''Boswell for the Defence'' is a 1989 Australian play by

Patrick Edgeworth Patrick Edgeworth (born 25 December 1932 in London) is an English stage and screenwriter. Early life Edgeworth grew up in England. In 1969, he arrived in Australia to be best man at the wedding of his pianist brother Ron and Judith Durham, f ...

about

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

and his defence of

Mary Bryant Mary Bryant (1765 – after 1794) was a Cornish convict sent to Australia. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony. Early life Bryant was born Mary Broad (referred to as Mary Braund at the E ...

. The title role was originally played by Leo McKern. Edgeworth had been hired to write a mini series about the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

. The show was never made but during the course of research Edgeworth discovered the story of Boswell and Bryant and decided to turn it into a play. There have been a number of attempts to turn the play into a film, notably by Bruce Beresford and Gregor Jordan with

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

References

External links

''Boswell for the Defence''
at Ausstage 1989 plays Australian plays {{1980s-play-stub