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A burlesque pantomime set in 'merry' England, but also containing a corroboree and numerous topical hits (including several political attacks on the Victorian ministry), Harlequin Robin Hood is described in the Argus as one of those absurdities which are not to be judged of by any rules of dramatic art. The critic writes further:
Dramatis Personae who are always involving themselves in ridiculous complications; giving utterance to jokes and perpetuating puns good and bad; hits at the men and manners of the day; virtuous people and villains, fairies and fools, songs and dances, transformations and scenic effects; make up a complete jumble of incongruities, which the critic ought by every canon of his craft to condemn, but at which people who go in for amusement will laugh in spite of him. If you attempt to describe the plot it will appear very silly. If you put the puns into print, nothing could be demonstrably more absurd. Yet the audience - children both young and old - were amused and merry (27 December 1858, p.5).
In addition to the original incidental music by Frederick Coppin, the production also burlesqued a number of well-known operatic songs, including some from ll Trovatore.
Production Details
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1858: Theatre Royal, Melbourne, 27 December 1858 - 22 January 1859.
- Director Richard Younge; Music Arranger Frederick Coppin; Chorus Mons. Schmidt; Scenic Art B. Tannett, W. J. Wilson and Alexander Habbe; Director of Comic Scenes Tom Leopold.
- Cast incl. Miss Morgan (Robin Hood); Miss Mortimer (Maid Marion); Henry R. Harwood (Friar Tuck); Frederick Younge (Zamiel); Richard Younge (Sheriff of Nottingham); Mr Webster (Little John); Miss Milne (Locallotta); Henry, Tom, and George Leopold; Mons. Schmidt; Fraulein Fannie [Mrs Tom Leopold]; Mlle Theresa.
- 19 performances.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Theatre Royal
1859
single work
review
— Appears in: Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle , 1 January 1859; (p. 2)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre -
Theatre Royal
1858
single work
review
— Appears in: The Argus , 28 December 1858; (p. 4)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre -
The Theatre Royal
1858
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 28 December 1858; (p. 5)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre
-
Theatre Royal
1859
single work
review
— Appears in: Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle , 1 January 1859; (p. 2)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre -
The Theatre Royal
1858
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 28 December 1858; (p. 5)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre -
Theatre Royal
1858
single work
review
— Appears in: The Argus , 28 December 1858; (p. 4)
— Review of Harlequin Robin Hood ; Or, The Bold Huntsman of Sherwood and the Fairy Locallotta 1858 single work musical theatre
PeriodicalNewspaper Details
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre (ca. 1850-1930). See also the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Details have also been derived in part from the Annotated Calendar of Plays Premiered in Australia: 1850-1869.