AustLit

Film or television script: incomplete.

Chamber musical in 3 acts.

Set in the 'roaring 20s', partly in a fictional Sydney variety theatre, this production was described by Romola Costantino as 'part musical, part revue, part clever and affectionate parody, [and] sometimes part vaudeville sketch" (2 February 1963, p.8). Although the third act was criticised for being banal and some of the dialogue described as lame, the review overall was generous. 'Orr's Phillip Theatre', writes Costantino, 'has produced a musical evening that shows several signs of becoming one of the most companionable entertainments it has devised for a long time' (Sydney Morning Herald 2 February 1963, p.8).

The characters included an eloquent dumb blonde and gold digger (Robina Beard), a 'duchess without muchess' who has come to Australia in search of a wealthy grazier (Diana Perryman), a matter-of-fact English peer (George Foster), and a Valentino-like hero (Alton Harvey).

Contemporary newspapers say that 'The half-hour play is set in a boarding house and has a "boy meets girl" theme.'

Source:

'Brisbane's First TV Play', Canberra Times, 31 July 1963, p.

'Carrie lives alone on her impoverished river-flats farm. Isolated and forgotten by the world, she relies on the company of the birds and trees. With her parents long gone, and her neighbour's constant excuses not to visit her, she ekes out an existence from her old orange grove tree.

'But her solitude is shattered when David, a dark, handsome stranger appears, resembling her past lover. While David draws up his proposal for the development of a new road and bridge, Carrie's grip on reality begins to slide as she mixes recollection of a past betrayal with David's new one – the possible resumption of her land.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Playlab).

A musical version of George Landen Dann's play of the same name, with the score written by Sydney-based composer Gerry Cole. Set in the Australian outback the narrative concerns Aboriginal rights and ideals, particularly with regard to the production of a corroboree. Matters such as assimilation, politics and ideology and race relations are questioned. Although the work was broadcast on radio there is no record of it ever having been produced on the stage. Theatre historian and friend of Dann, Leslie Rees, wrote in 1958 that he often thought about 'having a go at this musical but it would be hard to make any players other than true aborigines [sic] seem convincing' (qtd Queensland Theatre Company programme, 2000, p9). An unpublished manuscript is held in the Eunice Hanger Collection of the Fryer Library (The University of Queensland).