This poster advertises a performance by Professor Whatman's International Marionettes of the pantomime Little Red Riding Hood and is illustrated with a lithograph of some of their marionettes including a tightrope walker, a foot juggler, a separating skeleton and three Chinese bell ringers, along with an image of incidents from the Harlequinade, the long and involved comical chase part of a Victorian pantomime which involved the characters Harlequin and Columbine, along with Clown and Pantaloon.

The performance took place at the Royal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern in London's Waterloo Road, the theatre on the site of the present Old Vic Theatre in Lambeth, London. The original theatre was built in 1818 as The Royal Coburg Theatre. It was redecorated and renamed The Royal Victoria Theatre in 1833, and reopened in 1871 as the New Victoria Theatre after a partial remodelling of its interior by new owners. It was bought in 1880 by the social reformer Emma Cons (1838-1912) who opened it on the 27th December 1880 as the Royal Victoria Coffee and Music Hall, and ran it on strict Temperance lines in an effort to establish its good reputation. It was saved from closure in 1884 by the philanthropist Samuel Morley and re-named The Royal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern. After the death of Emma Cons in 1912 the theatre was owned by her niece Lilian Baylis who renamed it the Old Vic Theatre and ran it with passion until her death in 1937.