The Bushrangers is a 1829 Australian play by David Burn. It was the first Australian written play with a local background. It was based on the life of Tasmanian bushranger Matthew Brady.
| The Bushrangers | |
|---|---|
| Written by | David Burn |
| Date premiered | September 8, 1829 [1] |
| Place premiered | Caledonian Theatre, Ebinburgh |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | bushrangers |
| Genre | melodrama |
| Setting | Tasmania |
The play was never published in Burns' lifetime (unlike his other plays), possibly because it parodied Lt Governor Arthur.[2] However a copy survived in the Mitchell Library and the play was performed in Edinburgh in 1829.[3][4][5]
It is not to be confused with the 1834 play The Bushrangers.
The play was published in book for in 1971. A reviewer said "I think it is unlikely to find many serious producers. It has the one merit of melodrama; it moves along at a spanking pace. Apart from this its interest lies in being a local example of a regrettable period in the history of drama."[6]
Leslie Rees said "While the standard of writing and characterization is not high, The Bush Rangers nevertheless shows an advance in local truth on Van Dieman’s Land. Burn failed to use a fraction of the exciting events provided by the real Brady’s career, but he appeared to want to give, as well as an adventurous tale, a semi-factual record of life in the new colony—the trials of new settlers and so on. This would account for the very diffuse arrangement of the minor scenes."[7]
Premise edit
Some convicts in Tasmania escape and one becomes a bushranger.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "THE STAGE BUSHRANGER: A Hoary Veteran". The Worker. Vol. 18, no. 12. New South Wales, Australia. 25 March 1909. p. 27. Retrieved 19 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "THE STAGE BUSHRANGER: A Hoary Veteran". The Worker. Vol. 18, no. 12. New South Wales, Australia. 25 March 1909. p. 27. Retrieved 19 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Rees, Leslie (1953). Towards an Australian Drama. pp. 6–11.
- ^ D. H. Borchardt, 'Burn, David (c. 1799–1875)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/burn-david-1854/text2153, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 19 November 2023.
- ^ "GREAT TASMANIAN EDITORS OF THE PAST". The Mercury. Vol. CLXXIII, no. 25, 636. Tasmania, Australia. 19 February 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 19 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A dramatic relic". The Canberra Times. Vol. 46, no. 12, 943. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 October 1971. p. 15. Retrieved 19 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. p. 14.
External links edit
- The Bushrangers at AustLit