AustLit logo
y separately published work icon The Boys single work   drama   - Two acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1991... 1991 The Boys
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.

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon The Boys Stephen Sewell , ( dir. Rowan Woods ) Surry Hills : Arenafilm , 1998 Z917499 1998 single work film/TV (taught in 1 units)

Inspired in part by Sydney nurse Anita Cobby, who was gang raped, tortured and murdered by five men who kidnapped her as she waited for a bus to take her home late one night, The Boys takes the viewer into the world of a violent and dysfunctional family controlled by the intelligent, malevolent, violent, and manipulative eldest son.

After being released from a twelve-month prison sentence, Brett Sprague returns to his mother's suburban Sydney home and the tension within the family rises almost immediately. His mother tries to keep the peace, only to see her three sons turn on her new boyfriend. The narrative climaxes when after eighteen hours of drinking and fighting, the boys go out and cruise the streets, looking for trouble. It is then that they see a girl waiting for a bus on her own.

[Source: Australian Screen]

Production Details

  • First produced by the Griffin Theatre Company at the Stables Theatre, Sydney, 28 February 1991.


    American premiere produced by Outhouse Theatre at The Kraine Theater, New York City, 9-23 September 2006.


    New production developed by Griffin Theatre Company, Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 6 January - 3 March 2012.

    Director: Sam Strong.

    Assistant Director: Luke Rogers.

    Dramaturg: Tahli Corin.

    Designer: Renée Mulder.

    Composer: Kelly Ryall.

    Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.

    Associate Lighting Designer: Teegan Lee.

    Fight Director: Scott Witt.

    Stage Manager: Edwina Guinness.

    Cast: Johnny Carr, Cheree Cassidy, Jeanette Cronin, Anthony Gee, Josh McConville, Louisa Mignone, and Eryn Jean Norvill.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1991
    • Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 1994 .
      Extent: xxviii, 83p.p.
      Description: illus., ports.(production photos).
      Note/s:
      • Introductory essays by Barrie P. Kemp, a clinical psychologist, Jocelynne A. Scutt, barrister and feminist writer, and the criminologist, Paul Wilson.

      • Includes a select bibliography on criminal violence, rape and the justice system.

      ISBN: 086819381X
      Series: Currency Plays Currency Press (publisher), series - publisher

Works about this Work

Highlights under Spotlights Jason Blake , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 December 2012; (p. 11)
When Luvvies Win Awards Matt Buchanan , Steve Dow , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 September 2012; (p. 22)
New Griffin Boss Wants the World as Her Stage Adam Fulton , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28 August 2012; (p. 8)
Happy to Swap Fear for Fury Elissa Blake , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 6 May 2012; (p. 13)
Griffin Finds Audiences Still Wild About The Boys Wendy Frew , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24 February 2012; (p. 10)
Mirror to Crimes Past Finds Raw Nerve Jason Blake , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 January 2012; (p. 10)

— Review of The Boys Gordon Graham , 1991 single work drama
Living in the Shadow of Brutality John McCallum , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 13 January 2012; (p. 13)

— Review of The Boys Gordon Graham , 1991 single work drama
Untitled Elissa Blake , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 15 January 2012; (p. 16)

— Review of The Boys Gordon Graham , 1991 single work drama
A Valuable Currency Geoffrey Milne , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , December vol. 4 no. 10 1994; (p. 41-42)

— Review of The Boys Gordon Graham , 1991 single work drama ; A Property of the Clan Nick Enright , 1992 single work drama ; Mongrels Nick Enright , 1994 single work drama ; Kafka Dances Timothy Daly , 1994 single work drama biography
Dark Questions Left Unanswered John McCallum , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 4 March 1991; (p. 11)

— Review of The Boys Gordon Graham , 1991 single work drama
'Let's Get Her' : Masculinities and Sexual Violence in Contemporary Australian Drama and Its Film Adaptations Christine Boman , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , no. 76 2003; (p. 127-135, notes 246-247)
Explores the various strategies that playwrights and filmmakers employ to represent masculinities, especially in relation to acts of sexual violence, in a number of texts.
Tough Critic Mad About the Boys Sharon Verghis , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 September 2006; (p. 15)
y separately published work icon Adaptations : A Guide to Adapting Literature to Film Denise Faithfull , Brian Hannant , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2007 Z1361797 2007 single work criticism Adaptations discusses approaches to adaptations of various forms of literature using a range of Australian texts and films as examples.
The Boys Are Back in Town : Griffin Gets a Taste for Classic Hits Clare Morgan , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6 September 2011; (p. 9)
Festival Line-Up Big on Urban Grit Clare Morgan , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 October 2011; (p. 5)
Last amended 11 Dec 2018 11:12:25
X