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529y Summer of the Seventeenth Doll London Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1957 Z522838 1955 single work drama (taught in 56 units)
'The most famous Australian play and one of the best loved, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a tragicomic story of Roo and Barney, two Queensland sugar-cane cutters who go to Melbourne every year during the 'layoff' to live it up with their barmaid girl friends. The title refers to kewpie dolls, tawdry fairground souvenirs, that they brings as gifts and come, in some readings of the play, to represent adolescent dreams in which the characters seem to be permanently trapped. The play tells the story in traditional well-made, realistic form, with effective curtains and an obligatory scene. Its principal appeal – and that of two later plays with which it forms The Doll Trilogy – is the freshness and emotional warmth, even sentimentality, with which it deals with simple virtues of innocence and youthful energy that lie at the heart of the Australian bush legend.
'Ray Lawler’s play confronts that legend with the harsh new reality of modern urban Australia. The 17th year of the canecutters’ arrangement is different. There has been a fight on the canefields and Roo, the tough, heroic, bushman, has arrived with his ego battered and without money. Barney’s girl friend Nancy has left to get married and is replaced by Pearl, who is suspicious of the whole set-up and hopes to trap Barney into marriage. The play charts the inevitable failure of the dream of the layoff, the end of the men’s supremacy as bush heroes and, most poignantly, the betrayal of the idealistic self-sacrifice made by Roo’s girl friend Olive – the most interesting character – to keep the whole thing going. The city emerges victorious, but the emotional tone of the play vindicates the fallen bushman.'
Source: McCallum, John. 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.' Companion to Theatre in Australia. Ed. Philip Parson and Victoria Chance. Sydney: Currency Press , 1997: 564-656.
London : Samuel French , 1957 -
531y While Parents Sleep : A Comedy London : Samuel French , 1932 Z1207408 1932 single work drama humour London : Samuel French , 1932
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636y Quiet Night Sydney : RAAF Educational Services , 1943 Z561856 1941 single work drama
'Setting her action in a large hospital, Miss Blewett has undertaken no simple task in dealing with nursing from both its practical and psychological aspects, complicated in two cases by individual emotional strains. The play covers the hours of one hectic night in the hospital, in which the emotional preoccupations of several of the staff intrude on their professional duties' ('Australian Play' Argus 10 March 1941, 6).
Characters
SISTER MURPHY of the day staff at St. Agnes’
PROBATIONER
SISTER RANKIN (FRANCES)
NURSE RUTH SINCLAIR 3rd Year
NURSE JEAN SPARROW 1st Year
NURSE WILLIAMS 1st Year
NURSE PATSY CURTIN Junior
NURSE SMITH
NURSE ROBERTS
RUSSEL KEANE A Patient
DR. ANGUS MACREADY Resident Doctor at the Hospital
MRS. LEILA CLAYTON A patient
THE MATRON
DR. RICHARD CLAYTON
London : Samuel French , 1953 -
1093y Sketches from 'Nine Sharp' London : Samuel French , 1938 Z1600483 1938 selected work poetry London : Samuel French , 1938
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1298y Won at Last! : An Original Comedy-Drama in Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1869 Z859871 1869 single work drama humour London : Samuel French , 1869
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1457y Obliging a Friend : An Original Farce, in One Act London : Samuel French , 1870-1879 Z1390519 1870-1879 single work drama humour London : Samuel French , 1870-1879
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1478y Caesar's Friend : A Play in Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1933 Z812521 1933 single work drama London : Samuel French , 1933
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1627y Once a Crook : A Play in a Prologue and Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1943 Z815279 1940 single work drama London : Samuel French , 1943
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1767y A Match for a Mother-in-Law : An Original Comedietta London New York (City) : Samuel French , 1880 Z1446565 1859 single work drama London New York (City) : Samuel French , 1880
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1773y George Geith : or, Romance of a City Life : A Drama Founded on Mrs. Riddell's Novel London New York (City) : Samuel French , 1881 Z1446579 1881 single work drama London New York (City) : Samuel French , 1881
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1789y Women Are Like That! : A Comedy in Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1951 Z859959 1951 single work drama humour London : Samuel French , 1951
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1847y Lavender at Dusk : A Play in Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1951 Z859962 1951 single work drama London : Samuel French , 1951
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1852y A Wedding Mourn : A Fantasy in One Act London : Samuel French , 1951 Z859339 1951 single work drama London : Samuel French , 1951
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2139y Chu Chin Chow : A Musical Tale of the East Frederick Norton (composer), London : Keith, Prowse and Co , 1916 Z1318709 1916 single work musical theatre
Musical extravaganza.
Presented in two acts, the story concerns Abu Hasan, an intrepid merchant-pirate who masquerades in various extravagant disguises (including that of a Hebrew Damascene and a Grecian prince), so that he and his forty brigands can plunder and humiliate the wealthy despots of the East, enriching Hasan's already overflowing and legendary cave. For this particular adventure, he becomes the great Chu Chin Chow of China as a means of gaining access to the palace of Kasim Baba. A secondary theme concerns the two lovely slave girls (Zahrat and Marjanah, the latter in love with Nur-Al-Hudra) who are determined to win their freedom. Zahat discovers Abu Hasan's true identity after 'Chu Chin Chow' kills Kasim, while Marjanah stumbles on the secret password for his hideout ('Open sesame'). She is then able to set in motion the opportunity they need. The women counter Chu Chin Chow's cunning with feminine guile and create the opportunity they need by bargaining with the brigand chieftain. Abu Hasan attempts to overcome their plan by attending the wedding of Marjanah and Nur disguised as a wealthy oil merchant, whose forty jars of 'oil' actually hold forty brigands. Zahat discovers both his identity and evil plans, and kills his men by pouring boiling oil over them. She then finishes the job by stabbing Abu Hasan to death.
The Saturday Review wrote of Chu Chin Chow's London closing in 1921:
London : Samuel French , 1931'He came, like another Eastern, King David, to a good old age, full of riches and honour. But none can ever reign in his stead. There is left a gap in the life of London, and indeed of the country, which nothing can adequately fill, for Chu Chin Chow had become in truth part of the national life. Country cousins set out upon the desperate adventure of their first visit to the metropolis with the firm determination to see it come else what may. It had supplanted in their hearts the place usually reserved for the Abbey or the Tower. It had become a tradition which nothing can adequately fill' (qtd in Brisbane Courier 24 September 1921, p.13).
- y Heroes Don't Care : A Comedy in Three Acts London : Samuel French , 1936 Z859573 1936 single work drama London : Samuel French , 1936
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y
Lady in Danger
New York (City)
:
Samuel French
,
1946
8045462
1945
single work
drama
humour
thriller
A radically altered version of Max Afford's play, designed for American audiences. In this version, 'A Japanese-born mystery novelist is suspected of the murder of a Japanese sympathizer and his chauffeur in Australia during World War II' (Playbill Vault).
According to contemporary newspapers:
Instead of the villain of the piece being a Nazi (as those who saw the play at the Independent will remember him) he is to be a Japanese spy operating in Australia, and the final rescue of the heroine in the New York version is to be carried out by American marines. Mention of General Macarthur is made in the script.
In cables to Mr. Afford, Mr. Kirkland explained that the changes were desirable because in America it is believed that the Nazis would soon be out of the war, and that, in any case, there was a great American interest in Australia and a play about this country would be a novelty in the United States.
Source:
'Australian Play for New York', Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 1943, p.4.
New York (City) : Samuel French , 1946 - y The Amorous Prawn : A Comedy London : Samuel French , 1960 Z1207394 1960 single work drama humour London : Samuel French , 1960
- y Emerald City 1986 Z1507280 1986 single work drama New York (City) : Samuel French , 1987