AustLit

A pantomime with many topical references to well-known personalities, recent events, and Victorian politics (notably allegations of land fraud involving several members of parliament), towards which the author directs much light-hearted satire. Of these topical reference, theatre historian Richard Fotheringham writes:

'Since before 1820 the "House that Jack Built" story had been used for political commentary. Akhurst follows this tradition in making his hero Jack Melbourne and Little Victoria represent the hopes and fears for the future of that colony and his villain Orognome some of its current vices, particularly unscrupulous and fraudulent manipulation of mining stocks and share trading 'Under the Verandah' (Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage, pp.220-21).

The story concerns Jack Melbourne, who has been raised and educated by the Fairy Queen Diamantina in an attempt to foil the evil plans of Orognome (the Gold Sovereign). Some years previously, Orognome kidnapped Little Victoria in order to prevent her from bringing to fruition a prophecy made at her birth, which foretells that she would 'rule half the earth'. Diamantina's plan is that Jack will improve the land upon which 'his lot has been cast', thereby countering Orognome's intentions. However, being both mortal and a young man just on eighteen, Jack begins exhibiting desires to move beyond the fairy cave he has lived in almost all his life. He digs a hole that eventually leads him to Orognome's home, where he meets and falls in love with Little Victoria. The Gold Sovereign drugs Jack and leaves 'him in a critical position on the line over which the gold trucks pass'. He is saved from being crushed (in a burlesque of Dion Boucicault's After Dark) by Joey, 'a marsupial attendant upon Little Victoria and who possesses largely cultivated instincts.' With the aid of Diamantina, Jack and Little Victoria make their way to the surface, where Jack is required to build a house and make history in order to defeat Orognome. Although he succeeds in erecting his house (which turns out to be the House of Parliament) and presenting a panorama of Melbourne's history from 1835 to the present day, Jack does not prosper from his handiwork. He is later found outside the house, where Orognome, disguised as a stockbroker (an 'under the Verandah Man'), swindles him through bogus land and mining speculation. Jack is once again saved by Diamantina, however, before being conveyed, along with Little Victoria and Joey, to the 'Golden Conservatory and Temple of Gems', where the transformation scene takes place.

The scenes presented were:

Scene 1. The Haunted Dell of Diamonds with Fairy Castle in the Air.

Scene 2. The Superficial Deposits and Stratified Rocks Leading to the Great Suburb of Horrifferousquartzton.

Scene 3. Palatial Caverns of Orognome.

Scene 4. The Dell of Diamonds (Revisited) and The House that Jack Built.

Scene 5. An Aboriginal Wood in Australia Felix with Salt Lagoon / Panorama: The 'Enterprise' Schooner Landing the First Melbourne Settlers; Collins Street, 1838 ; A Sheep Station, 1848; Departure of Burke and Wills; and Melbourne, 1869.

Scene 6. Exterior of the Houses of Parliament.

The musical element, selected and arranged by Frederick Coppin, contains both operatic and popular styles. The Age theatre critic notes, however, that while many of the songs contained melodies that had become popular in England, most were still unknown to Melbourne audiences (27 December 1869, p.3). Songs incorporated into this production included 'Where is my Nancy', 'Dada' (solo and chorus), 'Popsy Wopsy' (duet), 'Wind Up Galop' (duet and chorus), 'God save the Queen', 'The Style to Which It's Done' (topical song), 'Rollicking Rams' (chorus), 'Chickaleary Bloke', 'Ring the Bell, Watchman', 'See at Your Feet' (trio), 'Fair Land of Poland' (solo), 'Through the World' (trio), 'Meet me in the Lane', 'Cruel Jane Jemima', 'J'aime les Militairs', 'Cork Leg', 'Mary Holder', 'Burlington Arcade' (duet), and 'Hot Coddlins'.

[Plot synopsis cited in the Age 28 December 1869, p.3; Australasian 1 January 1870, p.18; and Sydney Mail 30 December 1871, p.1395]

Possibly adapted from W. M. Akhurst's pantomime The House that Jack Built, or, Harlequin Progress and the Loves, Laughs, Laments and Labors of Jack Melbourne and Little Victoria (Melb, 1869), itself later adapted as The House that Jack Built, or, Harlequin Jack Sydney (1871). Australian theatre historian Richard Fotheringham suggests one clue when he refers to the fact that Edward McLean, the director of 'Dances, Marches and Evolutions' for this production, had also undertaken the choreography duties for the Sydney production (Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage, p.230).

Containing a variety of songs including operatic, popular, and original numbers, the production was 'localised and expressly re-arranged' for the Queensland Theatre (Brisbane Courier 27 December 1878, p.1). The local scenes included the Post Office, Brisbane Houses of Parliament, the Brewery, and well-known shops in the city. The Brisbane Courier's editor, in commenting on his reporter's critique of the Boxing Day premiere, indicates that the jokes and harlequinade in particular were of the usual Christmas quality. He called into question the focus of some of the pantomime's topicalities, however, writing that 'We think the most exalted position in the colony should secure a certain immunity from stage jokes, and were [sic] glad to find from the silence of the audience that they were not in accord with the doubtful taste that prompted these sallies' (27 December 1878, p.2).