AustLit logo
National Interest single work   drama  
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 National Interest
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Aidan Fennessy, a member of MTC's Season 2012 Programming Team and an MTC Associate Director since 2008, charts the story of his extended family, the Stewarts, whose twenty-one-year-old son Tony Stewart was one of the Balibo Five. This is one of Australia's most controversial issues, and Fennessy explores it through the eyes of those to whom justice matters the most. Julia Blake stars as Tony Stewart's mother.

On 16 October 1975, five Australian-based journalists, Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters, were murdered on assignment in the town of Balibo, East Timor, at the hands of the Indonesian military. The journalists had been sent by their networks to investigate decolonisation in East Timor and the threat of invasion by neighbouring Indonesia.

It took one month for the parents of the journalists to learn that their children were missing and another month to confirm that they were killed. After two official inquiries (1999 and 2007), those responsible for the murder of the Balibo Five have still not been prosecuted.' (Source : http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/events /1797/national-interest )

Production Details

  • First performed at the Heath Ledger Theatre, Northbridge (Western Australia), between 5 May and 20 May 2012.

    Director: Aidan Fennessy.

    Cast including James Bell, Julia Blake, Grant Cartwright, Michelle Fornasier, Stuart Halusz, and Polly Low.

    Later performed at The Arts Centre Fairfax Studio, Melbourne, between 6 Jun and 21 July 2012.

    Director: Aidan Fennessy.

    Cast: Julia Blake and Stuart Halusz.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Theatre Viewed Jennifer Bryce , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: SF Commentary : The Independent Magazine About Science Fiction , October no. 85 2013; (p. 32-33)

— Review of The Seed Kate Mulvany , 2007 single work drama ; The Girls in Grey Carolyn Bock , Helen Hopkins , 2010 single work drama ; National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
Skilful Melding of Balibo Fact and Fiction Elly Varrenti , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 13 June 2012; (p. 17)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
One Family's Battle with Picking at the Scars Raymond Gill , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 6 June 2012; (p. 19)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
Home, Where the Pain Persists Victoria Laurie , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 11 May 2012; (p. 16)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
National Interest, Personal Cost Victoria Laurie , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 21-22 April 2012; (p. 5-6)
Home, Where the Pain Persists Victoria Laurie , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 11 May 2012; (p. 16)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
One Family's Battle with Picking at the Scars Raymond Gill , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 6 June 2012; (p. 19)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
Skilful Melding of Balibo Fact and Fiction Elly Varrenti , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 13 June 2012; (p. 17)

— Review of National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
Theatre Viewed Jennifer Bryce , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: SF Commentary : The Independent Magazine About Science Fiction , October no. 85 2013; (p. 32-33)

— Review of The Seed Kate Mulvany , 2007 single work drama ; The Girls in Grey Carolyn Bock , Helen Hopkins , 2010 single work drama ; National Interest Aidan Fennessy , 2012 single work drama
MTC Rolls out Big Guns for Season Robin Usher , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 28 September 2011; (p. 19)
National Interest, Personal Cost Victoria Laurie , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 21-22 April 2012; (p. 5-6)
Last amended 2 Jun 2014 15:25:05
Subjects:
  • Balibo,
    c
    Timor-Leste,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • 1975
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X