''Norm and Ahmed'' is a 1968 Australian play by

Alex Buzo Alexander John Buzo (23 July 194416 August 2006) was an Australian playwright and author who wrote 88 works. His literary works recorded Australian culture through wit, humour and extensive use of colloquial Australian English. Biography Ear ...

Plot

A middle aged war veteran, Norm, has an encounter with a Pakistani student Ahmed, at a bus stop one night

Censorship controversy

The play script originally ended with the line "fucking' boong". This was changed to "bloody boong" for its debut production at the Old Tote, which was directed by Jim Sharman. In April 1969 the play was performed at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane, using the writer's original line. After one performance, two policemen arrested Norman Staines, the actor who said the line, on a charge of using obscene language in public. Staines was set free on bail and continued to use the line. After a series of trials which went all the way to the High Court, the conviction was quashed.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 256-257 At a performance of the play at La Mama Theatre in Melbourne in 1969 the actor playing Norm was summoned and ordered to appear in court. The actor, and director

Graeme Blundell Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated a ...

, were later fined.

Adaptations

The play was adapted as a short feature in 1988 with Max Cullen as Norm and Alex Pinder as Ahmed.''Norm and Ahmed''
at

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

References

External links

''Norm and Ahmed''
at AusStage
Teachers notes on the play
at Alex Buzo

''Radio National'' 16 January 2011 1968 plays Australian plays adapted into films {{1960s-play-stub