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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Set in the interior of a hut in the Gippsland forest, in the 1850s, the play has six characters. Donald Cameron, an honest dour Scot, and Mary, his wife, whom he picked off the boat at the wharf, are pioneers sharing a strange, strong love. Thad McNab, the double-crossing shanty keeper, and McLaughlin, a trooper, pursue two escaped convicts, Dan and Steve. Mary befriends them during Donald's absence. Donald, McNab and McLaughlin return. Mary successfully conceals the fact that the convicts have been at the hut from all but Donald. He cannot understand her charity and humanity, but admires her strength of character. (Abstract adapted from The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955)
Characters
The Pioneers:
DONALD CAMERON
MARY CAMERON his wife
Escaped Convicts:
DAN FARRELL
STEVE
Shanty keeper:
THAD M'NAB
The trooper:
M'LAUGHLIN
Notes
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An adaptation by Prichard of her 1915 novel The Pioneers.
Production Details
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First produced by the Pioneer Players at the Playhouse, Melbourne, 3 December 1923. Produced alongside three other plays. The Drovers : A Play in One Act (Louis Esson), Travellers (Vance Palmer), and A Disturber of Pools (Furnley Maurice--not Australian)
CAST
MARY: Hilda Bull.
Later produced by the New Theatre at the Mechanics Hall, Frankston, 31 October 1955.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
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y
The Pioneers
London
:
Hodder and Stoughton
,
1915
Z547525
1915
single work
novel
historical fiction
'This endearing 19th-century family saga follows the lives, loves and losses of one pioneering family and two escaped convicts as they open up the land in Victoria, Australia. This classic Australian story, which won the Hodder & Stoughton All Empire Literature Prize for Australasia, commands an important place in the canon of Australian literature' (Monsoon Books edition).
Works about this Work
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Framing the Landscape: Prichard's "Pioneers" and Esson's "The Drovers"
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 23 1993; (p. 121-134) Makeham compares the way in which landscape is invoked in both plays: the room of Pioneers; and the outdoors of The Drovers. The former invokes landscape as a presence separate from the domestic centre of Prichard's play. The latter locates its action wholly in an outdoor setting. But, despite the different ways of framing the landscape, both plays celebrate the resilience and propriety of the human activity situated within it. -
Another Planet : Landscape as Metaphor in Western Australian Theatre
1985
single work
criticism
— Appears in: European Relations : Essays for Helen Watson-Williams 1985; (p. 67-79)
-
Another Planet : Landscape as Metaphor in Western Australian Theatre
1985
single work
criticism
— Appears in: European Relations : Essays for Helen Watson-Williams 1985; (p. 67-79) -
Framing the Landscape: Prichard's "Pioneers" and Esson's "The Drovers"
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 23 1993; (p. 121-134) Makeham compares the way in which landscape is invoked in both plays: the room of Pioneers; and the outdoors of The Drovers. The former invokes landscape as a presence separate from the domestic centre of Prichard's play. The latter locates its action wholly in an outdoor setting. But, despite the different ways of framing the landscape, both plays celebrate the resilience and propriety of the human activity situated within it.
Awards
- Bush,
- Gippsland, Victoria,
- Bush,
- 1850s
