''Men Without Wives'' is a 1938 Australian stage play by

Henrietta Drake-Brockman Henrietta Drake-Brockman (27 July 1901 – 8 March 1968) was an Australian journalist and novelist. Early life Henrietta Frances York Jull was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1901 to public service commissioner Martin Edward Jull (1862–19 ...

. It was her best known play. It won first prize in a 1938 playwriting competition held to celebrate the New South Wales Sesquicentenary. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' said the play has "a passionate sincerity and an earnest conviction which outweigh the inconsistencies and flimsiness of its development und the artificiality of its construction... a not insignificant monument to the dauntless and magnificent courage of the woman outback." Leslie Rees said "it had atmospheric cogency and hard unflinching truths, but the best of it was the character of Ma Bates, a horsey, betrousered, tough-living, genuine nor’-wester, a splendid study, who should have dominated the play from the beginning, instead of merely from the second act. Better construction would have made of ''Men Without Wives'' an important and memorable drama." The play was published in a collection of her plays which also included '' Dampier's Ghost''.

Adaptations

The play was adapted for radio in 1948.

References

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Adaptations

References

External links