DOI issue:
October 20, 1855
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16616#0171
October 20, 1855.]
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
159
NITOCRIS AT DRURY LANE.
The play-bill reading public of the Metropolis, who are versed in the
literature of large type and the poetry of the paste-pot, have for some
time been amused and amazed by a placard issued from Drury Lane,
which throws ali previous broadsides into the shade—or the waste-
paper basket—by its display of learning and mystery. Antiquarian
research has become fashionable among theatrical managers, who
appear to be up to their eyes in the dust of ages; and it will soon
begin to be a question of rivalry as to which theatrical lessee shall be
regarded as the regular dustman of the past, and which theatre shall
be looked upon as the original dust-hole of antiquity.
The play-bill of Drury Lane commences with the announcement of
"an original Egyptian play," followed by the confession, that "the
early ages of Egypt are lost in dark mystery." Undaunted by this
obscurity, the management has been groping about in the dark for the
last eighteen months, aided by the lights of Denon, Pitzball,
Dykwynkyn, and Herodotus. "No research has been too trying "
for the patience and purse of the lessee, who has distributed his agents
and his money over every spot where anything was likely to be found
to aid in " reviving the associations of the Pharaonic period." Every-
thing bearing any pretensions to an Egyptian character has been ran-
sacked, from a coffee-cup to a Colossus, and we dare say that even the
Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly—where the lessee of Drury Lane recently
exhibited the African Twins—was occupied in the hope that some
Egyptian notions might be got out of it.
After so much expectation had been raised, the house was, naturally
enough, crowded to semi-suffocation, or partial asphyxia, on the
opening night, when the result of so much learning and so vast an
outlay of money was to be presented to the public. To preserve the
antiquity of the whole affair, the writing of the piece had been en-
trusted to the celebrated Mr. Eitzball, one of our oldest dramatists.
The list of characters commenced rather mysteriously with Mes-
phra (King of Egypt), Mr. Edgak, and Tihrak {a young Egyptian,
conquered by Mesphra), Mr. Barry Sullivan. This seemed to
us very like Victoria {Queen of England), Mrs. Anybody, and
Jones, {a young Englishman, conquered by Victoria), Mr. Nobody.
If Mesphra went about "conquering" his subjects, his sovereignty
must have been no sinecure, and it must have been rather a relief to
him when, in an early part of the play, he was stretched lifeless on the
stage, pierced—or rather poked—to the waistcoat by a formidable and
\ rather authentic-looking Egyptian weapon.
We will not go through the whole of the plot, which turns upon the love
I of Nitocris for Tihrak, who saved her life—or rather her leg—from the
jaws of a crocodile. While the lady was walking near the Nile, the brute
in question opened his mouth, in the hope that Nitocris would put her
foot in it, when Tihrak turned the animal into a sheath for his scymitar.
Nitocris becomes Queen, and marries Tihrak, who is, of course, conspired
against, and who, by what is called in the bills " a great effect, intro-
ducing a new electric tinted light, invented by Mr. Kerr," overcomes
his enemies. This " effect" is certainly striking, and says a great, deal
for the completeness of the water-works of Egypt; for Tihrak, who is
suddenly elevated from the chair he has just taken to the roof, turns on
the main, and the water is supposed to rush into the Banquet Hall.
The water is, however, of a peculiar kind, for it does not extinguish the
lights, which are seen burning as brilliantly as ever through the
inundation. The conspirators, thinking, perhaps, that they are born to
be either hanged or drowned, quietly adopt the latter alternative ; and,
instead of even jumping on to the chairs and tables, or hanging on to the
lofty columns as well as they can, surrender themselves quietly to their
fate, and lie down with a dogged determination not to struggle, or to
rise even once to the surface. Tihrak having turned on the main to
| subdue his enemies, quietly turns it off, that he may have the satisfac-
| tion of viewing them grouped together, like so many drowned rats,
1 under "the new electric tinted light, invented by Mr. Kerr," and
contributing greatly to the ghastly appearance of the swamped
I conspirators.
Nobody, we believe, claims any literary merit for the niece, itself,
which is a mere vehicle—and rather a slow one—for the effects arising
out of it. Some of the incidents were rather dangerously ludicrous,
and the audience appeared to relish the absurd position of a certain
"dark warrior," who coming in with a "mission" which be might
have easily fulfilled half a dozen times over, if he had proceeded at once
to his work—that of killing Tihrak—became so extremely dilatory over
the business that Tihrak killed him instead, and the " mission " accord-
ingly failed by the dispatch of the missionary.
It must be allowed that the piece is well got up, and does credit to
the liberality of the management. On the first night, the audience
clamoured for a few extra acts that seemed to have been left out, which
proved that the public, when it can't have too much of a good thing,
will not be satisfied with having too little of a bad one. This remark
refers to the dialogue and not to the accessories of the piece, for the
latter are very gorgeous, while the former had been very properly cur-
tailed, and the restoration of the missing act is no improvement. It is
only just to the lessee to say, that he has done his part weil—ihat he
has engaged, the be»t available performers—including Miss Glyn,
who did all she could for an indifferent part, and that he has succeeded
in producing a spectacle, the splendour of which will be sufficiently
attractive to repay much of the outlay that has. been bestowed on it.
WHY DON'T NEWSPAPERS GO BY POST?
The above inquiry, which is now made on all sides, may perhaps be
answered by the following copy of the last Instructions "furnished on
the sunject.
Instruction No. 185,990, cancelling Nos. 11, 1002, 3097, 4608, 9751,
and 15,555.
I1STRUCTIOS TO POSTMASTERS.
It being desirous to check a Ribald Press, by placing every possible
obstacle, in the way of transmitting journals, you are hereby ordered to
take that notice as the basis of your dealings with all posted Newspapers.
In answer to any inquiry by the public as to the proper mode of for-
warding any journal, be perfectly civil, and give the most elaborate
instructions, always, however, conveying the impression, that it would
be wiser not to attempt sending the paper at all.
In the event of a journal being sent in a way which palpably violates
the new rules, do not always detain it. Its exemption under such
circumstances, will produce imitation, and then a large crop of disputes
and complaints will arise.
If three journals are posted by the same party, all in violation of the
rules, deliver one and detain two. The apparent inconsistency of this
course will create fresh confusion in the public mind.
When an indignant recipient who finds his paper inscribed " Not
in accordance with the law," and himself mulcted in an enormous
postage, comes in to demand explanation, tell him that you cannot
understand the reason of the over-charge, but that he had better write
to head-quarters—the utility of this latter process being proverbial.
There is no wish that the transmission of Newspapers should be over-
burdensorne to you, and you are at liberty to delay them, should your
own business make it inconvenient for you to forward them until next
post.
Close examination is strictly enjoined, and this cannot be done in a
hurry, nor is it expected that you should sacrifice valuable time to the
purpose. _ Breakfast and supper offer the best occasions for your looking
over the journals, and Sunday morning for the weekly press.
Lose no opportunity of abusing the recent alteration and the new
orders, as this will cause additional conviction that the chance of a
Newspaper being delivered is very scanty.
You are aware that the affixed stamp is very liable to be detached in
your letter-box, or if your counter happens to be damp, or if your
thumb should be sticky while sorting. On no account omit to notice
the absence of an affixed stamp.
Act up to the spirit of these instructions, and the present belief of
the public, that the chances are against a Newspaper being delivered,
will become certainty, and the desired effect will be produced.
General Post Office, St. Martin's le Grand.
APPEAL TO THE TRIUMVIBATE.
Kossuth, and Mazziki, and Ledru Bollin,
Why not be content to effect what you can ?
You are doing your utmost dissension to sow
In what should be one camp with one common foe.
Why—blindly and doggedly bent on extremes ?
Why will you insist on unfeasible schemes ?
Accept an instalment, and wait for full pay:
Borne was not built, and will not be freed in a day.
Oh ! how can you be such a triad of fools ?
You serve the Czar more than his creatures and tools;
You are three Bussian agents—and al! we can say
Is—we trust that you are so without Bussian pay !
Imperial Small Talk.
The Emperor oe Bussia. is going about expressing his readiness to
shed " the last drop of his blood " in defence of his country. We have
no doubt that when he makes up his mind to part with the first drop,
t he last will be quite at the service of anybody who chooses to take it.
We suspect, however, that the Czar has no intention of putting him-
self on tap in the manner proposed, even pour encourager les autres, who
are being hourly drained of all the blood they possess to suit the plea-
sure of their imperial master.
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
159
NITOCRIS AT DRURY LANE.
The play-bill reading public of the Metropolis, who are versed in the
literature of large type and the poetry of the paste-pot, have for some
time been amused and amazed by a placard issued from Drury Lane,
which throws ali previous broadsides into the shade—or the waste-
paper basket—by its display of learning and mystery. Antiquarian
research has become fashionable among theatrical managers, who
appear to be up to their eyes in the dust of ages; and it will soon
begin to be a question of rivalry as to which theatrical lessee shall be
regarded as the regular dustman of the past, and which theatre shall
be looked upon as the original dust-hole of antiquity.
The play-bill of Drury Lane commences with the announcement of
"an original Egyptian play," followed by the confession, that "the
early ages of Egypt are lost in dark mystery." Undaunted by this
obscurity, the management has been groping about in the dark for the
last eighteen months, aided by the lights of Denon, Pitzball,
Dykwynkyn, and Herodotus. "No research has been too trying "
for the patience and purse of the lessee, who has distributed his agents
and his money over every spot where anything was likely to be found
to aid in " reviving the associations of the Pharaonic period." Every-
thing bearing any pretensions to an Egyptian character has been ran-
sacked, from a coffee-cup to a Colossus, and we dare say that even the
Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly—where the lessee of Drury Lane recently
exhibited the African Twins—was occupied in the hope that some
Egyptian notions might be got out of it.
After so much expectation had been raised, the house was, naturally
enough, crowded to semi-suffocation, or partial asphyxia, on the
opening night, when the result of so much learning and so vast an
outlay of money was to be presented to the public. To preserve the
antiquity of the whole affair, the writing of the piece had been en-
trusted to the celebrated Mr. Eitzball, one of our oldest dramatists.
The list of characters commenced rather mysteriously with Mes-
phra (King of Egypt), Mr. Edgak, and Tihrak {a young Egyptian,
conquered by Mesphra), Mr. Barry Sullivan. This seemed to
us very like Victoria {Queen of England), Mrs. Anybody, and
Jones, {a young Englishman, conquered by Victoria), Mr. Nobody.
If Mesphra went about "conquering" his subjects, his sovereignty
must have been no sinecure, and it must have been rather a relief to
him when, in an early part of the play, he was stretched lifeless on the
stage, pierced—or rather poked—to the waistcoat by a formidable and
\ rather authentic-looking Egyptian weapon.
We will not go through the whole of the plot, which turns upon the love
I of Nitocris for Tihrak, who saved her life—or rather her leg—from the
jaws of a crocodile. While the lady was walking near the Nile, the brute
in question opened his mouth, in the hope that Nitocris would put her
foot in it, when Tihrak turned the animal into a sheath for his scymitar.
Nitocris becomes Queen, and marries Tihrak, who is, of course, conspired
against, and who, by what is called in the bills " a great effect, intro-
ducing a new electric tinted light, invented by Mr. Kerr," overcomes
his enemies. This " effect" is certainly striking, and says a great, deal
for the completeness of the water-works of Egypt; for Tihrak, who is
suddenly elevated from the chair he has just taken to the roof, turns on
the main, and the water is supposed to rush into the Banquet Hall.
The water is, however, of a peculiar kind, for it does not extinguish the
lights, which are seen burning as brilliantly as ever through the
inundation. The conspirators, thinking, perhaps, that they are born to
be either hanged or drowned, quietly adopt the latter alternative ; and,
instead of even jumping on to the chairs and tables, or hanging on to the
lofty columns as well as they can, surrender themselves quietly to their
fate, and lie down with a dogged determination not to struggle, or to
rise even once to the surface. Tihrak having turned on the main to
| subdue his enemies, quietly turns it off, that he may have the satisfac-
| tion of viewing them grouped together, like so many drowned rats,
1 under "the new electric tinted light, invented by Mr. Kerr," and
contributing greatly to the ghastly appearance of the swamped
I conspirators.
Nobody, we believe, claims any literary merit for the niece, itself,
which is a mere vehicle—and rather a slow one—for the effects arising
out of it. Some of the incidents were rather dangerously ludicrous,
and the audience appeared to relish the absurd position of a certain
"dark warrior," who coming in with a "mission" which be might
have easily fulfilled half a dozen times over, if he had proceeded at once
to his work—that of killing Tihrak—became so extremely dilatory over
the business that Tihrak killed him instead, and the " mission " accord-
ingly failed by the dispatch of the missionary.
It must be allowed that the piece is well got up, and does credit to
the liberality of the management. On the first night, the audience
clamoured for a few extra acts that seemed to have been left out, which
proved that the public, when it can't have too much of a good thing,
will not be satisfied with having too little of a bad one. This remark
refers to the dialogue and not to the accessories of the piece, for the
latter are very gorgeous, while the former had been very properly cur-
tailed, and the restoration of the missing act is no improvement. It is
only just to the lessee to say, that he has done his part weil—ihat he
has engaged, the be»t available performers—including Miss Glyn,
who did all she could for an indifferent part, and that he has succeeded
in producing a spectacle, the splendour of which will be sufficiently
attractive to repay much of the outlay that has. been bestowed on it.
WHY DON'T NEWSPAPERS GO BY POST?
The above inquiry, which is now made on all sides, may perhaps be
answered by the following copy of the last Instructions "furnished on
the sunject.
Instruction No. 185,990, cancelling Nos. 11, 1002, 3097, 4608, 9751,
and 15,555.
I1STRUCTIOS TO POSTMASTERS.
It being desirous to check a Ribald Press, by placing every possible
obstacle, in the way of transmitting journals, you are hereby ordered to
take that notice as the basis of your dealings with all posted Newspapers.
In answer to any inquiry by the public as to the proper mode of for-
warding any journal, be perfectly civil, and give the most elaborate
instructions, always, however, conveying the impression, that it would
be wiser not to attempt sending the paper at all.
In the event of a journal being sent in a way which palpably violates
the new rules, do not always detain it. Its exemption under such
circumstances, will produce imitation, and then a large crop of disputes
and complaints will arise.
If three journals are posted by the same party, all in violation of the
rules, deliver one and detain two. The apparent inconsistency of this
course will create fresh confusion in the public mind.
When an indignant recipient who finds his paper inscribed " Not
in accordance with the law," and himself mulcted in an enormous
postage, comes in to demand explanation, tell him that you cannot
understand the reason of the over-charge, but that he had better write
to head-quarters—the utility of this latter process being proverbial.
There is no wish that the transmission of Newspapers should be over-
burdensorne to you, and you are at liberty to delay them, should your
own business make it inconvenient for you to forward them until next
post.
Close examination is strictly enjoined, and this cannot be done in a
hurry, nor is it expected that you should sacrifice valuable time to the
purpose. _ Breakfast and supper offer the best occasions for your looking
over the journals, and Sunday morning for the weekly press.
Lose no opportunity of abusing the recent alteration and the new
orders, as this will cause additional conviction that the chance of a
Newspaper being delivered is very scanty.
You are aware that the affixed stamp is very liable to be detached in
your letter-box, or if your counter happens to be damp, or if your
thumb should be sticky while sorting. On no account omit to notice
the absence of an affixed stamp.
Act up to the spirit of these instructions, and the present belief of
the public, that the chances are against a Newspaper being delivered,
will become certainty, and the desired effect will be produced.
General Post Office, St. Martin's le Grand.
APPEAL TO THE TRIUMVIBATE.
Kossuth, and Mazziki, and Ledru Bollin,
Why not be content to effect what you can ?
You are doing your utmost dissension to sow
In what should be one camp with one common foe.
Why—blindly and doggedly bent on extremes ?
Why will you insist on unfeasible schemes ?
Accept an instalment, and wait for full pay:
Borne was not built, and will not be freed in a day.
Oh ! how can you be such a triad of fools ?
You serve the Czar more than his creatures and tools;
You are three Bussian agents—and al! we can say
Is—we trust that you are so without Bussian pay !
Imperial Small Talk.
The Emperor oe Bussia. is going about expressing his readiness to
shed " the last drop of his blood " in defence of his country. We have
no doubt that when he makes up his mind to part with the first drop,
t he last will be quite at the service of anybody who chooses to take it.
We suspect, however, that the Czar has no intention of putting him-
self on tap in the manner proposed, even pour encourager les autres, who
are being hourly drained of all the blood they possess to suit the plea-
sure of their imperial master.