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The allure of the bunyip soon moved
onto the Australian stage.
By the middle of the nineteenth century
the bunyip was an obvious ingredient to add local colour to a colonial
play or pantomime.
Over half a century later, for Christmas
1916, one of the most popular pantomimes ever presented in Australia
was staged: Ella Airlie's The Bunyip.
This pantomime was a spectacular and
elaborate production. The plot centred around the strife between
the Fairy Princess and the Evil Gnome who turned her into a bunyip.
In Sydney alone, The Bunyip
was seen by 150 000 people. Among its more memorable attractions
was a scene in which Aboriginal people threw boomerangs out over
the assembled audience.
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