Mr. Hann's ('Arry thinks there's a "lady scene-painter 'ere, and her name is Hann") and Mr. Ryan's scenery is first-rate; and if the business of the fighting were more realistic, if the three Friars were a trifle less pantomimic, and the three grotesquely-got-up beggars (worthy of Callot's pencil) would aim at being less actively funny, with one or two other "ifs," including Friar Tuck's general make-up which might be vastly improved, and if the last Act were shortened, and the Abbot and the Sheriff and the Justiciary were compressed into one, or abolished,—any of which alterations may have been effected by now, seeing the piece was produced just a week ago,—then the attractions of Maid Marian and the fairy scene and the music are of themselves sufficient to draw all lovers of the poetic musical drama to Daly's for some weeks to come, unless Mr. Daly clips the run with the scissors of managerial fate,
"For be it understood
It would have lived much longer if it could,"
and so banishes his own outlaws from the elegant and commodious theatre in Leicester Square.
New Novel.—"The Mackerel of the Dean," by the author of "The Soul of the Bishop."
Transcriber Notes:
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs or articles.