AustLit

Adapted by W. Edouin and localised by Richmond Thatcher, with influences from 'Who Killed Cock Robin,' this version of the popular pantomime story concerns the attempt by Sir Rowland and Lady Macassa to pay their bills by getting rid of their nephew and niece, Tommy and Sally. The two children are heirs to the estate. Sir Edward Kelly and Lord Stephen Byrne kidnap the children from their schoolroom, but they are eventually restored to their family. The subplot concerns Cock Robin and Jenny Wren.

The production was specially written to incorporate the talents of actors J. C. Williamson and Maggie Moore, who had only recently arrived in Australia, and who (surprisingly) played the two babes. The harlequinade is said to have abounded with the usual stock fun and included free local hits at local issues, events and personalities (Sydney Morning Herald 27 December 1879, pp.5-6).

The scenes comprised:

Act 1 Scene 1. The Palace;

Scene 2. Falcontrina's Home in Bird's Nest Grove;

Scene 3. The Schoolroom;

Scene 4. Departure of the Babes;

Scene 5. Arcadian Bower of the Amazons;

Act 2 Scene 1. Ye Banks and Braes (incl. a circus);

Scene 2. The Babes Lost;

Scene 3. The Very Bad Man's Haunt;

Scene 4. Bird's Nest Grove;

Scene 5. Burial of the Babes;

Scene 6. Bird's Nest Grove and the Valley of Ferns (incl. The Babes Resuscitated).

The musical programme included: 'Remember What You have to Do' (sung by J. A. South, C. Brown, Maggie Oliver and Emma Rogers); 'Toothpick and the Crutch' (Constance Deorwyn); 'Babes in our Block' (Maggie Moore); 'Like His Dad' (South and Rogers); 'Hit Him Again, He's Got No Friends' and a song and dance (Maggie Moore); 'The Spelling Bee,' 'Johnny Morgan' and a medley duet (Maggie Moore and J. C. Williamson); 'The Stammering Quartette' (Williamson, Brown, Moore and Oliver); 'The Doctor's Chorus' (C. Seagrave and chorus); 'The Man in the Moon' (Emma Rogers); 'Timid Little Maiden' (Alice Deorwyn); and 'I Haven't Got Time' (J. A. South).

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]

A pantomime containing operatic airs and popular songs of the day, the 1878 Caxton text declares the work as having been 'localised, plagiarized, treatised, temporized, satirized, not warrantised but advertised' (p.1). A review of the production in the Sydney Morning Herald further notes:

'It is very happily constructed, and has been localised to an agreeable extent by Mr Samuel Lazar from the original by Mr Garnet Walch. It possesses the rather unusual feature in pantomime of being coherent; and the plotting and counterplotting, although attended with unlimited fun, make it as interesting as many dramas produced here lately' (27 December 1878, p.3).

The references to the Sydney scene include issues such as blackbirding and anti-Russian sentiment stemming from the 'Eastern Crisis'. The production also included a genealogical pageant of all history with reference to Darwin and burlesques of both Shakespeare and recent tragic performances.

Anonymously adapted from John Strachan's Humpty Dumpty pantomime (1873, Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, England), the version published by Henry Solomon and staged by Samuel Lazar in Sydney in 1877 contains numerous references to local issues, personalities, events, and places. The opening scene, for example, indicates that the story is set in Australia, when Flambeau the Fire King says, 'He's not yet ready for cremation urns / This is Australia, not the land of Burns'. Flambeau shortly afterwards narrows the setting to the New South Wales capital when he responds to Humpty Dumpty thus: 'Aha! I'm always down upon each mortal muff; At muss and mischief, I'm quite up to snuff. In Sydney, East and West, at last Election, I put out Parkes, and beat "Jack Free-Selection"' (p.9). Other references included the Sydney scene, politics, theatre, and J. C. Williamson's production of Struck Oil.

The story concerns Flambeau, who, with his ally Humpty Dumpty, attempts to coerce Princess Roseleaf into marriage. His plans are foiled, however, by Prince Prettyboy, with the help of the Fern Fairy (who hails from Willoughby). Together, they overcome all obstacles put in his way, and he eventually defeats Flambeau and wins the love of Roseleaf.

The Sydney Morning Herald critic, although suggesting that the production was too long, nevertheless wrote:

'No one can complain of the want of fun and amusement in it ... Of course there is a mere thread of a story to hold the introductory part together, but there is an abundance of local allusions and the usual supply of excruciating puns to keep the amusement alive' (27 Dec. 1877, p.5).

The production contained songs adapted from operatic and other music, which were arranged by W. J. Rice. The songs introduced in the program libretto include 'Have You Seen the Shah?' (opening chorus); 'Where the Native Roses Blow', 'Tournez, Tournez', 'Sing Gentle Bird', and 'Pull Yourselves Together' (Fern Fairy); 'When the Stars Begin to Peep' (Queen); 'Betray Me Not' and 'Still I Love Thee' (Minister of Mines); 'Silver Threads Among the Gold' (Prince Boubee); 'Violets Dipped in Dew' (Prince Tol De Rol); 'Ridin' in a Railroad Keer' and 'What Do You Take Me For?' (Prince Prettyboy); 'Chanson Politique' (Madame Angot); 'Effie Twilight' (Will O' the Wisp); the 'Conspirator's Chorus'; and 'Legende de Mere Angot' (grand finale).

The storyline sees Twinkle Twinkle, the beloved of Tommy but also the object of the Emperor of Bagatelle's affection, being kidnapped by the latter with the aid of King Winter. Tommy and Twinkle are reunited, however, through the aid of the Stars and Icicles led by Diana, Queen of the Night and Jack Frost.

The 'Sights and Doings,' as advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald were:

Sight 1. The Ice-bound Home of King Winter (incl. a scene of Australian Christmas);

Sight 2. The Beautiful City of Stars;

Sight 3. Cloudland;

Sight 4. Interior of Dame Tucker's Cottage;

Sight 5. A Forest Glade in Bagatelle Empire;

Sight 6. Throne Room in the Palace of King Winter and Grand Panorama;

Sight 7. A Tangled Wood;

Sight 8. Diana's Sylvian Retreat and Grand Ballet of Stars;

Sight 9. Exterior of Dame Tucker's Cottage;

Sight 10 .Bagatelle Castle (incl. The Emperor's Silver Guards, Dian's Gold Guards, King Winter's Crystal Guards and Grand Amazonian March);

Sight 11. Debatable Ground;

Sight 12. A Gloomy Pass;

Grand Transformation Scene (by W. J. Wilson). 1. Spring; 2. Summer; 3. Autumn; 4. Winter; 5. Golden Corridor and Caves of Dazzling Splendour; and

Harlequinade. 1. Two well-known Sydney shops, 2. Interior of a local Boarding House; and 3. Oloothter's Shop (23 December 1876, p.2).

Billed as 'an original, mirthful, mystical, sophistical, cabalistical, phantastical, cryptical, onomantical, metrical and musical extravaganza,' the storyline is said to displayed 'no affinity to the great original in any respect and furnishes a totally dissimilar narrative.' The Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic writes further: 'The plot is indeed entirely the author's composition, or adaptation" (28 Dec. 1975, 15). Walch included numerous references to the Sydney scene, personalities and politics within the libretto and burlesqued a number of Shakespearian tragedies and performers. Some scenes also bear similarity to his previous productions Australia Felix (1873) and Adamanta (1874).

The prologue introduces New Year (as Old Year disappears) who allocates tasks to the Signs of the Zodiac. Venus and the Demon meanwhile declare their rivalry and the latter strikes the first blow by arranging for King Glorio's daughter, Beauty, to be kidnapped by the Beast, 'a sort of ourang-outang monarch with an apish army' who has long sough the hand of the young princess. In this plot he is aided by the Rose Queen's foe, Nightshade, and King Glorio's conniving Prime minister, Advelorem. Beauty is subsequently taken to the Isle of Monkeys and given a day to marry the Beast. The Rose Queen calls on the Pilgrim of Love, who has already wooed and won the heart of Beauty, to save Beauty and gives him two magic roses to help his quest. Complications arise, however, not the least being the theft of one of the magic roses by Beauty's older sister, Aquilina. This forces the Pilgrim to temporarily abandon his pursuit of Beauty until he recovers the rose. He eventually makes his way by ship to the Isle of the Monkeys, escorted by King Glorio and other members of the court, and with the aid of the Rose Queen and her fairies saves Beauty from her awful fate.

The synopsis of scenery and incidents as published in the Sydney Morning Herald are:

Prologue: Roofs of Houses near the General Post Office, and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac;

Act 1 Scene 1. The Graden of Roses (incl. The Fairy Flower Statues, The Spelling Bee and The Talisman); Grand Ballet and Minuet;

Scene 2. Ante-Chamber in King Glorio's Palace;

Scene 3. Grand Square near the City Gates (incl. The King's Procession, and The March of the Amazons);

Act 2 Scene 1. Grand Salon on Board the King's Ship (incl The Magic Bird);

Scene 2. Grotesque Chamber in the Beast's Palace;

Scene 3. Monkey Land;

Scene 4. The Beast's Palace;

Scene 5. Cave Dungeon beneath the Beast's Palace (incl. The Lover's United).

Grand Transformation Scene: 1. The Silver Lakes in the Cave of Content; 2. The Floral Conservatory on the Boarders of Fairy Land; 3. The Temple of Apollo in the Vestibule of Coins and Jewels; 4. On the Boarders of Dreamland; 5. The Home of the Peri in the Pellucid Waters of the Crystal Lake; 6. The Rainbow of Ferns.

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]