AustLit

Dorothy Blewett gained moderate success on stage, radio and in print, both in Australia and in the UK during a period when Australian playwrights were rarely represented on the main stages of local theatres. In the 1940s and early 1950s, established commercial theatres relied on a steady stream of thrillers, musicals and drawing room comedies that were mostly derived from English and American productions (Whaley 21). It was left to semi-professional and amateur theatre groups as well as national broadcaster, the ABC, to provide Australian playwrights such as Blewett with opportunities to have their work performed (Hold Fast to Dreams 190).

One of Blewett’s earliest plays, the three-act Quiet Night, a naturalistic representation of life on the job for hospital staff, won the Western Australian Drama Festival Award in 1940. The play went on to become one of the most performed Australian plays both locally and in the U.K. in the 1940s (Making of Australian Drama 195). Quiet Night was staged at The Little Theatre, Melbourne in 1941 and in theatres in Sydney and Townsville in the early 1950s (Austage). Blewett’s radio play, It Happened Before, a love story between a German-Jewish scientist trying to escape the Nazis and an Australian girl living in Europe, attracted praise in an ABC verse play competition and was broadcast by the radio network in 1943 (Making of Australian Drama 195).

Blewett’s next play, The First Joanna, won the Playwright’s Advisory Board (PAB) competition in 1947 from a field of 60 entries (Making of Australian Drama 196). The Chairman of the PAB, writer and theatre historian, Leslie Rees, said at the time that The First Joanna 'was a play of professional competence that could be given on any stage' ('Stage Play Competition'). The First Joanna was subsequently performed at a number of theatres around Australia and received generally good reviews.

Sydney producer and director, May Hollinworth’s amateur theatre group staged The First Joanna at the Metropolitan Theatre in February, 1948 ('Making of Australian Drama' 196; 'Family Drama in New Prize Play'). The tiny Metropolitan 'was the place to be in Sydney if you were, or aspired to be, a serious actor' in the mid 1940s (Whaley 20). Hollinworth was a respected director known for her minimalist style that allowed actors to explore their roles (Whaley 20). Following the play’s opening night, the theatre reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald proclaimed, 'There is the stuff of first class drama', and 'Mrs Blewitt has something important to say about Australian traditions and fantasies, and about the deceptions and loyalties of the human heart' ('Family Drama in New Prize Play'). However, the reviewer criticised the play’s structure as being 'too tense and supercharged in the first act, and not charged enough in the third, and it could do with a more liberal sprinkling of the humour which, when she cares, the author knows how to command.' The acting was considered 'pleasant, but not remarkable', although the reviewer did concede that the ensemble performed on a cramped stage within a noisy space and without air-conditioning ('Family Drama in New Prize Play'). The theatre reviewer for the Catholic Weekly praised Blewett’s characterisation and the actors’ performances as well as the sets and costuming. However, the reviewer was morally offended that it featured a de facto relationship – in the play, the first Joanna is a de facto wife ('Prize Wining Play at Metropolitan Theatre').

The First Joanna’s five-night stint at Adelaide’s Tivoli Theatre in late 1948 received a mixed review. The theatre reviewer for The Advertiser criticised the first act as 'drawn out' and aspects of the makeup as 'unfortunate', but praised the playwright’s 'bright' storytelling of Joanna’s struggle, the 'capable' acting and the 'outstanding' set design ('The First Joanna at Repertory'). Other productions of The First Joanna were mounted in the late 1940s, including at the Theatre Royal, Hobart and the Rechabite Hall, Sydenham, NSW (AusStage). In 1948, English film actress, Jane Barrett was brought to Australia to play the lead in three ABC radio play productions, including The First Joanna ('Film Actress for A.B.C.'). In approximately 1950, a leading U.K. producer planned to stage the play on London’s West End. Unfortunately, the English actress the producer wanted for the lead role was not available for the desired run dates and the project did not go ahead (Making of Australian Drama 209).

Dorothy Blewett's place in Australia’s theatre history is significant. Not only was the playwright awarded for her creative work, but her stage and radio plays became a moderate critical and commercial success during a period when local playwrights, especially women, were virtually unrepresented on the stage in urban and regional Australia.

Bibliography

AusStage. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 March 2016.

'Family Drama in New Prize Play.' The Sydney Morning Herald 13 Mar. 1948: 9. Trove. Web. 15 March 2016.

'Film Actress For A.B.C.' The Riverina Grazier 23 Jan. 1948: 2. Trove. Web. 15 March 2016.

'Prize Wining Play at Metropolitan Theatre.' Catholic Weekly 25 Mar. 1948: 2. Trove. Web. 15 March 2016.

Rees, Leslie. Hold Fast to Dreams: Fifty Years in Theatre, Radio, Television, and Books. Sydney: Alternative Pub. Co-operative, Ltd, 1982. Print.

Rees, Leslie. The Making of Australian Drama: A Historical and Critical Survey from the 1830's to the 1970's. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1973. Print.

'Stage Play Competition.' The Sydney Morning Herald 11 Dec. 1947: 16. Trove. Web. 15 March 2016.

'The First Joanna at Repertory.' The Advertiser 30 Aug. 1948: 5. Trove. Web. 15 March 2016.

Whaley, George Leo 'Rumpole' McKern : An Accidental Actor. U of NSW P, Sydney, 2009. Print.