well to watch the contortions of the Sprite. They
are wonderful, and there is no suspicion of danger
to himself while he is performing—which, in this
department, is a great matter. We advise them to
observe " the fast man," and try if they can make
out how it is that he is here, and there, and every-
where —and here and not here—almost at the same
moment. We recommend them to keep a sharp eye
upon the tea-garden scene, and find out, if they can,
how Pantaloon's tea and shrimps, that he does not pay
_ _ _

or, suddenly fly to the table of a better customer.
But, without trying to particularize further, we will
say that this pantomime is well got up and well per-
formed, and is decidedly above the average. There
are one or two political allusions near the end, with
regard to which we are a little disposed to doubt
whether the public be so unanimous upon the subjects
referred to as to justify their introduction, except, in
cases where they are brought in with a certain sin-
gular felicity, which is at once felt to be a sufficient
warrant.

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.
In the present days of a declining drama, when the
good old Christmas pantomime appears to be giving
place to the fairy extravaganza, and the splen-
dour of scenic effects and magnificent costumes are
supplanting the ancient harlequinade, it is not un-
pleasant to find a house where our old friends,
clowns and pantaloons, run through the course of
practical jokes and petty larcenies, at which we
laughed so heartily in the days of our youth, and
an audience whose appreciation of their
drolleries remains undiminished by the re-
finements of modern days. It would not be
too much to say that boxing night could not present
an audience merrier or more thoroughly amused than
that which on Thursday filled the walls of Astley's
Amphitheatre to overflowing. The performance com-
menced with the equestrian spectacle of Kenilworth,
followed by the Scenes of the Circle, in which several
novelties were brought forward. Among these was
M. Plige whose feat of walking on a small
beer-barrel from the circle to the top of the
stage, on a tram-road erected for the purpose, was
viewed with mingled astonishment and trepidation.
M. Ghelia also made his first appearance, introduc-
ing his two steeds, whose performances showed the
high stage of training to which they had been
brought. There was also a new grand entrée, called
The Festival of Flowers, and Miss A. Bridges, the
equestrian Taglioni, concluded the Scenes in the
Circle, by going through the Cracovienne and Ca-
chuca on horseback, with as much accuracy as
though she had been dancing on terra firma. The
subject selected for the Christmas pantomine
is the Irish Legend of O'Donoghue, who,
according to tradition, on a May morning,
rides on a milk-white steed across the
Luke of Killarney. The scene opens with the
Hag of Mischief brooding over an illicit still, from
which, after due incantation, springs forth the Spirit
of Whiskey, the evil genius of Ireland, whom she
sends forth in the shape of a recruiting sergeant,
bottle in hand, to work ruin and desolation over the
country, but more particularly on the favourites of
O'Donoghue, who is the representative of the water-
drinkers. The second scene is the Lake of Killar-
ney,
which was beautifully managed. The nymphs
and fairies of the lake are seen to glide over its I
bosom, followed by the enchanted Prince O'Do-
noghue on his white steed, who after informing
them that he is in want of a pair of true
lovers to end his enchantment, disguises himself as an
ancient beggar and dismisses his train, who by well-
contrived scenic effect, which was loudly applauded,
are seen to sink down into the bosom of the lake to
their coral bowers below, leading the steed with
them. The Prince then becomes witness of the love-
making of Dermot Astore, the young landlord of
the Queen's Head, and Kathleen, daughter of Lord
Bullfrog; and, being relieved by the young lady, in
his capacity of a beggar, promises his aid to the young
couple. Their loves are, however, interrupted by the
return of Lord Bullfrog and his motley train from
hunting ; and he, to get rid of his plague of a daughter,
puts her up as the prize of a steeplechase to be run
next day, and " may the best horse win." Dermot,
being the possessor of an unrivalled steed, feels assured
of victory, but in an unlucky moment he meets with
the Spirit of Whiskey who tempts him to take a drop
too much, and in this predicament swindles him out
of money, steed, and all. In desperation he is about
to try the cold water cure, and drown himself in the
lake, but is interrupted by O'Donoghue, who leads
him to his coral stable of a thousand steeds at
the bottom of the lake, and parades his stud
before him, and gives him his pick of the lot
for the morrow's race. Dermot chooses a
beautiful cream-colour, with which he vanquishes all
opposition, but when he is about to claim his prize the
Spirit of Whiskey, by a dexterous coup de main,
seizes both steed and maiden and elopes with them.
Chase is given, but on approaching the banks of the
lake the magic steed plunges in to reach his well-known
stable, and while Dermot arrives just in time to
rescue Kathleen, the Spirit of Whiskey is left to
be submerged in the uncongenial element.
The transformation then takes place and the bar-
lequinade commences. This of course is of the
usual description, full of fun and frolic, and abound.
ing with many excellent hits, verbal and mechanical,
at the passing topics of the day. The Exhibition of
1851, with the Clown's unprecedented contributions
to it, the Swedish Nightingale, with the rival mana-
gers putting salt on her tail, General Haynau and
the draymen, were among the number; and altoge-
ther, making the usual allowance for the first night of
performance, the pantomime passed off with great
success. The opening part is by Mr. Rodwell, the
author of the successful pantomime of King .Hal.
The scenery and dresses are magnificent ; and we
cannot forbear particularising the coral stable,
with its long range of stalled steeds stretching for-
ward into the distance as far as the eye could reach,
attended by legions of fairy grooms and stable-
helpers. The Lake of Killarney we have already
mentioned, and there were several scenes in the harle-
quinade deserving
of the highest praise. Mr. T.