Punch (99.1890)

268

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[December 6, 1890.

"a pair of spectacles."

The first spectacle classic and Shakspearian: t'other burlesquian,
and PETiiT-cum-SlMS. The one at the Princess's, the other at the
Gaiety. Place au " Divine Williams" ! Antony and Cleopatra is
magnificently put on the stage. The costumes are probably 0. K.—
"all correct"—seeing that Mr. Lewis Wingfield pledges his

honourable name ior the fact. We might have done with a few less,
perhaps, but, as in the celebrated case of the war-song of the Jingoes,
if we 've got the men, and the money too, then there was every
reason why the redoubtable Lewis (whose name, as brotherly Masons
will call to mind, means " Strength ") should have put a whole army
of Romans on the stage, if it so pleased him.

For its mise-en-scene alone the revival should attract all London.
But there is more than this—there is the clever and careful imper-
sonation of JEnobarbus by His Gracious Heaviness, Mr. Abthctb

■ .iimlllMriUffl]ll(lil/<&. .....iil|l|l!!IMM'|«. Stirling ; then

flHttlllik -^-^"lll'l''M'llli!lti.. there is a lighter-

comedy touch in
the courteous and
gentlemanly ren-
dering of Octavius
Ccesar by Mr. F.
Kemble Coopee
—one of the best
things in the
piece, but from
the inheritor of
two such good old
theatrical names,
much is expected.
And then there is
the Mark An-
tony of Mr.

chables CoGH-

| lan, a rantin',
roarin' boy, this
Antony, whom no
one, I believe,
could ever have
made really effec-
tive; and finally.
Her Graceful
^/Majesty, Mrs.

The Last s^rf I^ony"^a^Z^ Langtby, Queen

r oiJigyptian
Witchery. Now honestly I do not consider Cleopatra a good part,
nor is the play a good play for the matter of that. I believe it never
has been a success, but if, apart from the really great attraction of
gorgeous spectacular effects, there is any one scene above another
which might well draw all London, it is the death of Cleopatra,
which to my mind is—after the fall of Wolsey, and a long way
after, too,—one of the most pathetic pictures ever presented on the
stage. So lonely m her grandeur, so grand, and yet so pitiable in her
loneliness is this poor Queen of Beauty, this Empress-Butterfly, who
can conquer conquerors, and for whose sake not only her noble lovers,
but her poor humble serving-maids, are willing to die.

Her last scene is beyond all compare her best, and to those who
are inclined to be disappointed with the play after the first Act is
over I say, "Wait for the

end," and don't leave until the
Curtain has descended on that
gracious
fi g u r e
of the
Queen of
Egypt,
attired
in her
regal
robes,
crowned
with her ;
diadem,
holding
her scep-
tre, but
dead in

her chair The Kun of Cleopatra,

of state. Ca donne a penser.

The Gaiety.—In calling their burlesque Carmen up to Data, pos-
sibly the two dear clever boys who wrote it
intended some crypto-jocosity of which the
hidden meaning is known only to the initiated
in these sublime mysteries. Why " Data" ?
On the other hand, " Why not ?"

However attractive or not as a heading in a
bill of the play, the Gaiety Carmen is, on the
whole, a merry, bright, and light burlesque-
ish piece, though, except in
the costume and make-up
of Mr. Abthtjb Williams
as Captain Zuniga, there is
nothing extraordinarily
"burlesque" in the appear-
ance of any of the charac-
ters, as the appearance of
Mr. Horace Mills as
Remendado belongs more to
Christmas pantomime than
to the sly suggestiveness of
real burlesque.

As Miss St. John simply
looks, acts, and sings as a
genuine Carmen, I can only
suppose that her voice is not
strong enough for the real
Opera ; otherwise I doubt

character could be found. She is not the least bit burlesque, and
though the songs she has to sing are nothing like so telling as those
she has had given her in former pieces, yet, through her rendering,
most are encored, and all thoroughly appreciated.
Mr. Abthub Williams as Zuniga is very droll, reminding some
of us, by his make-up and jerky style,
of Milheb as the comic Valentine in Le
Petit, Faust. Mr. LojfMN" is also uncom-
monly good as the spoony soldier, and
in the telling song of " The Bogie
Man;" and in the still more telling
dance with which he finishes it and
makes his exit, he makes the hit of the
evening,—in fact the hit by which the
piece will be remembered, and to which
it owes the greater part of its success.

In the authors' latest adaptation of
the very ancient "business" of "the
statues"—consisting of a verse, and
then an attitude, I was_ disappointed,
as I had been led to believe that here
we should see what Mr. Lonnen could
do in the Robsonian or burlesque-
tragedy style. The brilliancy of the
costumes, of the scenery, the grace of
the four dancers, and the excellence of
band and chorus, under the direction
of that ancient mariner Metes Ltjtz,
are such as are rarely met with else-
In for a good Bun on the where.

" Bogie" System. jir< Gteobge Edwabdes may now

attend to the building of his new theatre, as Carmen up to Data
will not give him any trouble for some time to come.