The Australian Theatre Festival was a series of adaptations of Australian plays filmed by the ABC in 1979-80. Six plays were filmed in all at an estimated budget of $5,000 an episode. They aired on Sunday night opposite movies on the commercial channels. They were partly inspired by a government ruling that the ABC could keep any money it made selling projects overseas. The series was not a ratings success.

Episodes

First Series: *'' Carolie Lansdowne Says No'' by

Alex Buzo Alexander John Buzo (23 July 194416 August 2006) was an Australian playwright and author who wrote 88 works. His literary works recorded Australian culture through wit, humour and extensive use of colloquial Australian English. Biography Ear ...

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A Toast to Melba ''A Toast to Melba'' is a 1976 Australian play by Jack Hibberd. A biography of Dame Nellie Melba, Hibberd described it as: Another 'Popular Play' like ''The Les Darcy Show''. Using the Epic Theatre techniques of Bertolt Brecht (without politics), ...

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Jack Hibberd John Charles Hibberd (born 12 April 1940 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian playwright and physician. Biography Hibberd studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and resided in Newman College. He worked as a registrar in ...

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Big Toys ''Big Toys'' is a 1977 Australian play by Patrick White. It was his first play in 14 years. Stage productions The original production was by the Old Tote Theatre Company in Sydney. The cast was Max Cullen, Arthur Dignam and Kate Fitzpatrick a ...

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Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

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Departmental ''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...

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Mervyn Rutherford Mervyn is a masculine given name and occasionally a surname which is of Old Welsh origin, with elements ''mer'', probably meaning "marrow", and ''myn'', meaning "eminent". Despite the misconception of the letter 'V' being an English spelling, thr ...

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The Department ''The Department'' is a satirical comedy on BBC Radio 4 about a secret organisation with the power to influence every aspect of your life. Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman star as Research Team 32, an eccentric three-man think-t ...

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David Williamson David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought ...

*''Bedfellows'' by

Barry Oakley Barry Kingham Oakley (born 24 February 1931)''Who's Who in Australia'' (2010) is an Australian writer.Luke Slattery"10 questions: Barry Oakley, author, 81"''The Australian'', 15 December 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2016.- Graeme Blundell"Wittily i ...

Second Series: *''

A Hard God ''A Hard God'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Peter Kenna.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 192-194 The play was very popular and has come to be regarded as an Australian classic. 1974 Film The Nimrod ...

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Peter Kenna Peter Joseph Kenna (18 March 193029 November 1987) was an Australian playwright, radio actor and screenwriter. He has been called "a quasi-legendary figure in Australian theatre, never quite fashionable, but never quite forgotten either." Biograp ...

References

{{reflist Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming