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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'This is a dual biography, the story of Louis Esson, the distinguished playwright who has been called 'the father of Australian drama', and his wife Hilda, who did her own pioneering in the theatre and in public health. The plays they wrote and performed reflected the drama of their lives: creative angst, intellectual conflict, untimely death, romantic entanglement, jealousy and despair. Yet Peter Fitzpatrick's book is more than a good read.
'As a critical appraisal of Louis Esson's plays and an exploration of the relationships the Essons had with well-known literary and theatrical figures in Australia and overseas, the book is an exploration of a developing Australian culture and identity. It is also about the dynamics of a marriage between two brilliant people, reflecting not only the patterns of gender relationships in their own time, but universal passions and strategies.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Contents:
Prologue, 1. Bohemia – 2. Ormond – 3. Emerald – 4. Broadway – 5. Bloomsbury – 6. Various Stages – 7. Mallacoota – 8. Carlton – 9. Hawthorn – 10. Various Suburbs – 11. Sydney, 12. Hampton – Epilogue.
Contents
- At Our Showi"He said he'd thrown out toughs with ease,", single work poetry humour (p. 235)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
single work
review
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Untitled
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Studies , Winter vol. 13 no. 2 1998; (p. 130-131)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Untitled
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , no. 52 1997; (p. 171-172)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Intellectual Pioneers of Melbourne
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 145 1996; (p. 81-82)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Untitled
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 17 no. 4 1996; (p. 411-415)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography ; Stephen Sewell : The Playwright as Revolutionary 1991 single work criticism biography ; Sumner Locke Elliott 'Writing Life' : A Biography 1996 single work biography
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Biographical Blokiness
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , [vol.7 no.6], December-January (1995-1996) 1995; (p. 84-86)
— Review of No Casual Traveller : Hartley Grattan and Australia-US Connections 1995 single work criticism biography ; The Push : an impressionist memoir 1995 single work novel ; Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography ; In Search of Steele Rudd : Author of the Classic Dad and Dave Stories 1995 single work biography -
Veneereal Disease
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 November 1995; (p. rev 9)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Pioneering Life of Pioneering Player
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 9 December 1995; (p. C13)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Split Stage
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , March vol. 6 no. 2 1996; (p. 57-58)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography -
Untitled
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 28 1996; (p. 200-203)
— Review of Pioneer Players : The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson 1995 single work biography
Awards
- 1996 highly commended Ernest Scott Prize