''In Beauty It Is Finished'' is a three-act play by mid-twentieth century Australian playwright

George Landen Dann George Landen Dann (1 January 1904 – 6 June 1977) was an Australian playwright, writer, and draftsman. He is best known for a number of award-winning and critically acclaimed plays such as '' In Beauty It Is Finished'', ''Fountains Beyond'', ' ...

. It was his first major play.

Synopsis

''In Beauty It Is Finished'' follows the story of Marion, a young white woman who lives for alternating years in Brisbane and with her parents on Moreton Island. The only other inhabitants of the island are Indigenous Australians and a lonely fisherman. Controversially, Marion begins a love affair with a "half-caste" boy named Tom. The play follows the effects the affair has on the surrounding family and community. ''In Beauty It Is Finished'' deals with themes of racism, identity, isolation and community as well as social expectations and ideals.

Characters

* David Edmond * Mary Edmond * Joyce * Marion * Tom Stepple * Annie

Background

Moreton Island can be seen from the shore of Sandgate where Dann lived. Dann took his character inspiration from the Ngugi people from Moreton Island. When the play was written in the 1930s, Queensland Indigenous Australians lived under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897. This act affected the Indigenous population of Queensland with forced relocation to missions, the administration of Indigenous employment and wages as well as controlling permission to marry. On Moreton Island the Indigenous population had been subject to many of the consequences of colonialism, including widespread disease and massacres. Many Indigenous Australians were moved to missions or sent to other islands or Brisbane. Many "half-caste" people lived in unauthorised fringe settlements with extremely poor conditions. These injustices prompted Dann to write about Indigenous Australians and their treatment by the government in his plays.

Production and reception

''In Beauty It Is Finished'' won the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society's national playwriting competition in 1931. For its premiere production for the Society at Brisbane's His Majesty's Theatre in 1931,

Barbara Sisley Barbara Sisley (1878–1945) was an Australian teacher and theatre director in Queensland, Australia. She founded and operated the Brisbane Repertory Theatre. Early life and education Sisley was born on 19 March 1878 at Streatham, London, o ...

was producer and director. On 16 July The Courier-Mail stated "It was selected unanimously on its dramatic values, and because of its earnestness of purpose. It is an intense play, relying for its power on the reactions of its characters to intense situations and deals with the lives of persons living on an island off the Queensland coast." ''In Beauty It Is Finished'' was a highly controversial play at the time of its release, receiving many negative newspaper reviews. One local publication even claimed the play encapsulated 'sordid' content! Dann's play deals with inter-racial romance and friendship. Christian communities and newspapers discouraged people from seeing or engaging with the play. Despite this, however, the play attracted full houses. The following year, the play was rejected by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. On 28 December 1932 Dann was sent a letter explaining that the play had been rejected for reasons to do with the content. In 1977, from 25 March to 23 April, Brisbane's La Boite Theatre Company produced ''In Beauty It Is Finished'' as part of the season Three Australian Plays. Dann died in June 1977.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , author1 =

Nicholas Birns Nicholas Birns is a scholar of literature, including fantasy and Australian literature. As a Tolkien scholar he has written on a variety of topics including The Scouring of the Shire and Tolkien's biblical sources. His analysis of the writings of A ...

, author2 = Rebecca McNeer , title = A Companion to Australian Literature Since 1900 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3PhyjHQO38gC&pg=PA212 , year = 2007 , publisher = Camden House , isbn = 978-1-57113-349-6 , pages = 212– , quote = ... upon the recurring themes of isolation, matrimonial and filial duty, and racial prejudice in his major plays such as In Beauty It Is Finished (1931), Fountains Beyond (1942), and No Incense Rising (1937). {{cite book , author = Catherine Weate , title = Modern Voice: Working with Actors on Contemporary Text: Working with Actors on Contemporary Text , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ka087Ue4K-gC&pg=PT73 , date = 11 June 2012 , publisher = Oberon Books , isbn = 978-1-84943-537-6 , pages = 73– George Landen Dann ‘Letter from Birmingham Repertory Theatre’ George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 3, 65/A4, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library Landen Dann, George, and Sue Davis. In Beauty It Is Finished. Brisbane: Playlab, 2013. Print. {{cite web , last = Fotheringham , first = Richard , url = http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dann-george-landen-9900 , title = Biography - George Landen Dann - Australian Dictionary of Biography , publisher = Adb.anu.edu.au , date = , accessdate = 2013-09-25 1931 plays 1930s Australian plays Plays set in Queensland