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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Deals with the interactions of a 'xenophobic tramp and an English wife (June Thody) on a lonely sheep station, faced with temptation in the form of a handsome young Australian-born Italian labourer. Apart from the inclusion of an irrelevant character, the play opens tautly with not a moment wasted in creating the setting for a night of adultery. The arrival of the swagman (portrayed brilliantly by Edward Hepple) introduces a Pinteresque situation in which he slowly insinuates himself further and further, disrupting the couple's hoped-for night of solitary domesticity.'
Source: 'U.K. Playwright, Long Range View' (see Works About).
Notes
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Television play.
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Note on authorship:
After the episode aired, there was some discussion in newspapers regarding how a British script-writer came to submit a script set in Australia for an Australian-made anthology series.
According to John Howard's article in The Canberra Times (see Works About): Enquiries around the ABC Drama Department revealed that everybody there is just as curious.The producer of the play, Henri Safran, chose it from a bundle of indifferent quality that found its way to his desk. Phillip Mann tells me that he met Black some time ago in London, where he is a professional writer. As far as he knows Black has never been to Australia.
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The play's perceived obscenity also caused a small flurry of correspondence in the pages of The Canberra Times after it aired. See a sampling of the correspondence via this link to Trove Australia.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Forgotten Australian TV Plays : The Swagman
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 28 May 2021; -
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019; -
U.K. Playwright, Long Range View
1965
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 2 April 1965; (p. 15) Talks largely about a single instalment of the Wednesday Theatre: 'The Swagman', written by British author Ian Stuart Black. In doing so, makes some key points about how the Wednesday Theatre series is produced.
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U.K. Playwright, Long Range View
1965
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 2 April 1965; (p. 15) Talks largely about a single instalment of the Wednesday Theatre: 'The Swagman', written by British author Ian Stuart Black. In doing so, makes some key points about how the Wednesday Theatre series is produced. -
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019; -
Forgotten Australian TV Plays : The Swagman
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 28 May 2021;
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cAustralia,c
- Australian Outback, Central Australia,