Commonwealth Jubilee play competition: Difference between revisions
→Legacy: reword |
quote bulletin, more clearly characterize the perspective presented there |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|1951 Australian play competition}} |
{{Short description|1951 Australian play competition}} |
||
The '''Commonwealth Jubilee play competiton''' was a 1951 Australian play competition held to celebrate Australia's [[Jubilee|Jubilee Year]]. The competition was for the best plays dealing with the Australian life or an Australian character.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article275032300 |title=JUBILEE PLAY COMPETITION |newspaper=Daily Mirror |issue=3105 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 May 1951 |accessdate=10 January 2024 |page=4 (Late Final Extra 3) |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref> |
The '''Commonwealth Jubilee play competiton''' was a 1951 Australian play competition held to celebrate Australia's [[Jubilee|Jubilee Year]]. The competition was for the best plays dealing with the Australian life or an Australian character and was organized by the Jubilee Federal Arts Sub-Committee.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article275032300 |title=JUBILEE PLAY COMPETITION |newspaper=Daily Mirror |issue=3105 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 May 1951 |accessdate=10 January 2024 |page=4 (Late Final Extra 3) |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref><ref name="prizes"/> |
||
The competition encouraged Australian playwriting at a time when few Australian plays were presented on stage and |
The competition encouraged Australian playwriting at a time when few Australian plays were presented on stage and were thus generally unprofitable for playwrights, with ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' lamenting that "the nation's literary energy...has gone where it can find a market: into the novel and short story".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50242202 |title=Prize play on Deakin |newspaper=[[The Courier-mail]] |issue=4665 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=9 November 1951 |accessdate=10 January 2024 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref><ref>{{Citation |
||
| title=A Bun for the Playwrights. |
| title=A Bun for the Playwrights. |
||
| journal=The bulletin. |
| journal=The bulletin. |
||
Revision as of 03:28, 10 January 2024
The Commonwealth Jubilee play competiton was a 1951 Australian play competition held to celebrate Australia's Jubilee Year. The competition was for the best plays dealing with the Australian life or an Australian character and was organized by the Jubilee Federal Arts Sub-Committee.[1][2]
The competition encouraged Australian playwriting at a time when few Australian plays were presented on stage and were thus generally unprofitable for playwrights, with The Bulletin lamenting that "the nation's literary energy...has gone where it can find a market: into the novel and short story".[3][4]
Over 230 plays were entered. Judges were Professor Keith Macartney, of Melbourne University, Lindsey Browne, The Sydney Morning Herald drama critic, and Frank Harvey, senior drama producer for the Australian Broadcasting Commission.
Winners
- First prize (£500)- Tether a Dragon by Kylie Tennant - about Alfred Deakin[2]
- Second prize (£200) - The House that Jack Built by George Farwell - about the Rum Rebellion[2]
- Special mention - Granite Peak by Betty Roland, Sing for St. Ned by Ray Mathew, and History of Burke and Wills by John Sandford[2]
Legacy
A year after the competition, none of the plays had been picked up by commercial theatre groups. With the hope of promoting some of the plays being presented, the Jubilee Federal Arts Sub-Committee sent four plays to about twenty production groups in Australia. Though the Sub-Committeee's efforts were unsuccessful, two of the awarded plays—George Farwell's and John Sandford's—were adapted for ABC Radio.[5]
References
- ^ "JUBILEE PLAY COMPETITION". Daily Mirror. No. 3105. New South Wales, Australia. 16 May 1951. p. 4 (Late Final Extra 3). Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b c d "PRIZES FOR PLAYS". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 533. New South Wales, Australia. 9 November 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Prize play on Deakin". The Courier-mail. No. 4665. Queensland, Australia. 9 November 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A Bun for the Playwrights.", The bulletin. (Vol. 72 No. 3744 (14 Nov 1951)), nla.obj-526419636, retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Trove
{{citation}}:|issue=has extra text (help) - ^ "Letters to the Editor JUBILEE PLAYS", ABC weekly (Vol. 14 No. 28 (12 July 1952)), nla.obj-1379598092, retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Trove
{{citation}}:|issue=has extra text (help)