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A West End Celebrity Proselytises the Bonds of Empire : Seymour Hicks and Bruce Bairnsfather's 'Old Bill' in 1920s Australia single work   criticism  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 A West End Celebrity Proselytises the Bonds of Empire : Seymour Hicks and Bruce Bairnsfather's 'Old Bill' in 1920s Australia
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'In 1924 the prominent and influential British West End actor-writer-producer Seymour Hicks and his wife Ellaline Terriss toured in Australia in their hits The Man in Dress Clothes and Broadway Jones. More significantly, Hicks undertook the dual roles of actor and imperial advocate for class reconciliation in the context of Australia's post-war industrial unrest. As such, he is neither the first nor last British actor to combine theatrical popularity with cultural diplomacy. His most significant Australian production is the comedy-drama 'Old Bill, MP' (premiered London 1922), based on the graphic artist Bruce Bairnsfather's popular wartime figure of the stoic infantry-man. I compare 'Old Bill, MP' with the stage and screen hits featuring similar Australian military figures of working-class resilience and leadership: C.J. Dennis's Ginger Mick and Ken Hall's 1940 film of Steele Rudd's Dad Rudd, MP.'

 (Publication abstract)

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    y separately published work icon Australasian Drama Studies no. 74 May 2019 16837602 2019 periodical issue 'It may be a form of dramaturgical or scholarly magical thinking that leads me to seek patterns and connecting threads in ten articles published in a general issue of an academic journal. For there need be none. A general issue demands a different curatorial approach to that of a special issue with a focus on a particular theme, subject or question. The editor calls for submissions, evaluates those submissions primarily according to one’s judgement of that nebulous and contested criteria of ‘quality’. They send drafts to peer reviewers, and make final decisions based (again) on the ‘quality’ of re-drafts, and on available space.' (Yoni Prior : Editorial introduction) 2019 pg. 64-97
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Last amended 17 Jun 2020 12:37:48
64-97 A West End Celebrity Proselytises the Bonds of Empire : Seymour Hicks and Bruce Bairnsfather's 'Old Bill' in 1920s Australiasmall AustLit logo Australasian Drama Studies
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