Costume design by Comelli for the Courtiers in Jack and the Beanstalk, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 1910.

Jack and the Beanstalk Jack & the Beanstalk is thought to have originated as Jack the Giant Killer. The first performance of Jack the Giant Killer, as a Christmas play at Drury Lane in 1773, was written by David Garrick and introduced the character of Jack as a lazy but clever hero. The first recorded pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk; or Harlequin and the Ogre was performed in 1819 in which a famous young actress called Eliza Povey played the first ever principal boy, Idle Jack. The basic plot of this pantomime was taken from the English fairy tale, in which Jack trades his cow for magic beans and then seeks adventure and good fortune at the top of the beanstalk. Jack & the Beanstalk also introduced one of the most famous Dames to the English stage in 1886 when Dan Leno made his debut at Drury Lane as Dame Trot, Jack's nagging mother. By the early twentieth century pantomimes were growing increasingly long and elaborate and often included grand processions, huge sets and elaborate ballet sequences in which hundreds of acrobats, dancers, and children took part.

In the 1910 production (produced by Arthur Collins, Frank Dix and J.Hickory Wood) Jack Halleybut was played by Miss Dolly Castles, Princess Dorothy was played by Miss Julia James, Titania was played by Miss Hilda Playfair and Puck was played by Miss Anita Edis. The music was composed and arranged by J.M.Glover.

Comelli (1858-1925) was the house designer of the Royal Opera House from the late 1880s to the early 1920s. During this period he also worked for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and also designed costumes from a number of Gilbert&Sullivan productions.

This design comes from a collection of costume designs, some of which are costumier's copies, which were originally part of the Archives of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.