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Night Of The Ding-Dong
''Night of the Ding-Dong'' is a 1954 stage play by Ralph Peterson. It was this second play, following ''The Square Ring (play), The Square Ring''. It is a comedy set in Adelaide just after the Crimean War about the locals fearing a Russian invasion. It is based on a real incident. Plot In 19th century Adelaide, after the Crimean War, Colonial Administrator Colonel Beauchamp trains a volunteer defence corps at the weekends, and worries about a Russian invasion. Idealistic schoolteacher Higsen, who is in love with Beauchamp's daughter, is more concerned with free education. Higsen asks Beauchamp to marry the latter's daughter but is turned down because education must give way to defence. When a Russian gunboat is rumoured to be near Adelaide, Beauchamp sets about whipping up the public into a frenzy in order to fund a standing army. Background Peterson said he was told the story about a rumoured Russian invasion by his grandmother when he was a child. He came across the story year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Square Ring (play)
''The Square Ring'' is a 1952 play by Ralph Peterson (writer), Ralph Peterson. Premise The story of several boxers who are fighting on the one night. They include Docker Starkie, a boxer making a comeback. Background Peterson wrote an Australian radio play about boxing, ''Come Out Fighting (radio drama), Come Out Fighting'' which aired in 1950. Peterson moved to London in 1951 and wrote a stage version, ''The Square Ring'', over a three-month period. He sent the play to Anthony Quayle, whom he had met in Sydney when Quayle was touring with the Stratford Players (Quayle had appeared in a radio play written by Peterson about Aboriginal issues, "The Problem of Johnny Flourcake"). Quayle was going to put it on himself but then accepted another theatrical tour of Australia so he passed it to H. M. Tennents, the London theatre agency, who agreed to produce it. After several weeks of rehearsal, the play premiered in Brighton in September 1952 with a mostly male cast but one female, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |