Wild Australia Show

The Wild Australia Show was a troupe of Indigenous Australian performers that toured Australia between 1892 and 1893. The group was formed by Archibald Meston and his business partner Brabazon Harry Purcell with the intention of performing in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe on the way to Chicago to perform at the World's Columbian Exposition. It was composed of 27 Indigenous people from across northern Queensland and the surrounding region, including 21 men, five women, and one child.

Inspired by the ethnological expositions popular in the colonial era, as well as by Wild West Shows like Buffalo Bill's Wild West, the performance included dances, corroborees, demonstrations of spear and boomerang throwing, and stagings of scenes inspired by the Australian frontier wars. Meston and Purcell acted as narrators, providing commentary on Aboriginal culture during each performance. The group staged performances in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne and were heavily photographed during their tour, including by Charles Kerry, John William Lindt, and Henry King. While the identities of the performers were largely ignored or lost, many of these photographs became widely reproduced.

Facing financial difficulties and contractual disputes, Meston abandoned the troupe in Melbourne in 1893, leaving Purcell and the performers stranded with insufficient funds to return to Queensland. Purcell made attempts to continue their planned world tour but was eventually forced to return to Queensland. The performers returned home and largely faded from the historical record. The failed endeavour led to criticism of Meston and Purcell, as well as a fierce legal battle between the two former business partners.