AustLit

'Written expressly for the occasion by the lessee of the theatre, Mr W. B. Gill,' Harlequin Man in the Moon is a pantomime with songs set to operatic and other music which is said to have introduced 'any amount of local jokes, squibs and pasquinades' (Sydney Morning Herald 27 December 1878, p.5).

The narrative sees Queen Luna set to be ousted from her kingdom by Larrikinos, late of a Woolloomooloo push, unless she marries somebody more powerful than herself. He is controlled by Malignanta, a witch. Luna rejects Larrikonos's crass advances and falls instead for Prince Phaeton. Malignanta conjures up the future in a prolonged burlesque of Macbeth with heads of contemporaries including Walter Cooper. The wedding is interrupted by Larrikinos and his troops but Fairy Glistena routs them. Luna later introduces Phaeton to her Parliament, but to much abuse. The Premier (Henry Parkes) gives a speech indicating that self-interest should be an MLA's first aim. Luna responds with a speech suggesting that 'if manners such as these disgrace our seats, no wonder larrikins infest our streets.' The MLA's meet their match when Larrikinos returns, and the sun king Splendacious oversees a happy ending.

Advertising in the Sydney Morning Herald records that the pantomime was 'an entirely new and original burlesque stuffed full of local hits at existing shams - absurdities in low life and high' (20 December 1873, p.4). Topical references and local allusions known to have been incorporated focused on the Sydney scene, politics, personalities, and issues such as lawyers, Wentworth, and Buchanan's Divorce Bill.

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]