The Bunyip, also known by the longer title The Enchantment of Fairy Princess Wattle Blossom, was written by Ella Palzier Campbell (aka
Ella Airlie). The pantomime was a highly successful musical comedy that toured Australia for a decade within Fuller Brothers theatre circuit.[1] The show was produced by Sydney entrepreneur Nat Philips. The premiere of the show ran for at least 97 performances[2] and was revived several times over the following decade.
Production history
Music was supplied by a number of Australian stage personalities including
Vince Courtney,
Herbert De Pinna and James Kendis. A Melbourne National Gallery student P. Cohen was enlisted to paint the sets with Australian flowers,[3] namely wattle and waratah, on costumes also.[4]
The story opens with a
bushfire in which all the bush creatures are bought out into the open. Then it deals with the wanderings of princess Wattle Blossom, who falls into the hands of the Bush Gnomes, a proud race with a terrible way of doing things. The Lord High Gnome decrees that the Princess shall be turned into a
bunyip, and this transformation takes place on the stage.[11] The fairy princess is then rescued by the principal boy from the race of bush gnomes. A well-received stage effect was a
shadow play of girls apparently disrobing behind a backlit screen, over which the (apparently) removed clothing was thrown.[12][13]
The play relied heavily on comic stereotypes of the time, including a
Chinese cook, bumbling
Jewish clowns, fierce
Aboriginal warriors, and a drunken Australian lout – all contending with Wattle Blossom, the fairy princess in the original story.
Extras – An Aboriginal corroboree and bush sprite dancers[3][22]
Arthur – a halfwit
Tower – a lofty fellow
Comedy duo 'Stiffy and Mo'
Cast
The cast changed across several venues. For example, in Adelaide the crowd was treated to a boomerang thrower safely tossing weapons above their heads[23]
Nat Philips (producer) and
Roy Rene played Stiffy and Mo.[23]
Peter Brooks originally played the Swaggie,[10][24] but was replaced by drag Swagman impersonator Nellie Kolle.[6][25]
Villiers Arnold played the Gnome in the Sydney production at the grand opera house[3]
Pearl Ladd played the bunyip at the Sydney performance[5]
Ella Airlie (the writer) played Jack the principal boy opposite
Queenie Paul as Joan the principal female lead.[6] Dan Dunbar and Zoe Wencke joined the team later.[22]
Roy Rene continued the comic character 'Mo' he had developed in vaudeville[26]
Caddie Franks played the transformation into a Bunyip[27]
Critical reception
The play was embraced with patriotic fervour.[28] From 1917, the show drew crowded houses.[29] The theme song was adopted by schools in
New South Wales and sales of the sheet music were phenomenal.[30]
The press was unaffected by a typical Australian workers dispute between management and two stage hands who objected to the behaviour of a backstage colleague.[31]
^"In the Theatres". The Sun. No. 775. New South Wales, Australia. 3 February 1918. p. 16. Retrieved 16 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^
abcd"Bush Fire and Bunyip". The Sun. No. 716. New South Wales, Australia. 17 December 1916. p. 18. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Majestic Theatre". The Advertiser. Vol. LIX, no. 18, 295. Adelaide. 2 June 1917. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Bunyip". The Telegraph. No. 14, 256. Brisbane. 3 August 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Theatreland". The Referee. No. 1972. New South Wales, Australia. 24 December 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Good-Bye to "The Bunyip"". Evening News. No. 17971. New South Wales, Australia. 24 January 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia. Includes illustration attributed to "Emil Mercier", possibly
Emile Mercier's first published work.
^"The Bunyip". The World's News. No. 1203. New South Wales, Australia. 3 January 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^
ab"Fullers' Pantomime". Sunday Times. No. 2028. Sydney. 14 December 1924. p. 20. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Bunyip". The Sunday Times. No. 2029. New South Wales, Australia. 21 December 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Bunyip". The Daily Telegraph. No. 14, 053. New South Wales, Australia. 22 December 1924. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Scenes Behind the Scenes". The Herald. No. 13, 005. Victoria, Australia. 5 February 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 12 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.