The London Pageant.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 8 April 1910, Page 4

The London Pageant.

A STAG 15 OK FIFTY ACRES

Members of the Royal Family are taking a keen interest in the London Pageant, which will be acted in the grounds of the Crystal Palace for eight weeks during (he Festival of Kmpire. Most of' the previous pageants in I lie provinces lia\e lasted for only a few days, but it is fairly certain that the London Pageant will h.ave a crowded amphitheatre during the whole of iis run, and that when it is over there will hi) thousands of people in London and. all parts of the country regretting that they missed seeing the greatest pa yea nt of all. Oxford Pahvant reached the highest point of pageantry in the numb. , ! - of players, thi , beauty and magnificence of the dresses, the historical .accuracy of the scenes presented, and the dramatic ell'ect produced, but Mr Frank Lascolles. who was pagei.f.it master at Oxford, and is now building up the London Pageant, says that the pageant afc the. Crystal I'aluce will °.iirp::s*! miything that has yet been '■•een. i'ITTKFN TIFOrSAXD PLAYF/RS. The mere fact that the players will number ir>,()()0 gives some idea of the magnitude of the task before the pageant makers. The players will be drawn from all parts of London, and rehearsals will begin •as soon as tho excitement of the general election is over. Kvery one of these 15,000 men, women and children will have a specially made costume, correct in design and colour down to the last button, and hundreds of suits of armour of various periods will be borrowed or made. Some of the dresses will coat probably £500, including jewels, and the whole outlay on the pageant will be abo.it £00,000. In one s-eiip there will be Four or five hundred horses, and in + he last scene of all the whole of the 10.000 players, representing characters in Knglish history from the Him.' of the Britons down to Waterloo, will 1-e massed ;>'i t'i-> :m----men.se natural stage. Mr T/asrelles thinks that the finest sr-eue ef all will I).' that of "Mav-day in Merry England," which will include" the gorgeous pro.•..ysion rif HtMiry Yfll. from Windi:i|- to Klthaiii. mid the ed f; >tivitit's on Shooter's Hill. VVS OF TITE FAIR. "TTere will be all the .fun of the fair-- morris dancers, tumblers, gip-.-ii'S. pl.'iyer.- , . anrl all the motley civ.wd of h:ilidny makers, rich and poor, rollicking in the way that was lani'HN h-'lVre the Puritans put ar. end to jollity. I , !- , very d: Jail in the pageant will !• ■ taken, .'ii far a.s p, sxible. from iu-'t'.irv. For eighteen months Mr La.'-eelles lias had a numlvr of helpers at work at the British Museum, '"'urging '"it drscriptio'is of scenes !>v eve-witiifTses, from wliich Mr La-'oelles himself has extracted the nicst striking mrl the mest entertaining points. Here is a , ! iir-f"nee (if the fidelity !o detail which is being olwtvp'!. Oils' s.-en-.' reprevnt'; the return to Lou:! , u of the fust ship sent out to the Kast indies bv the mercliiuif venturers in the reign of James T. The record shows that when the species and wares wen , being shown on the quayside i-o the wondering citizens, a l>a<: of ground poppr-r was opened and the contents were svnHored, v/itli the result that the irrent'.'st sneezing act in the history occurred. Mr Last'olb's has determined to do the tiling properly. There will he a bag of real peppt-r kind a hurricane of genuine supozes. Fifty acres of ground will fmni the pa<remit c .t:i<re, ' This will include th' , two lakes. mid water ect , !'r'S \\ill b:> mi important, itvin in the p-i<.;eanf. There will be Olaf the Dane's attack en London Mridgo. which th'. . Viking Club has undertaken to rrnro'loce. Then there will be the Thmn"s of day. with the citizens mid their wires ferrying across to the Cslobr> Theatre A GREAT TOURNAMENT. Perhaps the most thrilling scene will be the reproduction of the great Cheapside Tournament, which w;>.s fought for three days in the pre.-vnce of Edward TFL aiiid Queen I'll iHi pa. Here will lie knights in armour, with tough lances and ponderous steeds, charging at each other and making the echoes resound with the battle-cries and the clashing of weapons. The foundation and growth of the Colonies will be illustrated. There- will be a reproduction of the Masque which was played before the King and Queen when the famous Tndian Princess Poc.ihontas came to London from the first settlement in Virginia. To come to modern times, there will be the firs/ race for the Derby, and the first known cricket match. The amphitheatre which Sir Aston AYebl), R.A., has designed will seat ninny thousand visitors. It will be in the form of an ancient Greek theatre. There will be a roynl box, with golden tapestry cover and marble pillars, and the rear half of the seats will be roofed with purple sail cloth, while the fore part will be open to the sky. Arrangements for the visitors will be made by n committee, of which the Duke of Norfolk, Earl-Marshal of England, is chairman. The use of the R-aroness RurdettCoutts , house in Piecndillv has been obtained as the home of the p'ip-eant until it is removed tr> tho Palnce. mul Mr Laseelles has a set of offices mi the other side of Piccadilly.