New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-02-23
A TURBULENT SCENE.

WHICH CLING To THE PLACE-THE BANcRoFTs
RESOLVE TO HAVE no PIT, AND MEET WITH
GRowLs-" Monty" POORLY PERFORMED.
lFRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIBuNR.i
LONDON Feb. 3.-A definite answer is still want
ing to the question how much risk of health and
life a CORRESPONDENT is conscientiOusly bound 10
run in The discharge of his duties. That he must
take his chance in all the incidents OF flood ara
field, in battles, seges and the Ike Is well under
stood. That he must sometimes travel by rail- IL
clear. That he must make his way about London
IN a fog and brave the fiery hanson in crossing
streets will not be denied by the more adventurous
members of his profession That he should sleep with
telegraph wire tied to bis bed-post a necessary,
Though distressing incident of his lot. But can he
reasonably lie asked to be present at the opening OF
newly decorated and pretty much rebailt theatre,
whers the walls oozng moisture, where raw
smell pervades the air, where paint and plaster are
publicly rebelling against the sudden constralht
put upon them, where rheumatism haunts IN the
corridors aud neuralgia turks round every corner
where arsenic distils in subtle fumes from newly
hung Wallpapers and where gas pours from innu-
merable crevices in hurriediy jonted pipes Ana H.
from sense of duty curiosity the poor wretch
faces all these perils and sits through his ordeal.
and wakes up next morning with head
ache and general numbness of body and
what he has seen and undergone Would it not be
more merciu alike to HIM and to the reader. If he
silently put himself to bed again, and said nothing
If his melancholy experiences of the night before
| dare say it would. 1t is however, your preroga-
tive and not mine to decide all these points. If you
had been mt the Haymarket Theatre Saturday
night. or even Monday night you woGld be in no
condition to come to decision this or any other
subject. You might think, nevertheless. that the
incidents of thst evening had some interest for the
pay.gong world IN America. Here IN London the
interest has been very great so great that III the
different published accounts little mention is made
of the hardships endured by the audience. This
heroic ind ference to bodily suffering becomes con-
ceivable when you reflect how seldom ii Is that the
drama as practised in London has anything OF real
novelty to offer There are many people to whom
the migration of the BancrOfts from the Prince of
Wales Theatre to the Haymarket is moro exciting
than the wanderings of the lost tribes, OF the adyen-
lures of Japhet in search of father.
Ii has been the fashion for many years to speak
of the handbook play house in Tottenham-st. as
true tempe of the drama. Tragedy, to be sure had
nothing to say to It, but Comedy we were forever
being told prosecuted and mallreated elsewhere,
had found refuge in its narrow walls, and enjoyed
herself considerably in the company of MISS Marie
Wilton and her husband Mr.. Bancroft. This opin-
ion whether well or i'll founded has been the source
OF much profit to this excellent pair The hOusc
was situated in diuRy street. remote from other
theatres and from the busy haunts of most patrons
of the drama. But IL nightly thronged. Ii was
there that RObertson's pieces were brought ont.
that adaptations from SaFdOu were toned down TO
the prudish level of English taste, and that reviyas
1 do not use the word III its MethOdlsiic SENSE
rcvivals of Lord Lytton and Tom Taylor took place.
IL nv h. ham
Young Montague. who afterward fired the suscept
ble hearts of New-York maidens and matrons. Mr.
Hare graduated from that stag when he passed rs
full manager 10 the Court Theatre, thence to be
translated TO the greater glory Of the ST. James
the house where first dramatic decoration took
distinctly aesthetic form. There Fanny Josephs
and Marion Terry, there Sugden and Coghlan,
there Honey and Cecil won celebrity each
in their own way. So did many Others There
also was tried the experiment of reducing Shake
speares Merchant of Venice" to the dimensions of
drawing-room drama an experiment too painful
and too costly TO be repeated don't remember
how many years this went on. But at last the am
btion of the Bancrofts Outgrew the limits of the
Prince of Wales. A year ago or more 1t was wins
pered they medtated taking the lIaymarket. They
did take it; they spent 10000 in rebuilding and
redecoratng and refuTnishng the interior; and they
opened IT last Saturday night.
OF the usual incidents Of London first night Of
the numerous aud brilliant audience. of the more
numerous and not less brilliant audience thatwould
have been present if they could OF the puffs prem
mary Of many other matters pertaining 10 such oc-
casons will say nothing. The interest Of The even
ing was pretty much all absorbed by one unusual
incident; anticipated possibly, but certainly not by
the manager 1t had pleased Mr. Bancroft, for rea-
sous sufficient to him. 70 abolish the pit OF the thea
ire Tins pit we hear described by elderly emf hus-
asts in terms that would not be out OF place de-
picting the oak groves Of DOdOna or the SIR lie OF
the Gear Sacr6 Thence came the oraclcs on which
the fortune of author and actor hung; there
it was that the believer i'll dramatic mira
cles brought MS offerings; and was rewarded
by witnessing miracles, not witnessing them,
according to circumstances. large number
of persons in moderate way of life bad come 70
believe they had prescrptive right TO the play
from the pit at pit prices. They paid, really for
get how much, but something like half dollar. for
the best places in the theatre Mr. Bancroft study
ing the history of the hOusewhich has been his
tory of financial catastrOphes for a generation-and
| the capacity Of the house. to the conclusion
that the pit was, from the managers point of view.
mistake. He improved it off the face of the earth.
In place of Il he built over one-ha orchestra stalls,
and over the rest balcony and tier of boxes. For
| one Of the new seats you now pay from 81 20 to
| So so, instead of so cents as before.
The JOcent people resolved to protest against this
inroad upon their vested interests. Going past the
theatre at o'clock Saturday afternoon. three hours
before the curtain was to rise. found small mob
of perhaps 100 persons besegng the closed doors OF
the gallery entrance; the gallery being the region
to which the pit patrons were now to be banished.
| The small crowd grew big as the hours went on,
They filed the gallery and second circle and when
the curtain went up at s, they gave Mr.. Bancroft
what | suppose they would call piece of their
mind. There was an outburst of yells and shouts.
and the roar Of the angry crowd above seemed to
menace not only Mr.. Bancroft but the distinguished