The Sun.
London, England, 1820-12-27 00:00:00

TIIE THEA.TRES:

. _
RURY-LANE:LaSt night the tragedy of Jane
Shore was performed to a respectable house..
After which, was presented, for the first time, a
comic Pantomime, called 7'hc North West Pas-
sage ; or, Harlequin Esquimaux. The plot is
simple—a young Esquitnaux ((harlequin) is ena-
moured of an Esquitnaux girl (Columbine), but
the Genius of. the North, whose age, one
would suppose, had far removed him from the
influence of the softer passion of love, admires
the fair Esquimaux, and of course exerts his
power to prevent the union of the young lovers.
Neptune takes pity upon them, and protects them
from the immediate violence of the Genius of,
the North. The. Genius is changed into Panta-
loon,- and Boreas into the Clown. -The 'panto-
mime then proceeds with much bustle, anima-
tion and success The first scene of the. panto-
mime,' the frozen sea-and icebergs, with the disco-
very ships, the crimson snows, as well as the view
of the Prince Regent's Straits, present a lively 1.
picture. of' those grand but desolate regions. Of
the Pantomime we have little to say ; there were
few new tricks introduced, nor was there any
thing striking in the management of old ones.
It met with some opposition towards the latter
end, but with some obvious improvements, we
rather tl,y.rk it will be more successful the next
night. Miss TREE played Columbine with much
spirit and success ; Mr. SouTnay., as Clown, and
Mr. Eworr, as.,Pantaloon, were very well.. The
Pantomime, amid applause mingled with distinct
hisses, was announced for this. evening.
• Co VENT-GARDEN THEATRE.-Last night, after
the Tragedy of Wallace, the usual entertainment
of a new pantomime was produced. It is called
harlequin and Friar Bacon ; - or, the Brazen
Head.. The title referring of course to the in-
troductory scenes, which, though sufficiently
splendid, are not very clearly connected with
the subsequent adventures of harlequin, Panta-
loon, the Clown, and Columbine. The most re-
markable feature- in the new Pantomime is the
splendour of its scenery, and the most striking
instance of its excellence in that respect, consists
in the exhibition of a voyage from Holyhead to
Dublin, and a moving panoramic view of the
vessel's course until she enters the bay. There
are many other scenes that deserve to be men-
tioned with praise, but we have selected the
boldest experiment, which was completely suc-
cessful. The Dramatis Personw being thus con-
ducted to the sister island, visit Donabrook fair,
where they are well knocked about, according to
ancient custom. We did not recognize among the
number of their adventures any new tricks, and
we could have wished for a few of the favourite
old ones. The most amusing accident of the night
was the explosion of a steam-coach, from which
the Clown and his companions narrowly escaped ;
this whimsical exhibition caused a good deal of
laughter. The whole machinery worked very
well considering that it was but the first night,
and we think it probable that when its length has
been curtailed, it will bear many repetitions. Mr.
Gnim..u.nt, as the Clown, displayed his broad hu-
mour with success upon many occasions. Miss E.
DENNETT, as Columbine, displayed her usual grace
and activity. Mr. ELLAR was an excellent Bark-
.quin,aud Mr. Gurat.u,ni, junior, wag an admirable
Lover of the Dandy kind.—We must repeat our
regret, however, that more of the successful .old
tricks have not been adopted into this perform-
ance, as we' apprehend that the genius of panto-
mime, if not completely exhausted in the present
age, is at all events that towards which the
greatest privilege of borrowing may be extended,
and in which the charge of plagiarism may be
most conscientiously tolerated.
Examsn OPERA HousE.—Soirees Amusantes.
—The entertainments produced at the Lyceum
last night 'were exhibited under the licence of
the Magistrates, and comprised three parts ; the
first of "which was a little non-dramatic piece,
displayed by shadows, the stating of a coach
from the Golden Cross, the journey, with the
remarks of the passengers. To-this succeeded
a trial, or .cause heard before the magistrates of
Tidlington—Footlight, the Manager of the The-
atre Rural, versus Punch's Puppet Shew. A
succession of glees and songs.. followed, • by,
Messrs. BROADHURST, SMITH, GOULDEN,
PHILLIPS, HIGMAN, MISS I, 'STEVENSON, and
MISS GEORGE. After which, a sort of Lecture
on Living Beads, in which the celebrated Dr.
Faustus visits London, and is introduced by his
familiar Mephostopholis into a laboratory at mid.
night, where appear in various large bottles the
heads of Lady Midnight, Don Giovanni, and
,se-
veral other ludicrous characters, one of which,
as a Manager of a Theatre, gave some good
imitations Of FAWCETT and FARREN, BLAN-
CHARD and EMERY, &c. The piece closes
by the Devils 'requiring Faustus's presence.
The Third Part, under the title of Living Drol-
lery, introduced a petit piece in verse, under the
title of Guy Fawkes. In this the characters are
sustained by children, who,were remarkably ef-
fective. The dialogue, however, was carried on
by invisible Children of a larger growth. These
entertainments will, no doubt, attract all the
juvenile play-goers.—His Royal Highness the
Duke of.SUSSEX, with a large party, and• a• num-
ber of distinguished persons, were among the au-
dience, which was very fashionable and .muner-
ous. Considering, indeed, how recently this en-
tertainment has been advertised; the house was
throughout uncommonly full. It is understood,
that these agreeably eccentric amusements will
be continued until the usual period of Mr.
-MArnEws's re-appearance in March. The en-
tertainments closed, about eleven o'clock.
Conouno—Last night the winter season com-
menced at this Theatre. A Melo-Drame, enti-
tled The Exiled Minister, was first acted, it
which a father, who had, by means of the machi,
nations of an artftil enemy, been compelled to take
refuge in the Black Forest,is, after various vicis-
situdes, restored' to the confidence of his Sove-
reign and to the possesSion of rank and wealth,
through the valour and virtues of his son. The
continual uproar caused-by the motley crowd in
the gallery and. rendered it difficult to hear

the dialogue ; but they who had longed for pan-
t6Mime, were fully gratified on seeing some of
the adventures of ..S.inbad the Sailor. The lovers
of eastern enchantment will find abundance of
amusement as well as of novelty here ; for sori;e
new adventures of that well-known sailor will be
exhibited on each night during the
.holidays.
BRADBURY, as Clown, was not lesssuccessful In
feats of agility and strength than on former oc-
casions. Madame LE CLERCQ performed the
part of Columbine with effect. A shortening of
the Pantomime will be advantageous. The com-
pany has received an accession of performers of

SURREY T RETRE. - This interesting little
Theatre reopened laSt night, with more, per-
haps, than the usual compliment of Christmas
festivities: There was an entirely new comic
Butletti; called Every Body's Cousin. This was
followed by (for the first time) a new Historical
Melo-drame, iit three -Acts, under the title of
Betis,arius,- or The Rfonan General ; and the,
whole concluded with -a superb Anglo Barbaric,
Hibernian, Caledonian, &c. &c. &c. Spectacle,
called Beauty and the Bey, or .Sidi
Ben Ismael and Peggy Larkins. Our readers
must perceive that in.this list of amusements tai re
was considerable novelty ; but one thing was
wanting, • which,- according to. modern taste, is
held essential to Christmas amusements—a Pan-
tomime. This casual oversight was, however,
more than supplied by the boisterous good na-
Ore of the audience, which was so loudly and.
continuously expressed as to produce three pan-
tOmimes instead of one ; for the whole of the
three pieces were rendered merely dumb shew
to by far the greater part of the audience. As
far as we could judge of their merits, by the
" machinery, scenery, dresses, and decorations,"
(to use the words of the bill), they were entirely
new, and appeared to give general satisfaction.
The house, it is almost unnecessary to add, was
crowded to excess, and the whole of the enter-
tainments were announced for repetition amidst
unbounded applause.
OLY AIPIC.--At this place of entertainment a
new Pantomime -was produced yesterday even-
ing. The story is taken from the nursery bal-
lad, Torn the Piper, and is called, Harlequin
Tom, the Piper's Son, and is too well known to
require description. Master BARNETT, from Co.
vent Garden Theatre, sang a song very delight-
fully; but his voice is not so good as it was. It
has lost its power, but not its sweetness ; he was
well received. Mr. KIRUY, as Clown, was ex-
tremely active ; Miss VALLANCY played Colum-
bine gracefully. The tricks are few, and were
so ill-manazed that the gods testified their diS-
approbation by divers indescribable noises ; but
the deficiencies are excusable on a first night.
It,is, perhaps, impolitic to produce Pantomimes
at this Theatre, where there are capabilities for
much more entertaining performances, and where
the size of the house is so unfavourable to scenic
tricks and deceptions.
A DELPIJ 1.-The new Pantomime at this The-
atre is founded on the Adventures of Dr. Syntax,
with whose singularities. and virtues the public
has been made acquainted through the press of
IVIr Ackermann. The tricks and changes were
much applauded, and the ingenuity of a scene in
which the-word picturesque was displayed in the
fantastic forms of trees and ruins, excited parti-
cular interest.