Contemporary advertisements give the following details:
'SYNOPSIS.
'ENGLAND. — Hampstead Heath — Sir Richard Devine slain by Rex — His Son Dick accused — Parson North denounces Rex.
'VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. — Convict Settlement at Hell's Gate — Chain Gang — Gabbet's Escape and Capture — Chaplain North gives the Convicts Tobacco — Major Vickers announces the removal to Port Arthur — The Attack — The Departure.
'THE MUTINY. — On Board the Osprey — Captured by Convicts — The Mutineers Maroon Survivors.
'MAROONED. — Two weeks later — Rufus Dawes saved by Sylvia Vickers Three months later — Major Vickers' search for the Castaways — Death of Mrs. Vickers — Sylvia's memory lost through shock — Lieut. Frere accuses Rufus of the crime.
'PORT ARTHUR. — Dawes escapes — Sylvia fails to recognise him — Her memory returning, she wishes to see him — Lady Devine arrives to see her son.
'THE END.— Convicts Confess, and Innocence Proved, and Pardon Granted to "RUFUS DAWES".'
Source:
[Advertisement], Examiner [Launceston, Tasmania], 23 January 1912, p.1.
First performed at the Royal Standard Theatre, Sydney, 5 June 1886. The season ran for forty-three performances. later Sydney seasons were mounted in 1887, 1893, 1895, 1899, 1901 and 1905. Also produced in Melbourne in October 1888, and again in 1890 and 1891. All three Melbourne seasons had limited runs.
Written for the actor/manager Alfred Dampier.