 The pantomime was the work of Thomas John Dibdin and its title, "Harlequin and Mother Goose, or The Golden Egg", signals how it combines the "Commedia dell'arte" tradition and other folk elements with fable – in this case "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs".The stage version became a vehicle for the clown Joseph Grimaldi, who played the part of Avaro, but there was also a shorter script for shadow pantomime which allowed special effects of a different kind.Special effects were needed since the folk elements in the story made a witch-figure of Mother Goose.