The present dress of the harlequin dates from the beginning of the
century only. Until then the costume had been the loosely fitting
parti-coloured jacket and trousers to be seen worn by the figures in
Watteau's masquerade subjects. In the pantomime of "Harlequin Amulet;
or, The Magic of Mona," produced at Drury Lane in 1800, Mr. James
Byrne, the ballet-master, the father of the late Mr. Oscar Byrne,
appeared as harlequin in "a white silk shape, fitting without a
wrinkle," into which the coloured silk patches were woven, the whole
being profusely covered with spangles, and presenting a very sparkling
appearance. The innovation was not resisted, but was greatly
applauded, and Mr. Byrne's improved attire is worn by all modern
harlequins.
Some eighty years ago John Kemble, addressing his scene-painter in
reference to a forthcoming pantomime, wrote: "It must be _very short,
very laughable_, and _very cheap_." If the great manager-actor's
requirements were fairly met, it is certain that the entertainment in
question was of a kind very different to the pantomime of our day--a
production that is invariably very long, rarely laughable, and always
of exceeding costliness.
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