As at Christmas so at Easter do the burlesques at
the Lyceum and the Haymarket bring Messrs. Blanche and G. A. a Beckett into juxtaposition. The Theseus and Ariadne (Lyceum) of the former, and the Castle of Otranto (Haymarket) of the latter, may be taken as fair specimens of their different styles. Mr. Blanche is the inventor of that peculiar kind of piece which com- bines burlesque dialogue with the decorations of fairy spectacle, and which had its origin at the Olympic during the management of Madame Yes- tris. The old burlesques, of which Bornba.stes Furioso is the most popular example, had nothing to do with magnificence, but aimed at drollery alone; although the little skill in punning which existed in former days causes them now to appear poor, even when regarded from the humorous point of view exclusively. The serious drama, with or without words, founded on the old fairy tale—such as Cinderella or Blueheard—has likewise fallen into general disuse, and an attempt to revive it always proves a failure. To pro- duce the Christmas or Easter piece of the present day, those two classes were amalgamated. The two elements of the compound have nothing in common: there is nothing naturally comic or satirical in the fairy or mythological legend; there is nothing naturally magnificent in the bur- lesque, which consists rather of depreciation than of exaltation.
Our two leading writers of holyday entertainments are distinguished ac- cordingly as these original elements preponderate one over the other. With Mr. Blanche, who is a dramatist to the back-bone, the fairy drama is the essential element, and the comic dialogue is merely _accessary. He conducts his plot as if he intended seriously- to interest as well as to amuse his audience; he never allows the burlesque element to interfere with the beauty of his decoration, or to make his drama less picturesque than if it were a serious production. His jokes are not very many, and he uses them as occasional aids, not as substantial parts of his edifice. The musical part of the work is perhaps that in which he displays the most humour; and he has a remarkable talent in the selection of useful melodies. This
year lie is more than usually felicitous. The story of Theseus and Ariadne is generally known and perfectly intelligible; whilst it admits of a classical splendour in the decoration that is always gratifying to the better clam of an audience. The author has also the advantage of being backed by managers who regard this sort of entertainment as their staple commodity, who think that no expense is too great which will insure a perfect production, and who moreover have at their command one of the most finished scene-painters of the day in the person of Mr. Beverley. Years ago, the Cretan views and the Bacchanal throngs would have been regarded as theatrical impossibilities. Madame Yestris as Theseus, with a voice somewhat users but still charming in its best notes, Mr. C. Mathews as Dadalus—the chorus of the piece—with full opportunity to display his easy flippancy, and Miss K. Fitzwilliam, who surprises her audience by the manner in which she sings really difficult music, are strong histrionic pil- lars to Mr. Blanche's structure.
With Mr. Is Beckett, the burlesque element prevails, and the drama is with him little more than a vehiele for comic dialogue. Ho can keep up a fire of puns and satirical allusions, to which Mr. Blanche could not so much as approximate; but in conducting the business of a piece, he is very far inferior. The manner in which, at a short notice he has seized on the Special Constable topic and the loyal feeling produced by the reaction against Chartism, and turned it to account in his Castle of Otranto, is really admirable: it almost seems as if the piece, produced on the 24th of April, had its primary origin on the 10th. But while in their applications, and in the number of his jests, be shows his preeminence as a wit, the number of ineffective scenes in his production make apparent his deficiencies as a dramatist. Even his own wit stands in his way, since his jokes often fall with such rapidity as to escape the attention of the audience; while Mr. Blanche, more sparing with his pleasantries, generally brings them in where they can hit. Mr. Keeley, Miss Reynolds, Miss P. Horton, and Mr. J. Bland, are good actors of burlesque—the two last are perhaps the very best on the stage; and so far the Haymarket piece is sufficiently supported. But at this theatre the class of entertainment is never deemed so import- ant as to require the pains bestowed upon it at the Lyceum; and there is nothing in the decoration that can be for a moment compared with the works of Mr. Beverley.
Another novelty at the Haymarket is a little farce called Lola Montes, its heroine, Mrs. Keeley, takes the character of a young girl in humble life, and dressed as the fascinating Spaniard, makes her appearance at a Ger- man court, and captivates an old prince; who may be supposed a repro sentative of King Louis. The piece is pointedly written, by Mr. Stirling Coyne; and the assumption by Mrs. Keeley of all the confidence of a pert grisette, who disports herself fearlessly amid a host of rigid grandees, is comic in the extreme. Altogether, this is one of Mr. Coyne's best "hits."
Far less creditable is his fairy spectacle, The Fountain of Zen, pro- duced at the Adelphi. The subject is stale; the dramatic means have been often employed in other pieces of the sort; while the scenery, though new, does not exhibit any dramatic invention. However, Madame Celeste has a character, to display her pantomime; and Mr. Wright can put forth some of his " fun "; so that the piece may serve for a while to amuse the holy- day- folks. ' 1)reary Lane has modified Its horse performances, to pay reverence to Easter. At the Princess's Madame Thillon has reappeared, in Le Brun's Rossignol, a "tuneful" little opera, well known on the Continent; and the ballet of Esmeralda has been prettily furbished up. Mr. Macready has come out at alarylebone for a limited number of nights, which began with Hamlet, on Easter Monday : he is doubtless gratified to find the style of stage production different from that at a certain other establishment. Sad- ler's Wells has been devoted to the performances of Mr. Love, the well- known ventriloquist.
On the "other side of the water," there is a due quantum of Paschal activity. The manager of the Surrey produced on Easter Monday a new pantomime, in which he insulted the Chartists; thus producing a sort of Cavalier and Roundhead contest among his audience, which terminated in a victory of the Loyalists. Mr. Osbaldiston has fitted up the Victoria in grand style; declaring in his bills, that he intends to keep it in that "proud position" which it has hitherto maintained. At Astley's, Eugene Sue's romance of Le Juif Errant is opened, not for the sake of demolishing the Jesuits, but to give employment to Mr. Van Amburgh and his menagerie as Morok and his beasts. We are glad to see Astley's "looking up": the old national place of equine recreation is not to be slighted, though it is the height of fashion to witness the foreign tumblers at Drury Lane.
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