''Omai'' is a 1785

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

written by John O'Keeffe with music by

William Shield William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and viola, violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, th ...

. It depicts the voyage of Omai, a Tahitian royal, to marry Londina the fictional daughter of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

. It was loosely inspired by the real visit of

Omai Mai (c.1751-late 1779), known as Omai in Britain, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahu-toru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768. Life Ma'i, born c.1751, described himself ...

to Europe in the 1770s and the final voyage of the explorer

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

leading up to his dramatic death in 1779. Its full name is ''Omai: or, a trip round the world''

Production

The sets were designed by

Philip James de Loutherbourg Philip James de Loutherbourg RA (31 October 174011 March 1812), whose name is sometimes given in the French form of Philippe-Jacques, the German form of Philipp Jakob, or with the English-language epithet of the Younger, was a French-born Brit ...

who took great care to try to make his depictions as authentic as possible by studying sketches made on all three of Cook's voyages and consulting with

John Webber John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska. Biography Webber was born in London, educated ...

an artist who had sailed with Cook. The play was produced a year and a half after official

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

records of Cook’s final voyage were released and played a major part in the hero-isation of Cook.Claydon & McBridge p.273 Although much of its material was intentionally whimsical and inaccurate, it helped shape Western views of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and its inhabitants. It was first performed at

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

in December 1785 an

afterpiece An afterpiece is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction, the full-length play, and concluding the theatrical evening.p24 "The Chambers Dictionary"Edinburgh, Chambers,2003 This short comedy, farce, o ...

to Nicholas Rowe's ''

Jane Shore Elizabeth "Jane" Shore (née Lambert) (c. 1445 – c. 1527) was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV of England. She became the best-known to history through being later accused of conspiracy by the future King Richard III, and compelled ...

''.

Synopsis

Omai, the heir to the throne of Tahiti, is due to marry Londina, the daughter of Britannia, which will symbolically join the two countries together. However Omai has a number of rivals, who wish to prevent the marriage and the union of the two countries. To escape them he and Londina embark on a voyage that takes them through various destinations visited by Cook including

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

References

Bibliography

Claydon, Tony & McBride, Ian. ''Protestantism and National Identity: Britain and Ireland 1650-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1998. Plays by John O'Keeffe 1785 plays Plays set in the 18th century {{18thC-play-stub