AustLit

Staged in three acts and ten tableaux, the pantomime opened with the traditional Fairy Land setting, where children dressed as elves hammered miniature anvils with little golden hammers. After the Forces of Evil are called up, the scene changes back to Earth: a nautical setting on the banks of the Thames. From here, the story follows, in a fashion, Defoe's original story, including Crusoe's embarkation, the storm and shipwreck, and the island upon which he finds himself stranded. The storyline deviates at various intervals, largely as a means of incorporating spectacle. Two such scenes are 'The Fight with the Tigers' (act 2, scene 2) and 'The Rajah's Palace' (last act), where the Rajah of Chimpanzee consents to the marriage of his daughter with Crusoe, thus bringing the pantomime to an end.

The musical program included 'Sweet Bells Say' (sung by Marie Luella), 'At My Window' and 'What is it Whispering in My Heart' (Edith Moore), 'He Got it Where the Chicken Got the Axe' and 'Ting a Ling Ting' (Bobby Watson), 'The Fighting Tailor' (Tommy Cosgrove), 'I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard' (Florrie Ranger), and 'The Band Played On' and 'The Boy in the Gallery' (Amy William and Amy Gourley). Other musical music highlights included 'The Sinbad Ballet' (performed as Crusoe departs on his voyage of discovery), 'The Trilby Ballet' (staged with 'an entirely new novelty'), 'The Cannibal Ballet', 'The Harem Ballet' (an Oriental dance), and a thirty-member hornpipe dance performed by children.

Among the numerous novelties incorporated into the narrative were 'Peter Jackson the Fighting Kangaroo' and 'Henry the Braying Donkey.' The visual spectacle saw a depiction of Crusoe's ship wrecked in the thunderstorm, with the staging including a mechanical device that allowed Crusoe to be tossed about on his raft. The harlequinade was also described as novel, being staged aboard a train that was apparently racing through the countryside. The transformation scene was titled 'Through the Mazes of Fairy Land to the Home of the Naiads.'