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Notes
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Currency Press began the National Theatre series under the general editorship of Philip Parsons to draw attention to ' the continuing vitality of Australian writing for the theatre since colonial times' in 'plays which... express memorably something of the Australian experience.'
Includes
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y
Brumby Innes, and Bid Me to Love
Katharine Brisbane
(editor),
Sydney
:
Currency Methuen Drama
,
1974
Z169610
1974
selected work
drama
(taught in 8 units)
'Written in the 1920s, Brumby Innes confronts the turbulent relations between the sexes and the races in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is published with another Prichard play from the 1920s, Bid Me To Love which, by contrast, is set among the fashionable rich in the lush hills outside Perth.'
'The two plays are compelling for their dramatic styles and for their insight into the novels which followed: Coonardoo and Intimate Strangers. And both had to wait more than forty years for their first production.' (Source: Reading Australia website)
Sydney : Currency Methuen Drama , 1974 -
y
The Touch of Silk
1928
Z968576
1928
single work
drama
(taught in 4 units)
— Appears in: The Touch of Silk [and] Granite Peak 1988; (p. 1-83)A poignant drama centred on Jeanne, a homesick French war bride and her shell-shocked husband battling hardship and prejudice in a drought-stricken Mallee town.
Sydney London : Currency Press Eyre Methuen , 1974 -
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The Currency Lass ; Or, My Native Girl
The Currency Lass ; Or, My Native Girl : An Operetta in Two Acts;
The Currency Lass ; Or, My Native Girl : A Musical Play in Two Acts
Z1072217
1844
single work
musical theatre
(taught in 1 units)
Ballad opera (in two acts).
The lively and light-hearted story concerns a rich uncle (Sir Samuel Simile) who mistakenly believes that his nephew is going to marry a 'native' girl when the lad is in fact to marry Susan Hearty - a currency lass (white girl born in Australia). The uncle is put through a good deal of torment before being told of his error.
Geoghegan wrote The Currency Lass for Tilly Jones, a popular young actress who was also among the first citizens to be born in Australia. There is, however, no record of her ever having appeared in any of the three 1844 Victoria Theatre productions. Although now recognised as historically significant, The Currency Lass did not fare as well as other productions presented by Samuel Lazar at the Royal Victoria during the same year. More popularly received, for example, were plays such as Humphrey Clinker (farce), Twins of Warsaw, Sworn at Highgate, The Beehive (musical farce), The Executioner, Aladdin, Turning the Tables, and Geoghegan's big success, The Hibernian Father.
The fourteen songs used in the original production had new lyrics set to pre-existing tunes, as is traditionally the case with the ballad opera style (see note below). The melodies used were mostly from traditional Irish, English or Scottish songs, with the choice of material sometimes undertaken with a degree of deliberate humour. In his preface to the 1976 Currency edition Roger Covell points for example to the air 'A Fine Old English Gentleman' (the melody comes from an Irish dialect song) which Geoghegan uses to recall the supposed golden age of English gentry. Covell also suggests that the actor playing the role of Susan requires agility and accuracy in both her singing and dancing (these are sometimes required with much vigour at the same time). This is particularly the case in a pivotal scene in Act Two where she performs a sequence of five characterised songs and dances. Although many of the songs used by Geoghegan are no longer well-known, several tunes are still reasonably recognisable today - these being, 'Malbrook' (a French melody used by English-speaking people when they sing 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow'); 'Over the Hills and Far Away' (from John Gay's The Beggar's Opera); and 'The Lincolnshire Poacher' (its melody is also used for the Australian folksong, 'The Murrumbidgee Shearer').
The 1966 Jane Street production was part of a trilogy of plays used to launch the company's season of Australian drama. The other two plays were I've Come about the Assassination by Tony Morphett, and The Pier by Michael Thomas. All three plays utilised members of the same company. The 1989 Q Theatre production, which kept the lighthearted, comic feel of Geoghegan's original, cast Aboriginal actor Justine Saunders in the role of the bigoted uncle, Samuel Similie, in an attempt to re-orientate Goeghegan's theme towards one of race. The stage also featured a ground plan of Aboriginal dots and circle motifs.
Sydney : Currency Press , 1976 - y Colonial Experience Z823348 1868 single work drama humour Sydney : Currency Press , 1979
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y
Brumby Innes, and Bid Me to Love
Katharine Brisbane
(editor),
Sydney
:
Currency Methuen Drama
,
1974
Z169610
1974
selected work
drama
(taught in 8 units)
'Written in the 1920s, Brumby Innes confronts the turbulent relations between the sexes and the races in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is published with another Prichard play from the 1920s, Bid Me To Love which, by contrast, is set among the fashionable rich in the lush hills outside Perth.'
'The two plays are compelling for their dramatic styles and for their insight into the novels which followed: Coonardoo and Intimate Strangers. And both had to wait more than forty years for their first production.' (Source: Reading Australia website)
Sydney : Currency Press , 1983 - y Robbery Under Arms Paddington St Lucia : Currency Press Australasian Drama Studies , 1985 Z549990 1890 single work drama (taught in 3 units) Paddington St Lucia : Currency Press Australasian Drama Studies , 1985
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y
The Touch of Silk
1928
Z968576
1928
single work
drama
(taught in 4 units)
— Appears in: The Touch of Silk [and] Granite Peak 1988; (p. 1-83)A poignant drama centred on Jeanne, a homesick French war bride and her shell-shocked husband battling hardship and prejudice in a drought-stricken Mallee town.
Sydney : Currency Press , 1986 - y Stalwart the Bushranger, with, The Tragedy of Donohoe Elizabeth Perkins (editor), Sydney : Currency Press Australasian Drama Studies , 1987 Z118735 1987 selected work drama Sydney : Currency Press Australasian Drama Studies , 1987
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Currency Decade: A Tribute
1981
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 3 no. 2 1981; (p. 141-143)
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Currency Decade: A Tribute
1981
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 3 no. 2 1981; (p. 141-143)