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The allure of the bunyip soon moved onto the Australian stage.

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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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