 Perhaps the best @-@ known of Grimaldi 's pantomimes was Thomas Dibdin 's Harlequin and Mother Goose ; or , The Golden Egg , which opened on 29 December 1806 at the Covent Garden Theatre . As in most pantomimes , he played a dual role , in this case first as " Bugle " , a wealthy but abrasive eccentric womaniser , and after the transformation to the harlequinade , as Clown . Mother Goose was a runaway success with its London audiences and earned an extraordinary profit of £ 20 @,@ 000 . It completed a run of 111 performances over a two @-@ year residency , a record for any London theatre production at the time . Grimaldi , however , considered the performance to be one of the worst of his career and became depressed . Critics thought differently , attributing the pantomime 's success to Grimaldi 's performance . It prompted one critic from European Magazine to write : " We have not for several years witnessed a Pantomime more attractive than this : whether we consider the variety and ingenuity of the mechanical devices [ or ] the whim , humour , and agility of the Harlequin , Clown and Pantaloon " . Kemble stated that Grimaldi had " proved himself [ as ] the great master of his art " , while the actress Mrs Jordan called him " a genius ... yet unapproached " . The production regularly played to packed audiences . 
