The Bushrangers; or Norwood Vale was the first play with an Australian theme to be published and staged in Australia.[3]
| The Bushrangers | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Henry Melville |
| Date premiered | 29 May 1834[1][2] |
| Place premiered | Argyle Rooms, Hobart |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | bushrangers |
| Genre | Melodrama |
History edit
The play was printed in Hobart Town Magazine in April 1834. It was staged in Hobart the following month and in Launceston during November.[4]
It marked the earliest appearance of blackface in an Australian play.[5]
Leslie Rees observed "the play was divided into three acts with thirteen scenes, but on paper it scarcely seemed longer than a one-act play, a series of tableaux with running comments."[6] The play was written relatively quickly. Richard Fotheringham argues "much of this brief play is conventional in character and plot, but its colonial setting and staging lend even its trite and predictable elements an unexpected interest."[7]
Premise edit
A party of bushrangers plot an attack on the bush home of a settler, Norwood, who has a daughter Marian. The settler is saved by his daughter’s lover, Frederick Seymour, previously turned down by the father, and by an Aboriginal, Murrahwa.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Classified Advertising". The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839). Tas.: National Library of Australia. 6 June 1834. p. 3. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ^ "Advertising". Colonial Times. Vol. 19, no. 943. Tasmania, Australia. 27 May 1834. p. 3. Retrieved 6 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ E. Flinn, 'Melville, Henry (1799–1873)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University accessed 7 September 2013.
- ^ "INNS are a Link with Colourful Past BOOK of the WEEK". The Mercury. Vol. CLXXIII, no. 25, 602. Tasmania, Australia. 10 January 1953. p. 15. Retrieved 28 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Blackface minstrel shows at Creative spirits accessed 7 Sept 2013
- ^ Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. p. 8.
- ^ Fortheringham p 6
External links edit
Bibliography edit
- Fotheringham, Richard, ed. (2006). Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage : 1834-1899. University of Queensland Press. pp. 3–39.
- The Bushranger Fortitude Valley, Queensland: Playlab , 2013 .
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