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'In his first play, the award-winning David Malouf peoples his stage with characters whose inner selves are as immediate as their environment. A family group gathers at Christmas about the dynamic and manipulative patriach, Willy - a man of many pasts. They are joined by two inquisitive characters bent on uncovering his secret. The relevation uncovers a further mystery of guilt and reconciliation.'
Source: Currency Plays back-cover blurb.
Production Details
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First co-presented by the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia at the Sydney Opera House, 24 June 1987.
Cast included Laurence Clifford (as Dinny), Paul Goddard (as Kit), Deborah Kennedy (as McClucky), John Wood (as Willy), and Maggie Kirkpatrick (as Hilda), with Heather Mitchell, Geoff Morrell, and David Pledger.
Musicians included Ian Bloxsom, Graeme Leak, Sally Schinckel, and Adrian Wallis.
Director: Jim Sharman with assistant director Katerina Ivak.
Performance repeated with the same cast and crew in Adelaide (The Playhouse) in August 1987.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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“A Sort of Buzzing” : Queer Sound in David Malouf’s Blood Relations
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique , December no. 28 2014; 'David Malouf’s only stage play, Blood Relations, is an Australian re-telling of Shakespeare’s comedy, The Tempest. Following its premiere at the Sydney Theatre Company in 1987, the play received a mixed critical reception and has generated relatively little scholarly interest since. While much of the critical discourse concerned with Malouf’s work centres on his novels and poetry, Blood Relations is important for providing a dramatic lens on issues that are recognisable in much of his work, such as his exploration of postcolonial Australia. In fact, Blood Relations operates as a postcolonial palimpsest that problematises the relationship between the European settlers (represented through the Greek-born character Willy) and Australia’s Indigenous population (represented through the Aboriginal character Kit).' (Author's introduction) -
Aboriginal Theatre
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Belonging : Australian Playwriting in the 20th Century 2009; (p. 301-325) Kevin Gilbert's The Cherry Pickers, written in 1968, before the ocker New Wave started, anticipated many of the issues that were to be raised in the debates over identity poitics in the 1980s. Originally workshopped at the Mews Theatre, Sydney, in 1971, with an all Aboriginal cast as Gilbert insisted, the play was the forerunner of a great body of work by Indigenous playwrights. -
'Speakest thou English?' : Shakespeare and Contemporary Australian Theatre
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Shakespeare's Legacy : The Appropriation of the Plays in Post-Colonial Drama 2005; (p. 53-68) -
Edges of the Self : Topographies of the Body in the Writing of David Malouf
Leigh Dale
,
Helen Gilbert
,
1994
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Provisional Maps : Critical Essays on David Malouf 1994; (p. 85-100) - y David Malouf South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1993 Z165274 1993 single work criticism
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A Drama Roundup...
1988
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Winter vol. 2 no. 2 1988; (p. 126)
— Review of Jack Hibberd 1988 selected work criticism biography interview ; Blood Relations 1988 single work drama -
David Malouf Discovers the Power of the Play
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 August 1987; (p. 5)
— Review of Blood Relations 1988 single work drama -
Malouf Takes to the Stage with Blood and Symbols
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 7 July vol. 109 no. 5577 1987; (p. 73)
— Review of Blood Relations 1988 single work drama -
[Review] Blood Relations
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 19 1991; (p. 124-128)
— Review of Blood Relations 1988 single work drama -
'Speakest thou English?' : Shakespeare and Contemporary Australian Theatre
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Shakespeare's Legacy : The Appropriation of the Plays in Post-Colonial Drama 2005; (p. 53-68) -
Aboriginal Theatre
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Belonging : Australian Playwriting in the 20th Century 2009; (p. 301-325) Kevin Gilbert's The Cherry Pickers, written in 1968, before the ocker New Wave started, anticipated many of the issues that were to be raised in the debates over identity poitics in the 1980s. Originally workshopped at the Mews Theatre, Sydney, in 1971, with an all Aboriginal cast as Gilbert insisted, the play was the forerunner of a great body of work by Indigenous playwrights. - y Sheer Edge : Aspects of Identity in David Malouf's Writing Lund : Lund University Press , 1991 Z55263 1991 single work criticism biography
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The Boomerang Effect : Canonical Counter-Discourse and David Malouf's 'Blood Relations' as an Oppositional Reworking of 'The Tempest'
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: World Literature Written in English , Autumn vol. 31 no. 2 1991; (p. 50-64) - y David Malouf South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1993 Z165274 1993 single work criticism