''Dimboola'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by the Australian author

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 premiered in 1969 at La Mama Theatre under the direction of Graeme Blundell. The whole action of the play supposedly takes place at a real wedding at which the actors represent the families of the bride and groom and the audience are "invited guests". The play is described in the program notes as Rabelaisian and rumbustious.

History

The play grew out of a reading in London of Anton Chekhov's 1889 play '' The Wedding'' and Bertolt Brecht's farce ''

A Respectable Wedding ''A Respectable Wedding'' is a short play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The German title ''Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit'' literally means ''the petit bourgeois wedding.'' Like other of Brecht’s early works (Baal, Drums in the Night, and ...

''. The production at La Mama was supported by a grant of $1,250 from the Australia Council for the Arts. In 1970 ''Dimboola'' was chosen for performance as a climax to the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

's "Bush Week" celebrations. Directed by Roger Vickery, it was performed on 26 July 1970 in the Tarago Hall to an audience of about 80 students who arrived there by steam train. Graham Farquhar, later Distinguished Professor and 2018

Senior Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

, played the Best Man, "Dangles". The second professional production by the

Australian Performing Group The Australian Performing Group (APG) was a Melbourne-based experimental theatre repertory ensemble formed in an official capacity in 1970 from the La Mama theatre group. Created to address a dissatisfaction with Australia's theatrical climate, th ...

The Pram Factory __NOTOC__ The Pram Factory was an Australian alternative theatre venue in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton from around 1970 until the 1981. It was home to the Australian Performing Group and Nindethana, Australia's first Aboriginal theatre group ...

in 1973 was directed by

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 ...

. This performance was filmed. By 1974 it was thought the play had grossed over $1 million.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 44-45 By 1978 it was estimated it had been seen by over 350,000 people. More Australians have seen ''Dimboola'' than any other stage musical, comedy or straight play, and hundreds of productions have been mounted across the world. It ran in Sydney for two and a half years until the venue, the Whiskey Au Go Go, burned down. In 1979, a film was made directed by

John Duigan John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical films '' The Year My Voice Broke'' and '' Flirting'', and the 1994 film '' Sirens'', which stars Hugh Grant. Bi ...

. In 1988, Pat Garvey adapted the play for a musical which alone has played over 2 000 performances. In 2007, it was produced at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. A ...

, Melbourne, with

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 ...

and directed by Michael Kantor. In March and April 2008 it played at the La Mama Theatre, directed by Robert Chuter. A novelisation of the same name appeared in 1978, written by

Tim Robertson Tim Robertson is an Australian actor and writer. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia] (1965) and taught at Flinders University in Adelaide, where he began adapting and directing plays. He joined the Australian Performing Gro ...

and published by Sun Books, Melbourne.

Plot

''Dimboola'' is a celebration of the wedding of Protestant Morrie McAdam and Catholic Reen Delaney in the Mechanics' Institute Hall in

Dimboola Dimboola is a town in the Shire of Hindmarsh in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia, 334 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. History Situated on the Wimmera River, Dimboola was previously known as 'Nine Creeks'. Following a surve ...

, Victoria. No holds are barred as the two families come together for the wedding which Jack Hibberd calls "''the testing of strengths of the newly conjugated tribes''". The family members try to preserve social grace and dignity in the face of impending disasters. And disasters there are aplenty! After the drink has flowed a little too freely, mayhem and humour ensues when the families exchange insults and punches, as they resolve to come to terms with the situation.

Cast

*At the official table: **Maureen Delaney (''Reen''), bride **Morrie McAdam (''Morrie''), groom (

Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...

) **Darcy Delaney (''Darkie''), father of the bride **April Delaney (''June''), mother of the bride **Angus McAdam (''Knocka''), father of the groom **Florence McAdam (''Florrie''), mother of the groom **Patrick O'Shea, parish priest **Daryl Dunn (''Dangles''), best man **Shirl, town bike and bridesmaid **Astrid McAdam, flower girl *Guests (invited) **Horace McAdam (''Horrie the Horrible''), uncle of the groom **Mavis McAdam, aunt of the groom **Aggie McAdam, spinster cousin to the McAdams *Guests (uninvited) **Bayonet, local wit and drunk (

) **Mutton, local wit and drunk ( Graeme Blundell) *The Band **Lionel Driftwood and His Piledrivers *Others **Leonardo Radish, reporter of the ''Mildura Trumpet'' – a caricature of the theatre critic and playwright Leonard Radic :Original actors in brackets; other actors in the premiere production were

Lindy Davies Lindy Davies (29 August 1946) is an Australian actress, director, actor trainer and performance consultant. She played Ruth Ballinger in the Australian soap opera ''Prisoner'' in 1985, and won the AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Supporting Actress ...

and

John Romeril John Henry Romeril (born 1945) is an Australian playwright and teacher. He has written around 60 plays for theatre, film, radio, and television, and is known for his 1975 play ''The Floating World''. Early life and education John Henry Romeril ...

.{{cite web , url = http://www.theatrealive.com.au/whatson/807/ , title = What's On , accessdate = 25 March 2008 , year = 2008 , publisher = Theatre Alive , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080421153343/http://www.theatrealive.com.au/whatson/807/ , archivedate = 21 April 2008

Performance practice

The play uses audience participation to a very high degree; audience members are greeted by the father of the bride and the new arrivals are announced to the audience. Glasses of sherry and food are served by the actors, the auditorium is set up with tables and decorated with ballons and streamers. Audience members are assigned characters and actors improvise with them during the play's fights and shenanigans. The alcohol consumed on stage is often real.

References

External links

''The APG's Dimboola''
at Ozmovies 1969 plays Comedy plays Australian plays adapted into films