[Illustration: An Inhabitant of Noah's Ark.]
Thanks to Messrs. SIMS and RALEIGH and the Court Company for a good
hearty laugh, and many of them at their new three-act farcical comedy,
_The Guardsman_. It Raleigh is good, and Sims likely to be in for a
long run. Therefore, congratulations to Mr. CHUDLEIGH, who is in the
proud position of "Sole Lessee and Manager," of the Court. Odd, as a
correspondent remarked in a letter to _Mr. Punch_ last week, is the
coincidental resemblance of the master-motive of the plot to that of
_Incognita_ at the Lyric; viz., the young man refusing to marry the
girl with whom he is really in love, because he is in love with the
very same young lady without knowing her name or anything about her.
But hath not the old Spanish Comedy-writer, GONZALES, used it three
times? hath not his fellow-countryman, VEGA MORVEGA, used it in his
now obsolete play of _The Distressed Mother_? and hath not VODENDOL,
the Norwegian dramatist, absolutely nauseated us with it, not to
mention its constant use by that imitation of GOLDONI, Count ERFITO
D'ALUMINIO? And to come nearer home, did not the German--but why
pursue the "motive" until you run it to earth, and even then it won't
be killed, but will be flourishing thousands of years hence, when the
New Zealand playwright among the ruins of London shall take up his
note-book and commence a scenario on the old, but to him, quite
original idea.
[Illustration: Arthur Cecil's Collard Head à la G.O.M.]
Then, in the last Act of _The Guardsman_, if we have a French room
with half-a-dozen doors, leading to half-a-dozen different places,
with which arrangement not a few of us are familiar in pieces brought
over fresh from the Palais Royal, and occurring in farces of which
_Bébé_, _Anglicè Betsey_, at the Gymnase and Criterion is a type,
shall we complain? Shall we not rather laugh heartily over the good
old game of Hide-and-Seek, which on the stage is invariably the cause
of much amusement to one person for whom, at all events, I can answer?
What does it matter if to some it recalls a few farcical comedies all
excellent material? Not a bit! I gather from the genuine laughter and
applause of the crowded house at the Court, that this amuses and will
continue to amuse some hundreds nightly, as long as it is all done so
well, and at such high pressure, as it is now in _The Guardsman_. The
First Act is good; the Second is the best; but the Third is like the
last figure in an after-supper early-in-the-morning Lancers, ending
in a whirligig _galop_, when everything is fast and furious, and just
the tune and its measure taken _prestissimo_ and _fortissimo_ keep the
couples going till everybody is breathless and exhausted.
[Illustration: Miss Ellaline Terriss with her Special Train--to be
continued in our next.]
WEEDON GROSSMITH is excellent. In brief, he plays the part of a
thorough donkey, who wishes to appear "horsey." ARTHUR CECIL is
admirable as the Ex-Judge of the Divorce Court--suggesting the idea
of a gay old gentleman, who is still a bit of a dog--but a dog who
has had his day. If this is not his character, how is it he is on such
friendly terms with the _Modiste_, carefully played, and with great
spirit too, by Miss AGNES THOMAS? Mr. ELLIOT is all go and bustle; if
he were not so, pop would go the piece. The makeup of Mr. LITTLE for
the old Captain is uncommonly good; it is a small part, but, with
a LITTLE in it, it is big. Mr. NAMBY, as the Irishman, _Miles_,
first-rate; quite _Miles gloriosus_. But I can't go on with praise,
they're all so good, and ELLALINE TERRISS charming. Miss CAROLINE
HILL, fresher than the proverbial paint, makes a rattling part of
_Lady Jones_, and, as the motto of this Company is that of Racing
Eights, "Swing, swing together!"--which might, in another sense, have
been the refrain sung by a brazen band of Highwaymen in the good old
times--it is likely that they'll keep the Court-Boat going the pace,
with the tide of popular favour, for many months to come.
As a Postscript, I may add a letter on the subject addressed to _Mr.
Punch_.
_Oct. 25th._