Australian Plays | |
---|---|
Genre | anthology |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Producer | Eric Taylor |
Running time | 60 mins |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | 1969 |
Australian Plays is a 1969 Australian anthology TV drama series that aired on the ABC. It consisted of six original Australian dramas.[1] It was the first Australian anthology series since Australian Playhouse and was described by the ABC as "representative of contemporary Australian writers and the development of Australian television drama today." It was produced by Eric Taylor. It was meant to be followed by a series Company of Eight which will have a regular repertory company of eight actors.[2] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]
Written by Tony Morphett based on his 1967 novel; became a 1970–71 TV series directed in Melbourne by Oscar Whitbread. [4]
Inventor Jim Richards (Terry Norris) seek financial backing from the Mason Corporation for his new machine. He finds himself in the middle of a power struggle for control of the corporation, including a family dispute.
The Herald called it "the best thing the ABC has done in a long, long time."[5]
Written and directed by John Croyston.
A woman, Kathy, discovers her husband Robert is dead.[6]
Date 23 November 1969. Written by Alan Hopgood directed by Oscar Whitbread. It won the Awgie Award.[2][7]
It was about a young university lecturer (Hopgood) who is cuckolded by his wife (Sue Donovan).
One critic called it "the most painful Australian production I have seen since television started."[8]
Written by Pat Flower. Produced by John Croyston.
A comic account of Governor Phillips's 1788 landing in Australia. It is set in the modern day on the mythical island of Extrania, where Lieut. Tilley has been sent to establish a penal colony.[9]
Before the production aired, the script won the 1967 Dame Mary Gilmore Medal awarded in March 1968.[10] Judges called it "a superbly funny comment with a strong Australian history allegory on present attitudes to domestic and foreign affairs. A rare dramatic event — a satirical script. It has style in the best sense of the word. It hides unexpected social comment beneath well-constructed fun. The humour is visual as well as verbal, the TV medium is an integral part of its being."[11]
It was the first self contained drama by the ABC to be shot entirely on film with no videotaped segments. More than thirty people were in the cast and above-the-line costs were estimated to be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.[9]
The Sydney Morning Herald said "never have so many done to much for so little. It was a laboured hour of TV. There is only one word for it. Ouch."[12] The same paper later called the production one of the worst shows of 1969.[13]
Written by Oriel Gray based on her 1955 play, directed by Oscar Whitbread]
It was about a town having to shift from gold mining to agriculture. The cast included Ken Shorter, Barbara Stephens, Harold Hopkins, Alan Hopgood, Mark Albiston, Lyndel Rowe.
One critic called it "a beauty".[14]
Written by Pat Flower based on her 1966 novel, directed by Oscar Whitbread. Aired 19 November 1969.[15]
The ABC bought the rights to the novel in November 1967.[16]
Three middle-aged sisters are repressed by their mother.
It won the 1970 Awgie for best script.
There was a second series whose plays included The Juggler (1970) and Chimes at Midnight (1970 play) (1970).