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Plays

Subject
A Hard God
Basically Black
Colonial Experience
Don's Party
Emerald City
Joseph of Canaan
Kultur
Lady in Danger
Lux Radio Theatre
Morning Sacrifice
No Room for Dreamers
Norm and Ahmed
One Dam' Thing after Another
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
The Bad Girl of the Family
The Cake Man
The Chapel Perilous
The Silver King
Wogs out of Work
Crown Matrimonial
British Drama League
Playwrights' Advisory Board
Afford, Malcolm (Max)
Batey, Peter
Bostock, Gerry
Brand, Mona
Buzo, Alex
Cooper, Walter
Elliott, Sumner Locke
Ellis, Bob
Enright, Nicholas (Nick)
Farrer, Vashti
Flower, Pat
Free, Colin
Geoghegan, Edward
Gray, Oriel
Harding, Alex
Hewett, Dorothy
Kenna, Peter
Lawler, Ray
Livermore, Reg
Meredith, Gwen
Merritt, Robert
Nowra, Louis
Pate, Michael
Radic, Therese
Roland, Betty
Rudd, Steele
Somers, Thomas
Stone, Louis
Tomholt, Sydney John
Valentine, Alana
Walch, Garnet
Wilkinson, Linden
Williamson, David
Australian playwright, David Williamson, Sydney 1972

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Plays

A Hard God

A semi-autobiographical play and moving account of the struggle of a working-class Irish-Australian Catholic family.

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Basically Black

Political revue first performed in 1972 at the Nimrod Street Theatre, produced in response to a High Court ruling against a traditional claim to land ownership.

full record »

Colonial Experience

A comedy in three acts that premiered at Royal Victoria Theatre, Sydney. It was notable for its local colour and for integrating familiar colonial types into a comedy of Australian manners.

full record »

Don's Party

Film based on a play written by David Williamson and set on the night of the 1969 federal election.

full record »

Emerald City

Film released in 1988 contrasting the cities of Melbourne and Sydney, based on the play by David Williamson.

full record »

Joseph of Canaan

Play written by Reverend G Walters of the Unitarian Church, produced and played by George Rignold at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1895.

full record »

Kultur

Play written in wartime by Leonard Durell.

full record »

Lady in Danger

A comedy thriller with witty dialogue. One of the few Australian plays professionally produced in the 1940s and it was the first Australian play to reach New York's Broadway in the 20th century.

full record »

Lux Radio Theatre

Radio program which became a Sunday night institution as radio plays were performed in front of a live audience with actors expected to perform in glamorous evening dress.

full record »

Morning Sacrifice

In this play, teachers fight a superior who is backed by a corrupt school system. One of the few mid 20th century plays still in the contemporary repertoire.

full record »

No Room for Dreamers

Play based on the life of sex reformer and eccentric William James Chidley.

full record »

Norm and Ahmed

The play explores racism in Australian when a middle-aged war veteran, Norm, has an encounter with a Pakistani student Ahmed, at a bus stop one night. It was controversial in having the line 'fucking boong' that resulted in court cases against censorship. It premiered at the Old Tote Theatre.

full record »

One Dam' Thing after Another

Revue which was the last show at the Tivoli theatre in 1966.

full record »

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

full record »

Play which openly and authentically portrayed distinctly Australian life and characters.

The Bad Girl of the Family

First play produced in the new Adelphi theatre in 1911.

full record »

The Cake Man

A milestone in Aboriginal theatre, this was the first black Australian play to be published, to be televised and to tour overseas. The main theme of the play is that Aboriginal children can be the instrument of hope and change for the future.

full record »

The Chapel Perilous

The play follows the central character Sally Banner on her quest to express herself in provincial Australia from the 1930s to the 1960s.

full record »

The Silver King

Melodrama written in 1882 by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman.

full record »

Wogs out of Work

Comedy play first performed in 1987.

full record »

Crown Matrimonial

Drama based on the romance between David, Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson and the ensuing abdication. It has been performed numerous times in Sydney, including at the Mayfair Theatre in 1978.

full record »

British Drama League

A semi-voluntary organisation established in Sydney that acted as a coordinating body for amateur theatre.

full record »

Playwrights' Advisory Board

Founded with the object of fostering Australian theatre. It negotiated productions, acted as an intermediary of royalties, and advised both theatres and playwrights on scripts. In 1955 its play competition was won by 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' by Ray Lawler, and 'The Torrents' by Oriel Gray.

full record »

Afford, Malcolm (Max)

The foremost writer of commercial radio serials and stage plays in the 1940s.

full record »

Batey, Peter

Playwright, director and producer who has had a major influence on comedy and satire in Australia for over 50 years.

full record »

Bostock, Gerry

Playwright, actor and founding member of Black Theatre.

full record »

Brand, Mona

Playwright, poet and freelance writer who wrote over 24 plays and, whilst living, was better known in Europe than in Australia. Her topics were often new to Australian playwriting.

full record »

Buzo, Alex

A principal Sydney playwright of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was one of the first contemporary Australian playwrights recognised overseas and authored 88 works.

full record »

Cooper, Walter

First Australian writer to craft sensation melodrama with comic characters speaking rich slang. Three of his plays were produced in the United States of America which made Cooper the first Australian dramatist performed abroad.

full record »

Elliott, Sumner Locke

full record »

Novelist, playwright and actor who won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 1963 and the Patrick White Literary Award in 1977.

Ellis, Bob

Political commentator, journalist and writer.

full record »

Enright, Nicholas (Nick)

In a widely varied career, he was best known as a playwright. His better known works were the plays Blackrock, Daylight Savings and Mongrels.

full record »

Farrer, Vashti

Author of fiction, poetry and play scripts.

full record »

Flower, Pat

Crime novelist and television playwright.

full record »

Free, Colin

Theatre playwright.

full record »

Geoghegan, Edward

Convict who became Sydney's most prolific playwright in the 1840s.

full record »

Gray, Oriel

A socialist writer brought up during the Great depression who sought to extend the imagination and raise social issues through theatre.

full record »

Harding, Alex

Writer, composer and actor who migrated to Sydney from England and became a prominent writer in the gay theatre scene.

full record »

Hewett, Dorothy

Feminist poet, novelist and playwright.

full record »

Kenna, Peter

Playwright, radio actor and screenwriter.

full record »

Lawler, Ray

Playwright whose most famous work is The Doll Trilogy of plays, written between 1955 and 1976.

full record »

Livermore, Reg

Singer, actor and playwright who has entertained Australian audiences for over five decades.

full record »

Meredith, Gwen

Beginning as a playwright in the 1930s several of her plays were produced by the Independent Theatre. By the mid 1940s she was writer of popular ABC radio serials, such as The Lawsons and Blue Hills.

full record »

Merritt, Robert

Aboriginal playwright whose work 'The Cake Man' was the first production of the National Black Theatre in 1975.

full record »

Nowra, Louis

Novelist, playwright and screenwriter whose works have been performed by all major Australian theatre companies.

full record »

Pate, Michael

Radio, film and television actor who went on to write plays, screenplays and teleplays in Sydney and the United States of America.

full record »

Radic, Therese

Biographer and musicologist.

full record »

Roland, Betty

Writer of plays, screenplays, novels, children's books and comics.

full record »

Rudd, Steele

Author best known for 'On Our Selection', a series of country sketches published in 1899.

full record »

Somers, Thomas

Playwright.

full record »

Stone, Louis

Novelist and playwright.

full record »

Tomholt, Sydney John

Playwright whose 11 short plays include the most substantial introduction to symbolist and expressionist drama in Australia before the 1960s.

full record »

Valentine, Alana

Playwright whose plays, often reflecting social issues of the times, have been produced in Australia and overseas.

full record »

Walch, Garnet

Author and dramatist who published over 30 works and wrote a steady stream of burlesques, pantomimes and comedies.

full record »

Wilkinson, Linden

Film, television and theatre actor and writer during the 1970s to the present.

full record »

Williamson, David

full record »

Playwright whose work includes Emerald City, about Sydney, and many other works focusing on the social morality of the day.

Australian playwright, David Williamson, Sydney 1972

full record »
By
Lee Pearce
Contributed By
National Library of Australia
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Literature