Monica Maughan
Monica Cresswell Maughan (née Wood, 15 September 1933 – 8 January 2010) was an Australian actor with roles in theatre, radio, television, film and ballet over a career spanning 52 years. Early life and education She was born Monica Cresswell Wood in Tonga to Australian missionaries Rev. Dr A. Harold Wood and medical doctor Olive Wood (née O'Reilly). She had 5 brothers and sisters, including Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem and Rev. Dr H. D'Arcy Wood. The family moved to Sydney, Australia, in 1937 – Monica was three-and-a-half and spoke no English – and shortly afterwards to Melbourne, where her father became principal of Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) and her mother his unofficial deputy. Monica attended MLC, where she received her only formal drama training with speech teacher Dorothy Dwyer, and went on to study French at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1959 with a BA. Monica was a member of the Melbourne University Dramatic Club, where she adopted the stag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by ''Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via Adolf Marks, A.F. Marks Publishers.Commentaries to Вишневый сад The Complete Chekhov in 30 Volumes. Vol. 13. // Чехов А. П. Вишневый сад: Комедия в 4-х действиях // Чехов А. П. Полное собрание сочинений и писем: В 30 т. Сочинения: В 18 т. / АН СССР. Ин-т мировой лит. им. А. М. Горького. — М.: Наука, 1974—1982. Т. 13. Пьесы. 1895—1904. — М.: Наука, 1978. — С. 195—254. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hannie Rayson
Hannie Rayson (born 1957) is an Australian playwright and newspaper columnist. She is recognised as one of Australia's most significant playwrights. Biography Rayson was born in Melbourne, Victoria and graduated from the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of Arts. She has worked as a freelance journalist and editor in addition to her primary career as playwright and screenwriter. Rayson was the co-founder of the community theatre group, Theatreworks in Melbourne's inner eastern suburb of St Kilda, working there for four years while writing. Rayson has been writer-in-residence at Geelong's Mill Theatre, Playbox Theatre, La Trobe University (which has awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Letters), and Monash University. Rayson's first major success was ''Hotel Sorrento'', which won several prizes including an AWGIE Award. The play has become an Australian classic, regularly performed by regional theatre groups, and appearing in university courses and on the hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Justin Fleming (author)
Justin Fleming (born 3 January 1953) is an Australian playwright, librettist and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, opera, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France. Fleming has been a barrister and vice president of the Australian Writers' Guild and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre. He is a member of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin. Early life, education and career Born in Sydney in 1953, Fleming is one of the six children of Drs Justin Fleming and Gwen Fleming of Sydney, Australia. His father Justin Fleming Snr, was a pioneer vascular surgeon who served with the RAAF during World War Two. Mother Gwen Fleming (née Lusby), also a doctor, had served as one of the first women majors in the Australian Army Medical Corps during the War. The couple met while serving at Concord Military Hospital, and married soon after the war, goin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned body that is politically independent and fully accountable, with its charter enshrined in legislation, the ''Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983''. ABC Commercial, a profit-making division of the corporation, also helps to generate funding for content provision. The ABC was established as the Australian Broadcasting Commission on 1 July 1932 by an act of federal parliament. It effectively replaced the Australian Broadcasting Company, a private company established in 1924 to provide programming for A-class radio stations. The ABC was given statutory powers that reinforced its independence from the government and enhanced its news-gathering role. Modelled after the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC), which is funded by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award. He first gained prominence for his film role in ''Shine'' (1996) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1998 he received acclaim for his performances as Sir Francis Walsingham in the period drama '' Elizabeth'' (1998), Inspector Javert in epic '' Les Misérables'', and Philip Henslowe in romantic comedy '' Shakespeare in Love'', the latter of which received him another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor. He then portrayed the supervillain Casanova Frankenstein in the superhero comedy film '' Mystery Men'' (1999), as well as the Marquis de Sade in the period drama '' Quills'' (2000), and Leon Trotsky in '' Frida'' (2001) while gaining mainstream popularity for his r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ruth Cracknell
Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as well as comedy roles throughout a career spanning some 56 years. In theatre she was well known for her Shakespeare roles. Early life Cracknell was born in 1925 in Maitland, New South Wales to Charles and Winifred Cracknell. When she was four years old, the family moved to Sydney. She was educated at North Sydney Girls High School and, after graduating, worked at the Ku-ring-gai Council as a clerk. At 17 she was taken to the theatre by a friend. She immediately wanted to become an actress and joined the Modern Theatre Players drama school. Career Radio and theatre Cracknell's first acting jobs were in radio. By 1946, she was performing five episodes of radio plays a week. She also performed on stage with the Sydney-based companies the Ind ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Thring
Francis William Thring (11 May 1926 – 29 December 1994) was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred in Hollywood film, where he became best known for roles in ''Ben-Hur'' in 1959 and ''King of Kings'' in 1961. He was known for always wearing black and styling his home in black decor. Early life Thring was born in Melbourne. Although sometimes referred to as Frank Thring Jr., he was actually Francis William Thring (or William Francis Thring) IV. His forbears were Francis William Thring (1812–1887), Francis William Thring (known as William Thring) (1858–1920); William Frank Thring, known as Francis William Thring or F. W. Thring, (1882–1936). Thring was the son of F. W. Thring and Olive (née Kreitmeyer), and was educated at the Melbourne Grammar School. His father was the head of the theatrical firm J. C. Williamson's in the 1920s, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Importance Of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian morality, Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humour and the culmination of Wilde's artistic career, while others were cautious about its lack of social messages. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' Wilde's most enduringly popular play. The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre) and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre. History Sydney Theatre Company was formed in December 1978, following the closure of The Old Tote Theatre Company the month before. The then Premier, Neville Wran, approached Elizabeth Butcher, who had been seconded from the National Institute of Dramatic Art to administer the Old Tote, and asked her to set up a new state theatre company, to perform in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Butcher established its legal identity and managerial structure, and proposed the name, Sydney Theatre Company. With John Clark (Director of NIDA) as the Artistic Adviser of the first season, five theatre companies were invited to produce six plays to be presented by STC as the 1979 Interim Season ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in the "plantation home in the Mississippi Delta" of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships among members of Big Daddy's family, primarily between his son Brick and Maggie the "Cat", Brick's wife. ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' features motifs such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, sexual desire, repression and death. Dialogue throughout is often written using nonstandard spelling intended to represent accents of the Southern United States. The original production starred Barbara Bel Geddes, Burl Ives and Ben Gazzara. The play was adapted as a motion picture of the same name in 1958, starring Elizabeth T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama. At age 33, after years of obscurity, Williams suddenly became famous with the success of '' The Glass Menagerie'' (1944) in New York City. He introduced "plastic theatre" in this play and it closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including '' A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1947), '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1955), '' Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1959), and '' The Night of the Iguana'' (1961). With his later work, Williams attempted a new style that did not appeal as widely to audiences. His drama ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century alongside Eugene O'Neill's '' Lon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |