CITY SIGHTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 27

CITY SIGHTS.

A NIGHT AT A LONDON 'PENNY GAFF;' '

Colonists are familiar with the 'class of entertainment provided by the several managers of the metropolitan theatres ; but very few, we take it, have set foot inside one of the numerous, ' penny gaffs ' which are usually to "be found in the outskirts of the metropolis, so io speak. A correspondent of a contemporary visited one of the^e places the other night, aria his account of what he saw there will perused with interest by our readers. 1 It'w^s the Lisson Grove Establishment that' 'tie visited :— Placing the 'trusty' clay, between my lips, he says, I assumed a slouching g'aifc, and lounged down the entry, where I discovered a young woman with a brazen face and a wellfringed forehead comfortably seated behind : a little pigeon-hole, of whom I requested the favour of a three-penny ticket. I, had sdarcoly time to note'that it was a square piece of cardboard with a large '3 ' daubed on it, before it was snatched from my hand by a fierce-looking gentleman!, who jostled me into a narrow passage that smelt strongly of drains, and told me to go ' right down to the bottom and right in front.' When I arrived 'right down to the bottom' a curious scene 'dawned upon,iny vision.' I found myself in a huge shed, totally bare of any decoration whatever, and lighted with a few jets of flickering gas. A partition of whitewashed deal boards, had been thrown across one end, in the centre of which was iln open .space about 12" feet square, iri'whic&waa fitted a rather rough and tawdry prosceriiuin, embellished on either side with a plaster cast of a fomale head, such as can be purchased' for one shilling down shady and fragrantLLeather Lane. From the ground at the foot* of -the proscenium up to the roof at the extreme end of the shed the Seats were raised on a continuous plane, and when I entered — the perform* ance being well on the way— this declivity was orie^tightly-paeke'd" mass -of i small iboysi'lhe majority of them ragged, shoeless, stocking' less, all struggling witn each other for A a>good view of the stage, and : all in 'the wildest paroxysms of delight. In consequence of there being ' standing room only,' I took up a position against the whitewashed wall, quite close to the footlights, among a motley 'crew, [of rather rough-looking characters,, most ', of them full-grown men. Wei and those in, the, first few rows of the front seats, comprised . the threepenny aristocracy, and our ( personal appearance ' was constantly ' the subject ' of somewhat impertinent criticism by the' plebeian juveniles who looked .down on us from abota. An' old gentleman in the front, row, of,'. iihe Fagin type, whe was unfortunately rather stunted, . every now and again incurred > the serious displeasure of those behind him, by standing up to obtain a 'better view, of .the stage.' Each attempt on the old gentleman's part to elevate himself was promptly met s_by loud shouts on all sides of ' Sit down, nosey I* and ' Chuck 'im out 1' The feminine element was exceedingly scarce, and confined to the twopenny and threepenny' seats. Nearly every lady, however, was provided with- >r at least one baby, and,' of ctmrse, the babies cried at the. precise moment when they were least desired to. One very^ young mother held a baby at her breast, which was a source of r gr6at annoyance to a bullet-headed young man, by my side, who puffed incessantly at' the most powerful clay pipe , that ever offended the nostrils of man or woman. The baby would insist on leaving its supper occasionally, and, fixing two tiny eyes on my neighbour, puck] ered up its lips anti indulged in a loud, squall] This performance so irritated the young man that he passed the moßt uncomplimentary.remarks on the child, and once he informed the fond and proud mother that he was ' blowed ' if her ' kid ' hadn't got a face like a frying-pan. The mother retorted by declaring that if her child had a face like the bullet-headed young man — 's'elp her heaven if she wouldn't smother it.' The baby at this moment sent .up to the roof of the shed a pitiful wail. The mother shook the child vigorously; to quiet it, and the youth, with a grin of derision, recommended her to tread on its face. This cruel suggestion so roused up the young woman that the consequences might have peen serious had not a ' navvy peremptorily advised .the pair of them to 'shut up,' informing the young man that he was a 'kid' himself once. t This massive restorer of order looked as if he could have cleared ,the shed at a' moment's notice, but he kindly patted tho young woman on the back with one of his great hard hands, and said, ' Never mind, mother ; they will cry if they likes, won't 'em ?' I was just about to turn to enjoy the performance, when my attention was again averted by a tremendous row going on in the penny seats. One of the boys nad been so ill-advised as to appear for the first .time in public in a new hat on this occasion, and some one had playfully snatched it off his head and sent it spinning through the air in the direction of ,tha stage. The offending hat did not reach 'the goal, however, but alighted on the refreshment buffet. The youthful^ refreshment caterer held the hat up aloft, and inquired,

« Whose is it V

'Mine,' was the answer from a r hundred throats, and away went tho hat spinning back again

Then thore commenced a general freo fight, until the rightful owner, af tor much crying ana trampling about over the heads of his fellows, succeeded in capturing his newly purchased head-gear, and this time he discreetly doubled it up and stowed it away beneath his waistcoat. During these ebullitions of popular feoling I lost much of the performance going on behind the footlights. What I did see of it compels me reluctantly to confess that as a gorgeous ballet pantomime on the subject of JDiuk Whittington, as per announcement outside, it was a mild fraud. There was not much of Dick Whittington, and absolutely no gor* geousness ' whatsomever,' as Mrs Brown would say. As to the ballet, it was conspicuous by its absence j the stage being only about the size of an ordinarythira-class railway-carriage, did not admit of a very grand display of speotaou. lav effect, so the. management had evidently

Concluded wisely to leave it out altogether. The orchestra only consisted of a single weak \ and feeble concertina. What is termed the * opening ' of the pantomime was hurried thwragh in double-quick time— there being two performances every evening— and the piece de resistance was evidently the pantomime proper, in which the antics of clown, pantaloon, and harlequin and policeman were followed with 'eager interest. ■ The modern innovation of X4l was here a tremendous hit. What they would <have done without the limp young man, decorated with a set of false whiskers, a helmet, and' an old frock coat strapped round the waist, 'With a belt, I cannot conceive. As it was, Mr Clown only bad to come on the stage, shout' " * What yer Peeler !' and baste the helmet with •a pasteboard club to provoke roars of laughter. •The manner in which the dirty -faced little: urchins— some of them, by-the-by, puffing at ''short pipes the while— rolled on their seats -with noisy laughter at every crack adminis-, 'fcered to thatpoliceman was a sight never to be "forgotten. One' scene was evidently intended '-'to represent the corridor outside ' Mary Ann's ' '/bedchamber. After much rough tumbling with * Mary Ann,' the policeman, clown, and pantaloon, there was a fluttering at the back of the stage, and down came a sheet of canvas on j which was painted a startling representation of' the ocean. The artist had evidently laid on a j flat coat of blue, and picked out the waves j 'frith' a whitewash brush. Then somebody ] pushed on the representation of a cottage, in which was an open space about four feet from the ground. Through this opening, regardless 'of all danger, Mr Harlequin floundered, and [ was speedily followed by Messrs Clown and 1 ,'Pantaloon. This remarkable gymnastic feat ; was rewarded by a long round of applause,- the 'audience shrieking out the names of the pevformers" with a strong * brayvo ' in front. The' r pantaloon then took the policeman to task on the subject of bribery, and volunteered some j'very poor and threadbare jokes. The audience,' jbowever, roared with laughter at the very,' Spqre'st and weakest of them. They had evi-. e'ritly come there to enjoy themselves, and it , was astonishing to see how easily they were moved up to uproarious bursts of merriment. a Although the night was bitterly cold, the atl mosph'ere inside the ' gaff ' had been smoky and "stifling, and I was glad when once again I i found myself breathing the fever-laden air of Lisson Grove. It was a queer night's enter"|ainment, and one that I dare not approve of. . T,o' me it appeared bwt a miserable, insipid; !',perfprmance, but I could not help rejoicingj'that'.some. two hundred little hearts had for, one short hour been made glad, and that two t ''hundred' little folk, whose lives for the mosb M £art;' 'are made up of hunger, hardship, and ; Baa&e«f,'had been able to forget their troubles 1 Qp.d' bask in' the sunshine of merriment, even the rays thereof only feebly permeated , the gloomy surroundings of a humble 'penny '' gaff . -r-European Mail. :