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The Bastard Country
''The Bastard Country'' is a 1959 Australian play by Anthony Coburn. It was also known as ''Fire on the Wind''. The play was a finalist in the 1957 London ''Observer'' playwriting competition. Anthony Coburn, an Australian who lived in London since 1950, says he deliberately picked the title because "I wanted something to catch the judges' attention." It was performed by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1959. It was the third play of the season that year. Director Robin Lovejoy called it "probably the most violent play in plot and language that has been seen in Sydney for many years. Many people think it an unreal picture of Australian life. But all the violence grows inevitably out of the characters as people, not because they are specifically Australian." Grant Taylor played the key role. The play was toured around the country along with two other Trust productions ''Man and Superman'' and ''Long Day's Journey into Night''. For this run it was retitled ''Fire on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Coburn
James Anthony Coburn (10 December 1927 – 28 April 1977) was an Australian television writer and producer, who spent much of his professional career living and working in the United Kingdom. He is best remembered for writing the first ''Doctor Who'' story, ''An Unearthly Child''. ''Doctor Who'' He moved to the UK around 1950, where he joined the staff of BBC Television. While working as a staff writer for the BBC in 1963 and living in Herne Bay, Kent, he became involved in the early development of the science-fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He liaised closely with the series' first story editor, David Whitaker, on establishing the format and characters of the show, which had been initiated by various BBC drama executives before being handed on to the new production team. It is believed to have been Coburn's idea for the Doctor's travelling companion, Susan, to be his granddaughter, as he was disturbed by the possible sexual connotations of an old man travelling with an unrela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Lovejoy
Robin Casper Lovejoy, OBE (17 December 1924 – 14 December 1985) was an Australian director, actor, and designer best known for his work on television and in theatre. He was one of Australia's leading theatre directors of the 1960s and 1970s and significantly influenced the Australian drama and theatre stage. Early life Lovejoy was born on 17 December 1924 in Labasa, Fiji. His father, Casper Ebenezer Lovejoy (1886–1971) had English and Irish ancestry, and his mother Viti Clarke (1887–1951) had predominantly Scottish ancestry. During his younger years, he spent time at Suva Boys Grammar School, until his whole family moved from Fiji to Sydney, Australia in 1939. Shortly after, he began to work as an accountant. In 1942, he volunteered for the Australian Imperial Army and was stationed in the Torres Strait. It was at this time as a soldier that Lovejoy began to play readings of stories and plays to entertain his fellow troops. He was discharged from the army in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Observer Plays
''The ''Observer'' Plays'' is a 1958 collection of seven plays edited by Kenneth Tynan. The plays were commended in the famous 1957 playwriting competition organised by Tynan when at the ''Observer'' newspaper. The plays were: *''Moon on a Rainbow Shawl'' by Errol John *''Sit on the Earth'' by Gurney Campbell and Daphne Athas *''The Sport of My Mad Mother'' by Ann Jellicoe *''A Resounding Tinkle'' by N.F. Simpson *''The Shifting Heart'' by Richard Beynon *''All My Own Work'' by Romilly Cavan *''Four Men'' by Andre Davis Background In 1956 the London ''Observer'' newspaper held a competition for the best new stage play with a prize of 500 pounds. The competition was held in part to respond to allegations there were no new exciting plays in British theatre, and was run by Kenneth Tynan, the newspaper's drama critic. There were over 2,000 entries. According to Tynan, the submitted plays fell into six main groups: the H bomb, the Hungarian Uprising, Australia, the "colour problem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust is a theatre and performing arts company that was founded in September 1954, with the aim of establishing drama, opera and ballet companies nationally. Founding In 1954 the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust was established under the guidance of H.C. Coombs, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, sir Charles Moses GM of the Australian Broadcasting Commission and John Douglas Pringle of the Sydney Morning Herald" to provide a theatre of Australians by Australians for Australians". Named to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, the Trust raised £100,000 by a public appeal. The Trust had an agreement with the Commonwealth government to match public donations 'in the ratio of 1:3 and to provide ongoing funding'.Roger Wettenhall, 'Kaleidoscope, or 'Now We See Them, Now We Don't!', ''Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration'', No. 110, 2003, p. 32. With substantial contributions from both the public and the Commonwealth Governm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1926 by Thomas Shakespeare along with his oldest son Arthur Shakespeare and two younger sons Christopher and James. The newspaper's headquarters were originally located in the Civic retail precinct, in Cooyong Street and Mort Street, in blocks bought by Thomas Shakespeare in the first sale of Canberra leases in 1924. The newspaper's first issue was published on 3 September 1926. It was the second paper to be printed in the city, the first being ''The Federal Capital Pioneer''. Between September 1926 and February 1928, the newspaper was a weekly issue. The first daily issue was 28 February 1928. In June 1956, ''The Canberra Times'' converted from broadsheet to tabloid format. Arthur Shakespeare sold the paper to John Fairfax Lt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribune (Australian Newspaper)
''Tribune'' was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia. It was published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Australia from 1939 to 1991. Initially it was subtitled as ''Tribune: The People's Paper''. It was also published as the ''Qld Guardian'', ''Guardian'' (Melbourne), ''Forward'' (Sydney). It had previously been published as '' The Australian Communist'', (1920-1921) '' The Communist'', (1921-1923) and the ''Workers' Weekly'' (1923-1939). The ''Tribune'' for the years 1939–1976 has been digitised, as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of the National Library of Australia. Publication history The ''Tribune'' was the flagship of Australia's left wing newspapers. ''Two competing papers'' Two newspapers claiming to represent the Communist Party of Australia were published 1920–1921: :''The Australian Communist'' was a weekly newspaper published from Sydney, Australia between 24 December 1920 and 29 April 1921. In to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neva Carr Glyn
Neva Carr Glyn or Neva Carr Glynn (born Neva Josephine Mary Carr Glyn, 10 May 1908 – 10 August 1975) was an Australian stage, film and radio actress born in Melbourne to Arthur Benjamin Carr Glyn (died 16 January 1923), a humorous baritone and stage manager born in Ireland, and Marie Carr Glyn (late Mola), née Marie Dunoon Senior (10 June 1874 – 24 December 1953), an actress with the stage name "Marie Avis".Lane, Richard ''The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama'' Melbourne University Press 1994 She had one half-sister Gwendoline Arnold O'Neill and two half-brothers Sacheverill Arnold Mola and Rupert Arnold Mola. She was named "Neva" after a great-aunt, who was a contralto of some quality. Both spellings of her surname appear in print roughly equally and apparently arbitrarily. Early career Neva was born while her parents were with the Fred Niblo company touring the J. C. Williamson circuit. Her theatrical debut was four months later, in New Zealand, when Fred Niblo carr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Haddrick
Ronald Norman Haddrick (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, cricketer, narrator and presenter. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, spanning some seventy years both locally and also in Britain. He appeared in many Shakespeare roles and often performed with theatre actress Ruth Cracknell. At the time Australian playwright David Williamson said, "Ron Haddrick was chosen for two reasons. He’s a great actor, definitely one of the greatest of his generation, and also a great human being who has enriched the lives of countless Australians through his acting. He has also enriched the lives of many of us who work in the theatre because of his dedication and palpable decency." Actor John Bell in presenting the award said his "career has been extraordinary ... he is undoubtedly one of the leading lights in the Australian acting industry and he is much loved, admired and respected, bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV in the first series of ''Blackadder'', Prince Vultan in ''Flash Gordon'', Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of '' Cats'' at the New London Theatre, Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter in ''Henry V'', Boss Nass in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' and the voice of Clayton in Disney's ''Tarzan''. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity. Early life Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). Bless ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed as the new National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, Tynan is often believed to have been the first person to say " fuck" on British television, during a live broadcast in 1965. Later in his life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" ( see below). Tynan had a stammer which was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AusStage
AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up until the present day. The only repository of Australian performing arts in the world, it is managed by a consortium of universities, government agencies, industry organisations and arts institutions, and mostly funded by the Australian Research Council. Created in 2000, the database contained more than 250,000 records by 2018. History The AusStage project was instigated by the Australasian Drama Studies Association in 1999, with Flinders University in South Australia leading the project, funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC). Other collaborating universities were La Trobe University (Vic), University of Queensland, University of New South Wales, University of Western Australia, University of New England (NSW), Newc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AustLit
AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration between researchers and librarians from Australian universities, led by the University of Queensland (UQ), designed to comprehensively record the history of Australian literary and story-making cultures. AustLit is an encyclopaedia of Australian writers and writing. BlackWords is a landmark research project by and within AustLit that details the lives and work of Indigenous Australian authors, which includes Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers. History AustLit was founded in 2000, when several independent databases on a variety of themes related to literary studies was created from work done by research groups at eight universities. The first dataset comprised about 300,000 fairly simple biographical and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
