''A Private Island'' is a 1964 Australian television play. It was written by Brisbane author Chris Gardner (real name Marjorie Gardner) and was directed by

Henri Safran Henri Safran (born 7 October 1932) is a Paris-born director who worked extensively in Australia. He worked in French television, then in Britain, before moving to Australia in 1960 to work with the ABC. He became an Australian citizen in 1963 but ...

Premise

Set in Sydney, Ben Clayburn is a real estate agent whose two children are grown up and settled. Ben decides to buy an island off the coast of Queensland and live there with his wife. His son Don has other ideas. His daughter wants to go to work to support her artist husband.

Cast

*John Gray as Ben Clayburn *Marion Johns as Viv *Brian Young as Don Clayburn * Lola Brooks as Jean *Alexander Can *Patricia Hill *Roberta Hunt *Guy Le Claire as Mark

Production

The show was shot in Sydney. Marion Jones, who played the wife, had recently appeared in ''

A Season in Hell ''A Season in Hell'' (french: Une Saison en Enfer}) is an extended poem in prose written and published in 1873 by French writer Arthur Rimbaud. It is the only work that was published by Rimbaud himself. The book had a considerable influence ...

'' for Safran. It was writer Chris Garner's third TV play after ''

Dark Under the Sun ''Dark Under the Sun'' is a 1960 Australian TV play. It was written by Brisbane author, Chris Gardner, who also wrote ''The House of Mancello'' (1962) and '' A Private Island'' (1964). Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. The play ...

'' and ''

The House of Mancello ''The House of Mancello'' is a 1962 Australian TV drama shot in Melbourne about a new Australian family. It was one of a series of six Australian plays produced by the ABC in 1962. The others were: *'' Boy Round the Corner'' *''Funnel Web'' *'' ...

''.

Reception

The ''Canberra Times'' said the play "was bogged down with a dull pedestrian script. The basic idea had possibilities but the writer needs to learn about his craft, especially the art of creating characters through the dialogue. The actors were uninteresting." The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said "For stupefying banality of idea and sentiment it would have been hard to surpass Chris Gardner's homiletic ''Private Island''", saying "the remorseless predictability of the play's action and dialogue must have ended even the most sympathetic viewer's attempt to accept it as other than a moralistic charade."

Radio version

Gardner also adapted the play for radio for the ABC. It aired in 1965 starring

Richard Meikle Richard Meikle (10 October 1929 – 2 June 1991) was an Australian actor who worked extensively in film, theatre, and radio. He was the father of writer Sam Meikle. Career Meikle began his career as a stage actor. His first recorded role was in ...

as the agent. Reviewing that production the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said "the players overcame the limitations of script to involve the listener" adding Gardner "wrote from confused values. She tried to present an aging real estate man trying to get away from it all but held back by sense of responsibility. In fact. Dad was held to the treadmill by his son's forgery which left the old man with no choice" arguing that if the writer had "snipped away the sub-plots and cut the thing to a halfhour comment on how people meet the arrows of fate, she would have a play."

References

External links

* Australian television plays 1964 television plays {{Australia-tv-film-stub