At the same time the companies of Allard, Maurice and Bertrand, Selle, Dominique and Octave, obtained great success in Paris and the provinces. Conjuring tricks and [p088] feats of agility still formed the chief part of the entertainment, but to them were added scenes with dialogue, comedies in song, from which our comic operas have developed.
The forain stage has retained the triple characteristics—acrobatic, musical, and charlatan—which appear to have belonged to it from the earliest days of its existence; but since the century in its refinement values distinction of style, the grande banque has adapted itself to its requirements.
SNAKE CHARMER. [p089]
There are three kinds of theatre booths:
Singing theatres.
Theatres with good variety performances.
Theatres with conjuring entertainments.
The theatres with operetta are the least amusing. No original work has been produced in them for a long time, not even any new songs. At the present moment the café concerts provide the majority of the tedious repetitions which make the tour of France. The forain opera lives by spurious imitations and clumsy changes of title. All its skill is expended in successfully defying the aforesaid “author’s rights.” It succeeds to its own satisfaction when it advertises the