Believed to be a spoof on either or both the Steele Rudd stories about Dad Rudd and his family's life on a small rural selection (property) or the stage version (On Our Selection) which was first staged by Bert Bailey and Albert Edmunds in 1912. They went on to revive the play numerous times over the forthcoming years. Given that Redgrave was closely associated with both men for some period after returning to Australian in 1909 (when he joined William Anderson's Famous Dramatic Company), it would not unreasonable to suspect that he decided to have a little fun at their expense.

Adapted from or inspired by Bruce Bairnsfather's character 'Old Bill,' from the enormously popular cartoon (Old Bill) and later West End musical (The Better Ole, 1917), this comedy/dramatic sketch is believed to have been first staged at Fullers' Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, in June 1919.

In its review of the premiere performance the Adelaide Register records: 'Mr Roy Redgrave and Miss Marie d'Alton [sic] were responsible for aching ribs among the audience. Mr Redgrave was "ole Bill" back from the war, and the way in which he explained that he killed so many of the enemy that there was nothing to go with was screamingly absurd. "Mrs Bill," added to the humour by her ardent belief in "Ole Bill's" good faith' (23 June 1919, 3).

A two-hander comedy drama set in the slums of New York, "The Rat in the Corner" was both written and performed by Roy Redgrave (as the character Jack the Rat). The second character in the sketch, Jack's girlfriend Liz is known to have been played by vaudeville artist Ruby Esdaile in 1916 and by Marie D'Alton in 1919.

In its review of the sketch in 1919 the Adelaide Register records: 'The little piece offered opportunities for the display of both humour and pathos, the former quality predominating, and the clever couple were not slow to take advantage of them. The curtain eventually descended on a most unexpected and amusing development' (16 June 1919, p6).

Adapted by Roy Redgrave from Marie Corelli's famous Faustian novel of the same name, the plot follows the story of a penniless, starving author called Geoffrey Tempest who receives three letters. The first is from a friend in Australia who has made his fortune and offers to introduce him to a good friend who might be able to lift him from poverty. The second is a note from a solicitor detailing that he has inherited a fortune from a deceased relative, the third is a letter of introduction from a foreign aristocrat called Lucio, who befriends him and proceeds to be his guide in how to best use his new found wealth. Unaware that Lucio is the earthly incarnation of the Devil, despite warnings from a number of people, and that he is being tricked, Temple gains the wealth he desires but sees his life slide into misery. Eventually, when confronted with the true nature of his companion, he renounces evil and returns to society penniless but content with the chance to purify his soul.

As with Corelli's novel, this dramatisation focuses more on Lucio than on Tempest's fall from grace and redemption, thereby following the theme in which Satan yearns to achieve salvation - hence the 'man of sorrows.' According to the Argus' theatre critic, Redgrave's task in adapting the novel had been made difficult due to the "ugly, and often vulgar, realism of the authoress, which had it not been dealt with judiciously, would have become even more so in the concentrated glare of the stage." The critic went on to note that Redgrave had largely avoided these issues except for the last act, which sees the heroine, Lady Clare, "transgress all rules of artistic treatment in a way that makes one shudder at its naked grossness." Of the playwright's performance in the play the critic records:

Mr Redgrave, of course, plays Lucifer, and presents him in such a manner that he might easily pass for a gay, debonair man of the world, were it not for the concert of atmospheric disturbances and mocking laughs that follow him about... Mr Redgrave realised the part with remarkable discernment, emphasising always the human side of the character. Its drawback was the want of a satanic facet, yielding some glimpse now and then of the supernatural other than the jarring elements and discordant cries. There was not the suggestion of a limp about him; he even lit his cigar in the usual humdrum manner, and his sentiments would have done credit to any nonconformist. As a graceful piece of acting, Mr Redgrave was quite successful, but it was a long way from suggesting the devil and all his works. Maybe the adapter unconsciously wrote under the influence of the time, and has thereby brought our old friend more into harmony with the world and the flesh (9 October 1911, p15).

'The film begins with the meeting of "Glory" with 'Lord Robert Ure"' and the "Hon. Francis Drake." Both men fall violently in love with her, and the former induces her to follow the stage as a profession. In the mean-time, "John Storm" has become a clergyman, and decides to devote himself to mission work in the slums of London. He entreats "Glory" to give up the idea of the stage, and go with him, but this she refuses to do. She goes to London and secures an appointment as a nurse, but after a time she resigns out of sympathy with another girl, who has been dismissed, through the influence of "Lord Robert Ure." Eventually she secures an appointment on the stage, and is present at a dinner party given in her honour by "Lord Robert." "John Storm" makes another endeavour to convince her to give up the stage, but this she again refuses to do. High words are exchanged between "Storm" and "Ure," and the deadly hatred of the latter crystailises into an attempt to get rid of "Storm." He pays an unscrupulous scoundrel to fire the mission hall, leaving "Storm" unconscious in the burning building, from which he is rescued in the nick of time. He goes to "Glory's" flat with the intention of killing her, his objective being the saving of her soul, but her passionate pleading awakens into fresh life the love that he has always had for her, and the film closes with both kneeling before a shrine and giving their lives to each other.'

Source:

'West's Pictures', Queensland Times, 6 December 1911, p.4.

A dramatic recreation of the events surrounding the infamous murderer Dr Hawley Crippen, including his attempt to flee from England to America by ship, his capture by a Scotland Yard detective in a Canadian port and his eventual trial and execution in London.

Although attributed to 'Anson Grave' the authorship was in fact a play the names Anderson (Anson) and Redgrave (Grave). This is supported by a brief note in the Adelaide Advertiser which reads: 'The new drama founded on the Crippen case (to be staged at the King's Theatre, Melbourne) is written by Messrs. William Anderson and Roy Redgrave' (1 October 1910, p9).

The two biggest scenes, according to the Advertiser were set in London's Royal Music Hall and aboard the R.M.S. "Richmond" at sea (22 October 1910, p20). Chief among the "thrills" and incidents played out in the drama, too, was "an ocean fight for the possession of a wireless apparatus" (Queenslander 29 October 1910, p3). Redgrave naturally played Crippen, with George Cross as Inspector Walter Dew (Scotland Yard), and Max Clifton as the ship's captain. Other principal parts were taken by Bert Bailey, Edmund Duggan, Fred Kehoe and Olive Wilton. The music hall scene is believed to have incorporated vaudeville performances from several artists including Ida Gresham.

The advertised scenes are:

• Scene 1. Interior of the Royal Music-hall, London. The Message from Mid-Channel.
• Scene 2. Outside 105 Camberwell Road.
• Scene 3. Interior of 105 Camberwell Road. The Wireless in the Cellar - The Discovery. The Murder.
• Scene 4. Room in Dr Crippen's house.
• Scene 5. Outside Charing Cross Station.
• Scene 6. Entrance Hall of the Hotel des Frides. Bloodhounds on the trail.
• Scene 7. The R.M.S. Richmond at the Quay.
• Scene 8. The Richmond in Mid-ocean. The Struggle at the Masthead for the Mastery of the Wireless. One of the Most Thrilling Sensations Ever Presented.
• Scene 9. Crippen's Cell in the Old Bailey.
• Scene 10. Corridor in the Old Bailey.
• Scene 11. Court-room in the Old Bailey. The Trial - Ethel speaks in her own defence - Dr Crippen's big move - The Verdict.