Live properties (c1839)
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In his memoirs, Grimaldi described two episodes linked with his performances at Birmingham's Theatre Royal in 1810. Firstly, he discovered that the theatre had no ‘properties’ suitable for pantomime tricks. When he mentioned this to MacReady the manager, he expressed surprise, but told a man to go to the market to buy "a small pig, a goose, and two ducks." Grimaldi was puzzled, but decided that the manager had used "peculiar phrases common to the theatre." There was an uproar and laughter when the man returned – with pig, goose and ducks, all alive. Grimaldi adapted his stage entrance to include the live animals, with great success; the audience responded with roars of laughter.
Location: George Cruikshank Collected Plates Vol.9 Collection of Prints from Drawings by George Cruikshank c 1839, Nos. 1897-2022. ISG AF741.942 CRU
