Burletta (in one act).
Advertised as an 'original, laughable, comical, operatical, tragical [and] melodramatical burletta' and described as a 'musical extravaganza', Shakespericonglommorofunnidogammoniae takes several of Shakespeare's characters and presents them in what is essentially a satirical exposé on the economic state of New South Wales, particularly the effects of the 1843 depression. The characters include those from some of Shakespeare's best-known plays: Hamlet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, and Richard III. Written in verse, it also included many comic re-writes of popular songs. Margaret Williams, in Australia on the Popular Stage, notes that 'the local allusions are charmingly woven into a fantasy world where Ophelia is a dairy-maid, and Hamlet's duel with Falstaff over Anne Page is prevented by an Irish ghost named Pat Carey' (p.22).
The musical content comprised dances and popular airs of the day. The lyrics to these songs were either wholly or partly rewritten by Charles Nagel.
1844: Royal Victoria Theatre, Sydney, 1, 3 July.
