The Wasp — 1891 — page 304: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains theatrical parodies depicting scenes from "Cleopatra," a Bernhardt production (admission $3.00). The left panel shows the play's backstage chaos—a woman in elaborate costume amid theatrical drapery and animals, with stagehands visible below, satirizing the spectacle and expense of contemporary theatrical productions. The right panels mock specific scenes: panel 5 shows two women in bed captioned "Girl and pussy" (likely a double entendre joke); panel 6 depicts "Salambo with serpent (with use of a WASP conception)"—a comedic reimagining of another theatrical spectacle; panel 7 shows "Chinatown at night." The satire targets both the grandiosity of high theatrical productions and contemporary entertainment trends, treating elaborate historical dramas as objects of ridicule rather than serious art.