AustLit

Adapted and localised by George Scott Hough from J. R. Planché's original 1855 pantomime/extravaganza of the same name, the local hits targeted such issues as education and current Melbourne personalities.

The Argus theatre critic writes, in this respect:

'The localisms throughout the piece were very good, the allusions to the premier's determination not to resign office unless compelled by an unmistakable vote of want of confidence, the breach of contract of the German masons, Dr Evans's complaints of Press misrepresentations, the brilliancy of Government officials, the late robbery of gold at the Victoria bank, wherein the speaker says, "I am a banker, and have clerks in plenty, though my game isn't dolce far niente. The clerks I get to watch and guard my gains, get 40 pounds per annum for their pains" - a statement that was received with rounds of applause. The hit, however, that touched the audience more than anything was the appearance of Prince Richcraft in a highly Hunterian costume [referring to Dr Hunter], and his dying speech was a furious rodomontade a la Princess's Theatre, in which John Thomas Smith and "Stubby" become victims of his immortal ire' (27 December 1859, p.5).

The story concerns King Gander, the father of three daughters, who ('after the example of a mighty monarch of the present day') is about to make war in Palestine, although he is unable to state what injury his antagonist has done him. One of the king's pressing concerns before his departure is that the young girls will be kept safe while he is away. When he consults his ministers, asking for their advice on the best course of action, they tell him only that he should follow his instincts. With no solution readily at hand, he seeks out the wise Mother Goose, who advises him to lock the girls up in a tower, giving each with a magic distaff. Their powers are such that should any of the daughters misconduct herself during their father's absence, her distaff will break.

Prince Richcraft, the son of his enemy, appears almost immediately after the king departs. Disguised as an old beggar woman, he tricks one of the girls into letting him enter the tower and, upon arriving at the summit, he sings a love song for one of them (to the tune of 'The Ratcatcher's Daughter'). Babillada and Idelfouza are enraptured, but the youngest daughter, Finnetta, has more regard for her father's wishes and orders him to leave. When the prince disappears, the two older sisters find their distaffs broken.

The king later returns, but not before being rescued from an attack and certain death by a young hero. His first concern is to inspect his daughters' distaffs. Meeting each daughter separately, he finds each distaff intact, but is nevertheless suspicious. When he commands all three to attend him together, they cannot use the sole unbroken one and the two older girls are discovered. In his fury at having been disobeyed, King Gander orders that Babillada and Idelfouza are to be banished from his kingdom, and only the intervention of Finnetta saves them. Meanwhile, Finnetta has fallen in love with Prince Belavoir (who also happens to be her father's rescuer). Their love is complicated by the arrival of Prince Richcraft. Upon finding that Finnetta (the object of his desire) has been courted by his brother, Richcraft flies into a paroxysm of rage but subsequently dies of convulsions. This scene then leads to the harlequinade.

The local scenes illustrated within the production included Melbourne's Eastern markets, the new Baths, the Sandridge Sugar Works, and the Bank of Victoria.