The Detroit times., 1909-01-26
REAL PANT0M|ME
SHOULD APPEAL
!. To THE CHILD
NURSERY FABLE STAGED TOO
OFTEN WITH NOT ENOUGH OF
THE oRIolNAL-lITTLE ONES A
BAROMETER.
BY LADY HENRY SOMERSET.

LONDON, Jan. 26.--All London, Ut
tie and big, Is going to the pan'o'
mines nowadays and nowanights. put
whether II is that | am growing oid
er or that l am perhaps little more
hifficult to illusionize II does not seem
to me that our pantomimes are what
they used 10 be.
The pantomime Is supposed TO be
/ the reproduction OF some old nursery
fable, and In early times, when first
Remember the joyous days 10 which
we looked forward all year, when We
were taken TO this annual treat, the
story was the great thing TO our child
minds. IL was a story that we knew.
II was Cinderella. or Dick Whiting
ton and the Cat, or Jack and the Bean
stalk or Bluebeard. or some other
tale OF the nursery folk lore dear TO
our hearts, and the story was careful
ly pursued, and IL any deviations were
made from the original text We should
have been keen To discover II and
Iluick TO resent II. But nowadays the
pantomime has largely changed its
character.
The story Is OF little moment-it is
The slender thread on which Is hung
he dazzling. glittering show which is
he real object OF the evening. Hun
1reds OF soldiers march past. hundreds
If fairies dance, flowers open and be-
come beautiful maidens, the hero is
comic, jokes Of the day are inter.
spersed that have nothing whatever
20 do with the story. and the children
who are waiting eagerly TO see the
development of what they know and
owe are often hugely bored by what
o really intended only TO attract and
20 please their elders
II is in the Mind.
THAT Is not In the book" | have
heard many children say. with that
candid criticism which there is no re-
tuting.
1t is not in the book. but II is in
The mind OF Mr.. Somebody
who wants To make the pantomime at
.ractive 10 an adult audience.
IL is curious thing 10 watch rows
VI children and TO see how little the
glitter and the glamour OF the scenic
show really attract them, how they are
really waiting for that which 10 them
> the truth, and how everything falls
lat, although they may condescend To
iaugh at some OF the jokes, which does
not bear out their knowledge OF the
ale. Now why should We endeavoT
O attract the elders instead of really
ministering to the minds of the
young? II Is for two reasons: First
because so few people really grasp
What the mind of the young means,
Ind because SO few really understand
hat what ministers TO that mind has
still an attraction for the adult. IL Is
lere that Mir Barrie. in his wonderful
Peter Pan" made his great stroke.
Peter Pan was real TO the child.
II Is true We do not often see a
arge dog act as a nurse, nor do the
hildren rise from their beds and le
itate out window. but to the child
III these things are possible and
therefore deeply interesting.
The briSNnds OF whom he has read
appear jus. as live brigands, and do
ust the thing that they expect brig
o do, In fact the things that brig
inds must do. and therefore they are
satisfactory.
II Is because Mr.. Barrie has a real
Understanding Of what the child mind
y that he Is SO eminently successful.
Ind II Is because the gentlemen who
manage the pantomime at Drury lane
Ind at other great theaters In Lou
lon, have so little conception OF what
he child mind Is that their panto
mines are SO often q failure
splendid! Gorgeous" we say, as
ne watch the unending transforma
Hons and the glittering colors of the
magnificent, grouping. but oh. how
lull." or course. there were a few
lctors, such as poor Dan Leno and
Herbert Campbell, who were inimit
bly, comic, but | doubt whether their
un really amused children; in fact.
I'm pretty sure II did not. II was the
un Of the grotesque, OF the paradox
md that does not appeal TO the child.
Don't Want Deviation.
But the point, TO my mind, is that
When a man really understands what
hlldren think and feel. all the world
delighted, for in all minds the child
dormant and can be wakened into
Innocent happiness. Children do not
are for deviation. They want a ser
ous understanding that the charac.
ers are really carrying out their parts.
hat Robinson Crusoe Is not
Expected TO fool about with
II sorts Of pretty savages who have
lever been described In the story. that