AustLit logo
Ab-Intra Studio Theatre Ab-Intra Studio Theatre i(A65168 works by) (Organisation) assertion (a.k.a. Ab-Intra Players)
Born: Established: 1931 Adelaide, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: 1935 Adelaide, South Australia,
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 4 y separately published work icon Archway Motif Kester Baruch , Ab-Intra Studio Theatre , 1935 (Manuscript version)9153709 9153703 1935 single work drama

The final play to be staged by Adelaide experimental theatre company Ab-Intra, Archway Motif was inspired by the the white ballroom at St Corantyn, where the work was eventually produced. In Dreamers and Visionaries Thelma Afford recalls:

[Baruch] perceived that the arch had two opposing sides in conflict - 'good and evil, wisdom and folly, etc'. Yet he saw further that 'an Archway is something more than two sides in opposition. It is something of still splendour and poised majesty.' It was with the fuller application of this theme that the play mainly deals. Even in this last production, Baruch made no concession to his audience: 'Half the audience was frankly puzzled as to the meaning of it all, and the other half looked desperately anxious to appear au fait with something they couldn't grasp' (p.71).

The characters included the Old Player (representing the Wisdom of the Ages), Kay (the youthful president of any student movement), Gerda (representing everybody's lost love), The Girl (who 'blazened across each man's path, once like a blazing star'), the Old Gentleman (puzzled and irritated by the youth of the day), and an [unnamed] leader of a conspiracy.


Characters

GERDA

THE OLD PLAYER

KAY

THE OLD GENTLEMAN WITH GOLD-RIMMED GLASSES

THE GIRL

THE PAST-PRESIDENT

THE LAD WITH THE LUTE

THE LEADER OF THE CONSPIRACY

THE CONSPIRACY

THE ARCHWAY VOICES

1 Sandalwood Tree Kester Baruch , Ab-Intra Studio Theatre , 1932 single work drama

A dramatically-staged poem, 'Sandalwood Tree' was first produced by Ab-Intra Studio Theatre in July 1932 along with two other poems by Kester Baruch ('Iris' and 'The Tragedy of Kay') and a one-act play, The Sister, by English dramatist Gordon Bottomley.

1 Iris Kester Baruch , Ab-Intra Studio Theatre , 1932 single work drama

A dramatically-staged poem, 'Iris' was first produced by Ab-Intra Studio Theatre in July 1932 along with two other poems by Kester Baruch ('The Tragedy of Kay' and 'Sandalwood Tree') and a one-act play, The Sister, by English dramatist Gordon Bottomley.

1 The Tragedy of Kay Kester Baruch , Ab-Intra Studio Theatre , 1932 single work drama

A dramatically-staged poem, 'The Tragedy of Kay' was first produced by Ab-Intra Studio Theatre in July 1932 along with two other poems by Kester Baruch ('Iris' and 'Sandalwood Tree') and a one-act play, The Sister, by English dramatist Gordon Bottomley.

X