Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 105, September 30th 1893Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 105, September 30th 1893
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
"Victory sits on our helms!" cries Sir DRURIOLANUS AUCTOR to HENRICUS
PARVUS ETIAM AUCTOR, as they drive back to "The Helms, Regent's Park,"
after the curtain has descended on the last scene of the last act of
_A Life of Pleasure_ at Drury Lane. Twice has Sir DRURIOLANUS appeared
before the footlights at the end of the Fourth Act, when some battle
in Burmah is gallantly won by the united dramatic forces under the
heroic but comic Captain HARRY NICHOLLS, Colonel Lord FRANK FENTON
AVONDALE, Sergeant CLARENCE HOLT, and a handful of the bravest
soldiers that ever marched to glory over the boards of old Drury Lane.
What the story is, and how these heroes got into the jungle and out
again, and how the right man married the right woman, and how the
wronged woman would have saved the villain from the vengeance of HENRY
DESMOND O'NEVILLE,--who, alas, had to stay in the green-room while
the others were distinguishing themselves in Burmah,--is known to the
clever collaborators and a few of their trusted confidants. Of that
strange history I, a mere civilian, had every detail blown clean out
of my head by the din of the great battle. In fact, never have I heard
of any "theatrical engagement" equal to this.
[Illustration: "The Action of the Piece."]
That Miss LILY HANBURY looked lovely, and touched my heart; that Mrs.
BERNARD-BEERE suddenly developed a brogue that, on occasion, betrayed
her nationality; that Miss LE THIÈRE was a villainous matron; that
Miss LAURA LINDEN was sprightly and pretty; that Mr. ARTHUR DACRE was
the best representative of lop-sided villainy ever seen on the stage;
and that Mr. ROBERT SOUTAR reappeared as an elderly masher about town;
all this, I am ready to admit, would have been good enough for
me, without any attempt on my part at stringing them together in a
consecutive story. Didn't I know from the very moment she appeared
in deep black, and with a very pale face, that Miss LE THIÈRE was a
villain of the deepest dye in petticoats? Could I have trusted Mr.
ARTHUR DACRE, in his neat grey suit, with a sixpence, much less
with my life? As for Mr. ELTON, representing the Hebraic
money-lender--indispensable of late years to all Drury Lane
dramas--wasn't I well aware that he was to be the comic villain, only
set up to be knocked down again, and to be finally bowled out by
the apparently simple HARRY NICHOLLS? Then there is the scene at the
Empire, admirably stage-managed, but the ladies should try to take
just a trifle more interest in the strange proceedings of that
eventful night, as they should also do when re-appearing as wedding
guests in the last act. But these fair ladies are heartless; all's
one to them, happen what may. Then there was the House-boat, equally
well-arranged; but everything is entirely eclipsed by the Military
Act, in three scenes, which contains "the action of the piece," and
leaves the audience half-deafened by mitrailleuses, and half-choked by
the gunpowder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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