Cirrus@Austlit

'It resembles a chapter of the Newgate Calendar dramatised, not forgetting the 'moral' which constituted the sequel to each narrative in that celebrated work,' writes the Argus theatre critic in January 1862. 'Miss Jane Marden (Miss Rosa Dunn) is beloved by a respectable young banker's clerk, Charles Graves by name (Mr. Fawcett), but has also attracted tho notice of an aristocrat young libertine, known as the Hon Algernon Pereau' ('Princess's Theatre.' Argus 21 January 1862, p.5).

The first act, set in England sees Pereau succeed in luring the woman away from her ardent and more suitable, but less well-off, admirer. In Act 2, Jane lives in splendour, but finds her happiness tempered by guilt over her betrayal of Charles. When he attempts to persuade her to leave Pereau she agrees. However, while making their escape they are apprehended, he as a burglar and she as his accomplice, and later transported fore their crimes. The narrative for Act 3, set in Van Dieman's Land, follows the couple's escape, their betrayal by another escaped convict and their eventual death in the presence of Pereau (who is the colony in some 'high civil capacity') atop of Mount Wellington. In their last breaths Jane forgives Pereau, while Graves accuses him of murder.

A comic subplot involved the characters played by Julia Matthews and Mr Stewart.