BibliOdyessey has a wonderful post "Pantomime As It Was And Will Be," on a series of funny and charming sketches from the mid 19th century produced by author Charles Robert Forrester and his illustrator brother Alfred Henry, who were known collectively under the pseudonym of "Alfred Crowquill." The brothers published their satirical sketches in Punch and the Illustrated London News. Here is a Londoner's take on the traditions of the Italian Commedia Dell' Arte shaped in part the fact that at the time, only a few licensed theatres were allowed scripted and speaking performances (the Italians would have screamed murder at such a thought) so the emphasis was on broad pantomime -- slapstick made even larger and more outrageous to make up for the silence of the performers. These drawings were published in 1843 -- the same year Parliament finally removed the licensing requirement and allowed all theatres to have speaking actors. Stop by BibliOdyssey to see the full post and more of these wonderful drawings.
The caption here reads: "The peasant lover appears, The lady's Father keeps his eye on him, The lady appears who sees him without looking at him."
This one is my favorite of the bunch -- for there are Fairies in this pantomime and at a necessary moment in the drama they appear following an overture to save the day.
Caption reads: "The Overture! Beautiful, The Curtain Rises, Legs are Discovered, The Fairies that own the legs."
