AustLit

The play 'The Square Ring' on which this novel was based was itself based on a radio serial called 'Come Out Fighting' which Peterson wrote for ABC radio in 1949. The play was first performed in 1951 at the Lyric Hammersmith (England) by the Company of Three and in Melbourne the same year. It toured England with an all black cast from the New York Negro Theatre Guild. A film adaptation of this play (with screenplay by Robert Westerby) was produced by Ealing Studios (London, 1953) starring Jack Warner, Sid James and Kay Kendall.