Cirrus@Austlit

Adapted from J. R. Planché's extravaganza The Golden Branch (1847), possibly by George Fawcett, this production contained local allusions and 'some judicious excisions and curtailments' (Argus 29 December 1859, p.5). Bell's Life in Victoria theatre critic writes in this respect :

'The pantomime ... is stated to be from the pen of Planché, but we have a shrewd suspicion that that versatile author would scarcely recognise the offspring of his brain in the bantling which was ushered into existence on Boxing night. The compiler appears to have brought Planché, Mark Lemon, Albert Smith, and even Angus Reach, under contribution; and while some jokes are evidently of local coinage, the majority carry us back to Miss Farebrother, Frank Matthews, or the Keeleys at the Lyceum, or Bland at the Haymarket. This pun comes from Camaralzaman and Badoura, that from the Melbourne Punch; this from The Wood Demon and that from Tom Nunn' (31 December 1859, p2.).

One of the topical issues raised was the withdrawal of religious instruction from schools.

The story concerns Princess Dumpy (only daughter of King Humpy) and Prince Humpy (only 'che-ild' of King Brown, tyrant of the Silly Islands), who have both been turned into ugly monsters by a wicked fairy. Their 'dreadfully tangled and confused' story, their fortunes, transformation, and ultimately happy love unfold during the first part of the production, with the final section devoted to the traditional harlequinade.