 In 1791 the Drury Lane Theatre was demolished , and Grimaldi was loaned to the Haymarket Theatre , where he appeared , briefly , in the opera Cymon , which starred the tenor Michael Kelly . On 21 April 1794 , the new Drury Lane theatre opened , and Grimaldi , now 15 years old , resumed his place as one of the principal juvenile performers . The same year , he played his first major part since his father 's death ; as the dwarf in Valentine and Orson . Two years later , at Sadler 's Wells , he played the role of Hag Morad in the Thomas John Dibdin Christmas pantomime The Talisman ; or , Harlequin Made Happy . The pantomime was a success , and Grimaldi received rave reviews . The Drury Lane management were eager to capitalise on his success , and later that year he was cast in Lodoiska , a Parisian hit adapted for the London stage by Kemble . Grimaldi played Camasin , a role that required the acrobatic and sword @-@ fighting skills that he had learned as a child . He won wider admiration as Pierrot in the 1796 Christmas pantomime of Robinson Crusoe at Drury Lane . 
