''A Stretch of the Imagination'' is an Australian play by

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 ...

. It was one of the most significant new plays of the Australian drama revival of the early 1970s.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 47-52

History

A long monodrama, ''A Stretch of the Imagination'', is regarded by most connoisseurs as Hibberd’s finest work, embodying a radical advance in the character of Australian theatre, embracing and remoulding as it does many of the strong strands in theatrical modernism. In 1976 it was performed by

Max Gillies Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group. Early life and education Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Tea ...

of the APG (for which he won a Theatre Australia Award). In 1990 it was reimagined as a TV movie, where Gillies reprised his role. It was the first Australian play to be staged in China (in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

) with a famous Chinese actor,

Wei Zongwan Wei Zongwan (; born 24 November 1938) is a Chinese actor. He has been acting since the 1980s and has appeared in over 70 films and television shows. He has won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' San Mao Joins t ...

, as Monk. This play has enjoyed productions in the United States, Germany and New Zealand. In 2010 it was performed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

by Mark Little, a winner of the prestigious

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

References

External links

''A Stretch of the Imagination''
at

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 unt ...

''A Stretch of the Imagination''
at Jack Hibberd's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Stretch of the Imagination Australian plays 1972 plays