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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Enrique 'Topo' Rodriguez played Rugby Union for Australia in the 1984 Grand Slam tour of the United Kingdom. He retired from playing rugby in 1987 and became extremely ill with depressive episodes lasting continuously for eight years before he was diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder.
'The play describes theatrically the 1984 tour, his coach Alan Jones and Mark Ella, an Aboriginal player who was happy to retire early at the end of the tour. On the other hand, Topo continued on with his career for several years. While he was playing rugby depression was dormant, and then it surfaces immediately after he stopped playing leading to extreme unhappiness.
'The play traces the triumph, and tribulations, of the coach, the two players, contrasting the differences in each others lives. The play is a keen insight into the effects of melancholia and depression on an otherwise high achieving and healthy person's life.'
Source: Seymour Centre website, http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/
Sighted: 28 May 2007.
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia:
Type of disability Bipolar disorder. Type of character Primary. Point of view Third person (drama).
Production Details
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Produced by the Brain and Mind Institute at the Seymour Centre, Sydney, 17 May to 9 June 2007.
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The play features Peter Hosking as Topo Rodriguez, Isaak Drandich as Mark Ella, Shane McNamara as Alan Jones and Billy McPherson in several roles.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Prop's Pain
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 27 May 2007; (p. 21)
— Review of Topo 2007 single work drama
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Prop's Pain
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 27 May 2007; (p. 21)
— Review of Topo 2007 single work drama
- 1980s
- 1990s
