The grand novelty of the Victoria is the looking-glass curtain
; and its power of attraction, it must be allowed, is equal to its power of reflection. We went to see it and the audience on Wednesday ; and found the house crowded to the roof : beneath whose massive beams the noisy gods hung in clusters, looking like a frieze of fantastic wood- carved figures animated ; their drab hues made more palpable-by the light of nearly a score of little glass chandeliers, depending each one from the centre of gilded rosettes that filled the compartments of the ceiling,—making the white and gold look brighter by contrast. The theatre presents a very showy appearance ; and the subterranean saloon for the pit looks like a scene in a pantomime, with its squat pillars and tinsel decorations, and the motely group of painted damsels and dingy swains.
The dialogue of the new farce of the Man with the carpet Bag, is from beginning to end a string of puns, too much the worse for wear ; and the device of the plot was so transparent, that the equivoke of the incidents fell as flat as those of the phrases. MITCHELL made the best of his part ; but there was little scope for his capital talents. It re- quires the aid of rhyme and rhythm to give point and effect to punning dialogue ; and then it is only suited to burlesque or travestie.
The admission to the upper boxes here is only half the price of that to the dress circle; so that they were well filled.
Previous page
