New-York tribune., 1908-01-05
LONDON DRAMA.
a Medley of Nursery Romance at
Drury Lane.
London. December 2S.


ventions they remain old-fashioned in spirit.
Cockfghting, .bullbaiting and the knockout
prizering have gone, and nobody misses them:
but the crowds still entertained in the
style of the Georges. There is no Handel to COM
pose cantatas and to conduct oratoTio; VauX-
hall and other gardens. with their tuneful noe
turnes and colored lights, have disappeared; but
with all the degradations of form the taste for
musical setting, song and dance remains. The
variety performances of the music halls are
the popular and lucrative entertainments
all the year round: and the style for them
set one hundred and fifty two hundred years
ago in the fairs Of Smithfeld, Mayfair and
Southwark where there every kind of turn
for the amusement of groundngs. Pantomme
also iourished under the Georges and it has
become an immense holiday industry through
out the kingdom, employing thousands OF
dancers. singers. clowns comedians acrobats,
costumers and scene painters, and involving the
investment of $4,000 in a single production.
The harleauinade has shrunk in proportions
and declined in value: but no pantomime is
complete without reminiscence of it. with
the redhot poker and the appetizing links of
sausage with Columbine in a maddenlnG whlrl
and the vagaries of Joey and the policeman
Peter PAN is the only modern innovation
among the old standards Cinderella, Sind
bad" Red Riding Hood" alice" and THE
Babes: and while the fairy princesses are more
corgeouslv arrayed than ever and St. Georges
arInor is more formidable and costly, the jokes
in the main go back to the time of the Georges
There is no slrinkage in volume. whatsoever
may be- said of the musical or comic quality,
when the time honored pantomime at Drury
Lane on Boxing Night fills five hours and the
holiday bowl is brimnling with variety 1t Is
entitled The Ba bes in the Wood" but in reality
it is a medley of nursery tales The orphans,
Reggie and Cissie, have governess to look
after them. but they are neglected by a nara
hearted baron and avaricious baroness, and are
captured bv a pair of robbers, Cheerful Charles
and Dismal Dick, and fail into the hands Of the
Little OLD Woman of the Shoe, who wishes the
giants 10 gorge themselves with them and finally
rides off TO the skes-a witch on the traditional
broonstick The cycle of romance does not end
with nursery rhymes and 'Hansel and Gretel,
for the Babes. with a vigilant fairy to keep
watch over them, are released by ferret from
rabbit hutches and transported 10 LoHypop
Land where royalty reigns over subject sweets;
and their fortunes are tangled in the skein of
Robin Hood and his merry men, with Mald
Marian prisoner. when the foresters are routed
nv wicked Lord Hugo and rescued at last when
the rnoated walls are scaled by the feiilns Oh
trees and the castle is taken after a stirring
hattie. If the Babes are lost sight Of In this
rarraro Of romance there are the picturesque
figures of VIII Scarlet, Friar Tuck and the
knights Of the Greenwood to enchant the eye
-Topsvfurvydom offers full compensation Ior
lack of consistency in plot; out OF II all emerges
,,e harleouinade in Nowhere in Particular
and ON the London housetops, when the sai-
1.rias are singing we won't go home till morn
ing
certainly, there is no lack Of scenic variety
,r,o,-aroent After a fairy prologue in the
,,.-s5e1- beds comes a glimpse Of an oldUIne
village followed By a glittering ballet IN a mar
- homo. and when the Babes, unlike the
,,fl5rer in Peter Pan" fall upon the dog SKIN
him, and put him in the bath thelr aoNeii'u
.-o carried through an encampnent OF syp'ioo
: -, o7-o of the forest the home Of the giants
I'D ,ra rabbit warren. with coryphees III shiNS
zorc,r,g with ferrets. swallows and pees' mere
= go ganp Of giants graduated from four feet
=, sixteen solemn in visase anu sI0'e'qO "
s.-,o,. and when the children are lost among
=. .,,e,, fall asleep in a wondrous gar
= e 1ifa and light, where trees Walk stars
-. o,,a another bats and will-o-the-Wlsps
= ff fairies are on the wing. palms ana 1elhs
81 and with magical changes Oh coiof anu
t8iolerings Of shadow the moon Is a sieepis
,,,+,, and the iocund rising sun dances IN 'io
heavens. ,., .,.o aoro-
Nex+ comes the lollypop ballet WIN 'ile uoH
So s,veets and this is followed py the cliiui eh
...ra with a procession Of schoolbooks'
finally, when tIe OHti%""
N-.-o.1o5 and the castle stormed and the WHICH
has been got rid Of there is a ilasiiiiio -
-. ,,+b soldiers foresters testers and oaiic
a., o-onge blossoms or white heather uii'ts =
a., r..7a is crowded with more than t"o nun.
go ,,erforrners The harvest nome SCENE VIII
In bridge and forest glade ana Win ""A
os,ur,es repeating the coiors OF gram anu
>u,,,.s Is really beautiful. and SO also are 'iie
woodland pictures, with oracheii anu
foliage ,,,o-e warned g
The managers of Drury Lane "e -. ,o
o,s ago that pantomime must ho' p0
,-,loarized by coarse jokes 1heie - - =;
- IN dialogue and by-play, but there Is
nothing debasing, obscene VI 49, .or.s
-. ara not many lyrics and toplcai soe0'
.I,bo,gh excellent artists are d' &C.
80 o,,a the clowning is kept under restfai'
Nth few random shots al '0-,-- ,,;,, hos
-. ooea and the little brown DOG WHICH ia
Diuoe -. y. the medical students. Even
:,.,ia,zo,,s suffragettes escape Wlthou'
the IiiiSCai rrl,ore is an abundance of knock
"ail''', - cham dueling and makeoeheVe
eybttng in front Of the castie' " - ,.eon
I-H .,7a, freakish practical jokes; nay wee :.
puis ''0- ~, stage Mr. Walter Passmore is
..r;,.,ed from an interminabie req "ii0.
eAi Cl-,o,,os+ &c as Jolly and agile a dog a'
- =, peter Pam" there is reVersioie ~
->di'' " ot end and there are the funhles'
- o,,er seen in pantomine- IL Is ie'' u
eiaii' :, t,o,,, than usual, and this marks d re-
Hiusio NO. ., airaction of legitimate paIito-
Versio'i - ,,nnortant than all else Ii is
nlihie' tl,-oroe with nothing to talhI ING
cream CT ,.,sron IL there be little 10 hispio
minus Vi 80 Now that Mr.. Barries play
thelr lii"e m .gas has become an eStao-