THE THEATRES.
Last year the Christmas-pieces of Messrs. Planche and n Beckett drew from us a comparison of the two different schools of burlesque. Similar points of contrast are again presented this year in the burlesques of Mr. Planche and the Messrs. Brough; the former of whom as a matter of course supplies the Lyceum entertainment, while the Liverpool brothers are the caterers'fer the Haymarket. The grett'aftu Of r. Planche is to dramatize a faity;tale;L to- follow its progress witil'accneW; and to put it on the stage witlitid? Nett possible alteration. As he *mastered the "Golden BrancIC the subject of last year,) it is obvious not only that no tale whatever present an insur- mountable difficulty, but also that any Gordian knot which may be found will not be cut but fairly untied. The *nip side of a Christmas enter- tainment is with Mr. Manche the seconderAcoresideration; he would neeer mar a picturesque group by introducing a -character in grotesque modern costume, however ludicrous the effect of such introduction might.be..,ble lays down as the two canons of his dramatic conduce, that the piece-must be elegant, and that the tale must The Princess Rosetta, which tO- takenthis subject this year, giving his work the more characteti4erpf log if the Peacocks, is a much more simple narrative tban470 olden Betinclo, a tale which stands alone in the D'Anois collection forintreution and eccentricity. There is nothing to prevent the love of Rosetta for the Peacock Sovereign from being dra- matized in the clearest and most intelligible manner; but a peculiar diffi- culty lies in the want of striking incident. This deficiency has caused Mr. Planche to pay even more than usual attention to the decorative ele- ment of attraction: he has devised scenes and dresses of unparalleled gor- geousness, and has introduced dtdittitt itetharkable for the liveliness and gayety oicostume by which they iire'ke' off. If it be said that this is the work rather of the decorator than the author, we would remind our readers, that in Mr. Planch4 the two characters are combined, and that a Christ- mas or Easter piece, with its decorative appurtenances, may be looked upon as an emanation from his own mind. Mr. Beverley, the scene- painter of the theatre, who is also an excellent mechanist, is the very man to realize the notions of Mr. Planche. As the latter eschews the vulgar, so does the former avoid the gaudy and glaring, and the productions of his pencil are as delicate as they are splendid.
The Haymarket burlesque is a work belonging to the other school; that is to say," fun " and satire are the chief objects, and the fairy tale is but a means to as end. The brothers Brough have immense facility in verbal joking, and the number of puns in the piece probably exceeds that of the lines. - Stich pleasantries as making a Djin a modern scamp, with a shabby white hat, and a pipe in.his mouth,—pleasantries from which Mr. Manche would instinctively shrink,--are ,indulged in ad libitum. In point of construc- tion, this burlesque is a great advance upon The Enchanted Isle, and is cer- tainly one of the very best of its school; being lively and amusing from beginning to end; without any intervals of dulness. Mr. Planche's cnn- wdentious 'adherence to the tale he selects is unknown to the Messrs. h. Their piece is based chiefly on the story of Prince Camaralza- ; but they have not scrupled to take an incident from the tale of the Peri-banou, (likewise in the Arabian Nights); and have modified the Maimoune, who in the original belongs merely to the supernatural itetaliinery, into the heroine of thb play, where she is dubbed " the Peri trhoeloved a Prince."
ze. tin. both theatres, all the available histrionic resources have been em- to give weight to the new burlesques. At the Lyceum, we have adanie Vestris, (with such a dress!) Miss Fitzwilliam, Miss Howard, Mr. Harley, Mr. Hall, and Mr. John Reeve, (who comes out much better might have been expected,) with a very numerous and effective corps ballet. At the Haymarket, Mrs. Keeley, (who, if possible, plays with Moje. than usual drollery,) Miss P. Horton, Miss Reynolds, Mr. Keeley, and Mr. J. Bland, constitute a formidable array of burlesque talent. The music of the Haymarket chiefly consists of merry old tunes, while at the Lyceum there is a tendency to travestie operatic scenes. The Haymarket piece is liberally put upon the stage; though, of course, not with the elabo- -tate taste and magnificence of the Lyceum, where burlesque is the chief -dish, not the condiment of the dramatic banquet.
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