The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-01-27
REAL PANT0MIME
SHOULD APPEAL
TO THE CHILD ].
luRsERY FAsLE STAGED TOO
OFTEN WITH NOT ENOUGH OF
The oRIoINAL-LlTTLE ONES 4
BAROMETER.
Nv LADY HENRY SOMERSET.

LONDON, jim. a'
lie and big, IL going TO the psn'o'
mines nowadays aud nowanights, put
whether Il is that + am growing oid'
sr or that l am perhaps little more
dindcult to illusionize II does not seem
to me that our pantomimes are "na'
they used 10 be.
The pantomime is supposed 10 De
the reproduction OF some old nursery
fable, and In early times, when nrst
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 . story that We knew.
IL was Cinderella, or Dick whiting
ton and the Cat, or Jack and the Bean
stalk or Bluebeard, or some otnsr
tale OF the nursery folk lore dear 10
our hearts, and the story was careful
ly pursued, and II any deviations were
made from the original text We should
have been keen TO discover II and
quick 10 resent IL. But nowadays the
pantomime has largely changed It's
character.
The story is OF little moment-it is
the slender thread on which Is hung
the dazzling. glittering show which is
dreds OF soldiers march past, hundreds
Of fairies dance, flowers open and be-
come beautiful maidens, the hero 10
comic, Jokes OF the day are inter
spsrsed that have nothing whatever
10 do with the story, and the children
who are waiting eagerly TO see tho
development of what they Know and
love are often hugely bored by what
IL really intended only 10 attract and
To please their elders.
Il 10 In the Mind.
THAT Is not in the book" I have
heard many children say, with that
candid criticism which there 10 no re-
futing.
II IL not Ia the book, but II IL In
the mind OF Mr.. Somebody orr Other,
who wants 10 make the pantomime at
tractiye to an adult audience.
Ii IL q curious thing to watch rows
Of 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 to them
IL the truth, and how everything falls
fat. although they may condescend to
laugh at some Of the jokes. which does
not bear out their knowledge Of the
tale. Now why should We endeavor
to attract the elders instead OF really
ministering to the minds OF the
youngy II n for two reasons: First
because 20 few. people really grasp
what the mind OF the young means.
and because % few really understand
that what ministers TO that mind has
still an attraction for the adult. II II
here that Mr.. Barrie, In his wonderful
Peter Pan" made his great stroke.
Peter Pan was real to the child.
II n true we DO not often see Q
large dog act as q nurse, nor do tho
children rise from their beds and L.
vitate out q window, but to the child
all these things are possible and
therefore deeply interesting.
The brigands Of whom ne has read
appear Just as live brigands. and do
just the thing that they expect brig
to do. In fact the things that brig.
ands must do. and therefore they are
satisfactory.
II 10 because Mr.. Barrie has a real
understanding Of what the child mind
u that he 10 90 eminently successful.
and II Ia because the gentlemen who
manage the pantomime at Drury lane
and at other great theaters In Lon
don, have 90 little conception OF what
mines are 30 often q failure.
Splendid. Gorgeous" we say, %
we watch the unending transforms.
tions and the glittering colors Of the
magnificent. grouping. but oh! how
dull" or course. there were Q few
actors, such IS poor Dan Leno and
Herbert Campbell, who were inimit-
ably comic, but l doubt whether their
fun really amused children; In fact,
am pretty sure Il did not. Ii was the
fun Of the grotesque, Of the paradox.
and that does not appeal to the child.
Don't Want Deviation.
But the point, to my mind. 10 that.
when o man really understands what
children think and feel. all the world
10 delighted, for In all minds the child
10 dormant and can be wakened into
innocent happiness. Children do not
care for deviation. They want . ser
ious understanding that the charac-
tiers are really carrying out their parts.
that Robinson Crusoe IL not
expected to fool about with
all sorts Of pretty ssvages who have
never been described in the story. that
Dick Wilmington was to get TO Lon
don with his Cat and become Lord
Mayor, and not to make love to some
young lady on the way, about whom
nething 10 said In the book. and that
Bluebeard really had q blue beard,
and was very ferocious and disagree
able sort Of fellow. and not, rather. an
attractive young man. rs believe he
IL represented In one OF the Panto-
mines now being given on q London
stage.
II 10 pity that at any rate once
In the year grown-up people and chill
dren should not begin to understand
the beauty there 10 In real simplicity,
and that the old fairy stories should
not come forth with all their charm,
and with all their power TO captivats
the wfde-eyed child whose future lies
before It. and the adult whose mind
wandsrs back over the green ways Of