CHRISTMAS THEATRICALS.

any account of their freaks and gambols from our own impressions. brain yet whirling with the incessant gyrations of Harlequin and mime made their annual advent too late in the last week for us to give Columbine, and senses dazzled and deadened with the glitter and din, THE gorgeous denizens of Fairy-land and the motley crew of Panto- We have since gone a nightly round of these stage saturnalia ; and, with • we sit down to record the result, for the benefit of such of our bolyday- making readers as have had the patience to wait until the obstreperous gods who preside over the destinies of Christmas theatricals have a little subdued their uproarious demonstrations of impatience end applause. The first night of a pantomime is a treat to be enjoyed but once a year ; and being so, who minds the preliminary penance of sitting ont even the maudlin tragedy of George Barnwell, which is customarily inflicted on the apprentices on the evening of" boxing-day ?" The in- troductory fairy legend or nursery story, is alone worth seeing, for its garniture of splendid scenery and sumptuous dresses; but mat

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espteiully for the race of Wrier.. giddies, or giants, that figure in the scene, Ind those preposterous exiiggerin ions of ludicrous and grotesque physiognomies that disguise future heroes of the harlequinadv. And then come the tnagical transformations. 1 he crabbed guardian is metamorphosed into " the lean and slippery! Pantaloon," with his crutch-stick and pointed beard and pigtail, a face of feeble eagerness, and a decrepit restlessness of gait. fhe lovers emerge from the chry- salis of their mortal state into the butterfly beings of Harlequin Columbine. Harlequin stretches his lithe limbs with graceful jvrks, poising his particoloured and glistering body as if to feel the nature of his new existence, and rolling his little black ball of a head to try if it be really a component part of his frame. The Clown, with his merilly face squared out with red, his staring tufts of hair, and his motley suit, leaps into life with a surnrnerset, exerciser; his senses by setting all the muscles of his face in motion, twisting about his limbs in every way but the right, squinting most horribly, and finally bursting into convulsions of laughter, and with an involun- tary ejuculation of delight forthwith proceeds to mischief, Pantaloon

being generally the first victim. Then commences that exemplifi- cation of perpetual motion the liarlequinade, with its bustling ca- reer of thwacks and bumps, leaps and tumbles, thefts and disguises. These should properly arise out of the necessities of the runaway lovers, and the discomfiture of the pursuers ; but the chain of circum- stances is now disregarded, and its scattered links are jumbled to- gether in a confusion of " inexplicable dumb-show and noise." Heresies have crept into the pantomimic mythology. There are commonly two Clowns ; for the Searamouch—or Whirligig, as lie is called—is but the double of the Clown, and shares his labours of love and larceny. They have even given Columbine a rival too ; and the lover (whose fidelity led to his transformation) as the hero of the magic bat, whose liaisons never extended beyond a casual flirtation, is now in a fair way of committing bigamy. The inherent qualities of the pantomimic persons likewise are infringed upon. The Clown talks as freely as Mr. Merriman of the Circus ; instead of limiting the use of his organs of speech to an irrepressible expression of wonder- ment or delight, which sounds as strange as a violation of a condition of his existence should do, and conveys a due sense of the extraordi-

nary intensity of his sensations. Pantaloon displays too much agility, and aids the Clown instead of being his butt ; and Harlequin,

though he has not yet been guilty of the monstrous mistake of ut- terance, is too familiar with his enemies, and does not confine iris

display of agility to impossible leaps and the elegancies of attitudi- nizing. Notwithstanding these anomalies, however, and the grievous Jack of wit and invention as well as connexion in the tricks and changes, in which the machinist displays surpassing ingenuity, Panto- mime, with its glorious absurdities and marvellous impossibilities, transporting us for an hour intc an age of unreason, is a welcome relief; once and away, to the realities of life. The man lives over Again the days of his childhood in the fairy tale; and the child sees realized, with a magnificence that beggars the vividness of his imagi. nation, the scenes that haunted his fancy in dreams and the waking reveries of the school-room arid play-ground. 'f he sight of the little urchins in the boxes—the silent amazement of the infant seeing his

.'"first play"—the more intelligent attention of the elder ones, versed in fairy lore, and critically impatient of any departures from the text— and the joyous peals of merriment that ring out on every side, the light

and musical sounds borne out by the deep bass of papas who catch the . infection, and join in the roar (under a protest of the absurdity of the joke)—render the dullest pantomime amusing.

This long preliminary digression has left us the less room to describe the several pantomimes ; but it will suffice briefly to characterize them. To those that we have seen, and others that we have heard of, the same remarks generally apply. The tricks are few, and not very new or happy; tumbles and feats of strength there are plenty ; the scenery is particularly good ; and the introductory part well got up, and by far the most interesting.

At COVENT GARDEN, FARLEY takes for his subject Queen Mab ; prolific source of adventure; but tire exploits of the Fairy Queen are limited to a display of her trowels oti the limey of the Lawyer, the Par- son, and the Soldier, as described by Mercutio, and protecting the lovers. The tiny elfin appears, slot in a waggon drawn i by a team of atomies, as SHAKSPEAUE pictures her, but in an airy ear drawn by a cluster of glittering flies. The story is that of the Three Glass Dis- taffs, of which Prince Richeraft is the hero, as our young readers will remember. The King is a bully-hector, a compound of Falstaff and bluff King Hal, with a great voice ; and is well personated by flowEt.t.. Be is attended by a long, thin, shadowy knight, looking like a ghost in armour, or Don Quixote in a consumption ; and followed by a train of courtiers, who have each one leg shorter than the other, and who alternately display portentously long faces, or visages stretched out with a broad grin from ear to ear, according to their royal masters humour. ELLAR is the Harlequin, as of old ; but we miss our favourite Pantaloon, BARNES ; SUTTON does not come up to him in the sus- tained delineation of decrepitude and imbecility. The best of the tricks was the raising up of a gin palace, with illuminated clock, from a row of placards. There is a very lively scene of a carnival, with an expert slack-rope-dancer ( Bcacestour), and a master in the art of dislocations arid contortions of limb. The scenery, by the GRIEVES, is splendid and fanciful in the artificial pictures of fairy- land ; the natural scenes also are well painted, especially the Pano- ramic Annual ; but Sraselecu's beautiful scene pictures have spoilt us for any less brilliant and illusory.

The ADELPIll Pantomime is founded on the nursery ditty beginning .Oranges and lemons

Say the bells of St. Clement's

And the personification of the various bells, each bearing his clapper, and as they move with swinging gait striking their tintinnabulant bodies, which respond with a toll of sensibility, is capital. The barlequinade is more noisy arid bristling than that at Covent Gardens, but the tricks and changes are no better. The best scene is one of a tallow-chandler's, in which the Clowns fling Pantaloon rind the chandlers into the vat of tallow, and fish them up stiffened into corpses with grease ; arid make . aimormous candles by a rapid process of dipping, until they attain nearly the balk and stature of the lighted tapers that afterwards walk in from all sides. Though deficient in point and connexion, however, the ex- traordinary feats of strength, and the frequent rows which the Clowns get up, when the stage is covered with living heaps of human beings, elicited applauding shouts from the proper critics oldie piece.

At the VICTORIA, too, the subject is a nursery rhyme-

. Ding dong Pussy'. tin Ilse well "

But the introduction is neither so gay nor so amusing as either of the others ; and the hariequimide is worse. The tan-yard scene is the only good one ; where Clown strips a child and flings it into the tampit, and presently it is seen running across the stage in a complete snit of bark. 'fire scenery is not so good VS we expyted, after the really magnificent landscapes in the Last Days qf Pompeii ; which has been got up here in a very creditable manner. These are by MAR- SHALL ; but we should have taken them fur HILDVARD'S, they are so boldly and poetically conceived, and spiritedly and naturally painted. II. WALL/it:1i personates Glaucus, and limNes Arbaces: they might axchange characters with advantage. Mrs. IV. Wes.r performs the difficult and beautiful character of Nydia, the blind girl ; but besides being over matronly, she is too conventional in her style of acting to Piet emotions so conflicting and sensibilities so delicate. Mrs. KLELEY'S delightful and pathetic personation of the A delphi version of the character—in which, now that she has acquired the smoothness con- sequent on the better acqaintance of a fine performer with a part, she surpasses Miss KELLY herself in verisimilitude and intensity of feeling —makes the task of satisfying any one who has seen her in Nydia almost hopeless.

Pantomime is the order of the night also at the Surry, Sadler's Wells, and tire Pavilion ; and, judging from report and crowded houses, the en- tertainments are acceptable to their respective localities.

Come we now to the Spectacle; which at DRURY LANE usurps the place of Hariequinade, with such success that the genius of Panto- mime seems destined to fade before the splendid marvels of fiery and the heroic deeds of chivalry. King Arthur and his Knights if the Round Table is the theme of one of the most gorgeous and charac- teristic chivalric pageants that ever has been brought on the stage. Tire prowess and heroic virtue of Sir Roland the Constant, in resist- ing the seductive arts and defeating the powerful spells of the enchan- tress Morgana, form the subject of the story; and one more favour- able to a display of magic wonders and knightly splendour cannot be imagined. It receives ample justice in the performance. Duceow's stud of horses figure on the stage; but the graceful equestrian him- self does not appear. T. P. COOKE, the sailor (of all actors!) per- sonates the hero ; but wily so long as he is on foot ; during which time the free and lax gait of tile seaman is not entirely hidden by the armour of the knight. As Morgana's spells, however, render Sir Roland dumb as well as blood-red, and compel him perpetually to wear Iii; visor down, the substitution of a very clever pantomimic and expert horseman is not visible to the audience generally; who think that COOKE is rivalling Decaow, and not satisfied with being the best jack- tar on the stage, is determined "to witch the world with noble horseman- ship." Our space, already overdrawn upon by the subject, will not allow us to describe the several scenes. Suffice it, that the chivalry of King Arthur presents a most gallant and warlike array, with their banners, and attendants, encircling the famous Round Table ; which table, by the way, looks like a vast twelfth cake, and folds up and vanishes with magical celerity. Their appearance on horseback is most imposing, and the cavalcade is rendered still more animated by the caracolling of the steeds. We see the knights first receiving each the gage of his ladye- love ; then storming Morgana's enchanted castle, galloping up flights of steps through fire and hosts of &mons ; and afterwards contending its the 'lists, with spears and battlyaxes, in proper tournament fashion ; and lastly, forming a triumphal procession ins honour of the victory of Sir Roland; King Arthur mounted on the 'edge of his round table, which is borne upon a lofty car, and as he enters from under the gate- way of Carlisle, shoots up to A height that makes us giddy to think of. There is likewise a pageant after the old heraldic fashion, in which the crests and devices of the knights are embodied by living representa- tives. HARLEY vanquishes a giant of Gog-like proportions in single combat ; besides being otherwise amusing ; and WIELAND as the Goblin Page of Morgatia, seems never easy but when in motion, and "does Iris spiriting" most characteristically.

At the Or.vmric, VESTRIS has produced another of her elegant sub- stitutions for pantomime ; in which she burlesques very pleasantly the adventures of Telemachus and Mentor on the island of Calypso. She herself personates the fascinating Queen of Occygia, who tries all her arts to ensnare the youthful wanderer, and at last calls Venus herself to her aid. The Queen of Love brings Cupid down in her ear, drawn by doves ; and the little god, engaging the nymphs in a game of blind- man's buff, transfixes the hearts of every one, 1,;1.e unluckily inspires 'releinachus with a passion for one of the nymphs instead of their queen. Calypso, chugrined, in a tit of disgust suffers the youth and his tiresome old tutor to depart in the steamer Minerva ; and is left to sigh, with her love-stricken train, for her old flame Ulysses.. The verse dialoglw, by the authors of the preceding mythological burlesques, is pointed and sprightly, and interspersed with some capital parodies, that are well sung to favourite airs ; the selection of which is choice and various. The scenery is richly painted, though it is de- ficient in transparency of colouring; and the costumes and accessories are complete and in correct and elegant taste, as is usual at this well- appointed little theatre. A parody of the first scenes of the spectacle of Manfred is introduced very effectively, in which Calypso invokes the spirits of Brandy, Rum, Gin, and Whisky ; they appear after the fashion of the spirits in Manfred ; and VESTRIS is about to throw her- self off a crag ascended by a little flight of steps, as in the grave scenic burlesque of BYRON'S poem at Covent Garden.

The STRAND Theatre has produced a more elaborate and laughable parody of the scenery and acting of that spectacle, called Man Fred, by the author of the Revolt of the Workhouse. MITCHELL gives a laughable caricature of DENVIL'S look and manner ; and OXIIERRY ludi- crously mimics PERROT'S leaps and pirouettes. bliss P. Howrow's imitation of Gann is clever and amusing.