AustLit

Actor, Henry Walton is perhaps best remembered today as one of the feature actors in the controversial 1880 burlesque, The Happy Land. He played the role of The Major. Although Walton's name appears as author on the cover of the production program, historian Veronica Kelly argues that this was part of an 'elaborate game of cover-up and cover-blowing... [which developed] to a farcical extent' in the lead-up to the Melbourne premiere and in the immediate weeks after (p.74). Walton has been attributed co-authorship (perhaps with Clarke) of Acapemone, however. First staged in Melbourne a month after The Happy Land, Acapemone, can be viewed as essentially a sequel.

• See The Happy Land entry for further details regarding Walton's part in the controversial production.