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The Observer Plays
''The ''Observer'' Plays'' is a 1958 collection of seven plays edited by Kenneth Tynan. The plays were commended in the famous 1957 playwriting competition organised by Tynan when at the ''Observer'' newspaper. The plays were: *''Moon on a Rainbow Shawl'' by Errol John *''Sit on the Earth'' by Gurney Campbell and Daphne Athas *''The Sport of My Mad Mother'' by Ann Jellicoe *''A Resounding Tinkle'' by N.F. Simpson *''The Shifting Heart'' by Richard Beynon *''All My Own Work'' by Romilly Cavan *''Four Men'' by Andre Davis Background In 1956 the London ''Observer'' newspaper held a competition for the best new stage play with a prize of 500 pounds. The competition was held in part to respond to allegations there were no new exciting plays in British theatre, and was run by Kenneth Tynan, the newspaper's drama critic. There were over 2,000 entries. According to Tynan, the submitted plays fell into six main groups: the H bomb, the Hungarian Uprising, Australia, the "colour problem", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at '' The Observer'', he praised Osborne's '' Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed as the new National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, Tynan is often believed to have been the first person to say "fuck" on British television, during a live broadcast in 1965. Later in his life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" ( see below). Tynan had a stammer which was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. An intellectual and diplomat, he held various academic posts and served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and president of the World Federalist Movement. Ustinov was the winner of numerous awards during his life, including two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTA Awards for acting, and a Grammy Award for best recording for children, as well as the recipient of governmental honours from, amongst others, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He also displayed a unique cultural versatility which frequently earned him the accolade of a Renaissance man. Miklós Rózsa, composer of the music for ''Quo Vadis'' and of numerous concert works, dedicated his String Quartet No ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Seymour
Alan Seymour (6 June 192723 March 2015) was an Australian playwright and author. He is best known for the play ''The One Day of the Year'' (1958). His international reputation rests not only on this early play, but also on his many screenplays, television scripts and adaptations of novels for film and television. Career Seymour was born in Fremantle, Western Australia. His father was killed in a wharf accident when Alan was nine, and his mother, a Cockney from London, died a few months later.Marc McEvoy, obituary: "The one day of the year became a defining moment in writer's life". ''The Age'', 30 March 2015, p. 34 After that he was brought up by his sister May and her husband, Alfred Chester Cruthers. He was educated at Perth Modern School, leaving at 15 after failing to complete the Junior Certificate. He found work as a radio announcer in a commercial radio station 6PM. During his two years there he wrote a number of short radio plays that were broadcast live. In 1945 he move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swamp Creatures
''Swamp Creatures'' is a play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He wrote it for radio, stage and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play. Plot Two sisters live together in the Australian bush, the dominant Constance and the frail Amy. Amy's son Christian returns after having disappeared when he was in his teens. For Constance, the swamp is a symbol of life. For Amy it is a nightmare. It turns out genetic experiments were made by a driven woman and her handyman, Charlie Fall. Background The play was written in 1955–56. In 1956 it was the runner-up in a play competition held by the Journalists' Club and judged by the Playwrights' Advisory Board. In 1957 it was one of the twenty-five finalists in the play competition held by the London Observer. It was first performed by the Canberra Repertory Society in 1957. Cast of original production *Joyce Goodes as Constance *Barbara Shanahan as Amy *Michael Dennis as Christian *Harry Schmidt as Mr Fall *Daphne Curtis as Mrs Fall Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Mathew
Raymond Frank "Ray" Mathew (14 April 192927 May 2002) was an Australian author. Mathew wrote poetry, drama, radio plays and filmscripts, short stories, novels, arts and literature criticism, and other non-fiction. He left Australia in 1960 and never returned, dying in New York where he had lived from 1968. Childhood and education Mathew was born in Sydney and lived in Leichhardt and Bondi, Sydney during his childhood, attending Sydney Boys High School. He attended Sydney Teachers College from 1947 to 1949. Teaching and work in Australia Between 1949 and 1951 Mathew taught at small country schools in New South Wales, where he was often the only teacher. His experience as a lone and lonely teacher is expressed in his most well-known play, ''A Spring Song'', which was first performed in 1958. During the 1950s Mathew also worked in shops, moved furniture, gave school broadcasts and adult education lectures, wrote literary reviews for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' as a freelance jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life Of The Party (play)
''Life of the Party'' is a 1957 Australian play by Ray Mathew. The play was a finalist in the 1957 London Observer competition. It was given a public reading at the Independent Theatre in Sydney in 1958, and had a short season in London in 1960. Being produced in London was a notable achievement for an Australian play at the time. Reception The 1960 production in London starred Alan Badel and was directed by Frith Banbury Frederick Harold Frith Banbury MBE (4 May 1912 – 14 May 2008) was a British theatre actor and director. Banbury was born in Plymouth, Devon, on 4 May 1912, the son of Rear Admiral Frederick Arthur Frith Banbury and his wife Winifred (n .... ''The Daily Telegraph'' called it "most unpleasant." ''Variety'' was also critical. Leslie Rees said the play "demonstrated both the merits and the shortcomings of a Peter Pan author" and "illustrated the growing sophistication in content of Australian plays in the late fifties and early sixties." He added tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Rigby (screenwriter)
Ray Rigby (1916, Rochford – 1995, Guadalajara, Mexico) was a British screenwriter and novelist. He is mainly known for ''The Hill'', a searing account of an abusive military prison, which was directed by Sidney Lumet and was greeted with critical acclaim, winning the Best Screenplay award at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival The 18th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 16 May 1965. Olivia de Havilland became the first woman president of the jury. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to ''The Knack …and How to Get It'' by Richard Lester. The f ..., an honour also bestowed by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain the following year, when it also won a BAFTA for Best Screenplay. The film was inspired by Rigby's own experience in a British military prison in World War II when he spent two terms in field punishment detention centres. He co-wrote the film ''Operation Crossbow (film), Operation Crossbow'', also released in 1965. Throughout the 1950s and 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bastard Country
''The Bastard Country'' is a 1959 Australian play by Anthony Coburn. It was also known as ''Fire on the Wind''. The play was a finalist in the 1957 London ''Observer'' playwriting competition. Anthony Coburn, an Australian who lived in London since 1950, says he deliberately picked the title because "I wanted something to catch the judges' attention." It was performed by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1959. It was the third play of the season that year. Director Robin Lovejoy called it "probably the most violent play in plot and language that has been seen in Sydney for many years. Many people think it an unreal picture of Australian life. But all the violence grows inevitably out of the characters as people, not because they are specifically Australian." Grant Taylor played the key role. The play was toured around the country along with two other Trust productions ''Man and Superman'' and ''Long Day's Journey into Night''. For this run it was retitled ''Fire on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Barry (television Producer)
Michael Barry (15 May 1910 – June 1988) was a British television producer, director and executive, who was an important early influence on BBC television drama. He was educated at King's College London. He was one of the first producers to work in the field of drama for the BBC, producing and directing several plays for the fledgling BBC Television Service in the 1930s, before it was placed on hiatus for the duration of the Second World War in 1939. He also worked occasionally outside of drama, producing episodes of the magazine programme '' Picture Page'' during 1938. After the resumption of the service in 1946, Barry returned, and quickly became one of the senior drama producers. In 1952, he succeeded Val Gielgud to become the Head of Drama at BBC Television, a position he was to occupy for the next decade. He was responsible for commissioning several important productions, including the '' Quatermass'' science-fiction serials, and in 1954 an adaptation of George Orwell's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Hall (director)
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE (22 November 1930 11 September 2017) was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in ''The Times'' declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognizing achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director. In 1955, Hall introduced London audiences to the work of Samuel Beckett with the UK premiere of '' Waiting for Godot''. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company (1960–68) and went on to build an international reputation in theatre, opera, film and television. He was director of the National Theatre (1973–88) and artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (19841990). He formed the Peter Hall Company (19982011) and beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), in which he played nine different characters, '' The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). He collaborated six times with director David Lean: Herbert Pocket in '' Great Expectations'' (1946), Fagin in '' Oliver Twist'' (1948), Col. Nicholson in '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Prince Faisal in '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in '' Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), and Professor Godbole in '' A Passage to India'' (1984). In 1970 he played Jacob Marley's ghost in Ronald Neame's '' Scrooge''. He also portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1926 by Thomas Shakespeare along with his oldest son Arthur Shakespeare and two younger sons Christopher and James. The newspaper's headquarters were originally located in the Civic retail precinct, in Cooyong Street and Mort Street, in blocks bought by Thomas Shakespeare in the first sale of Canberra leases in 1924. The newspaper's first issue was published on 3 September 1926. It was the second paper to be printed in the city, the first being '' The Federal Capital Pioneer''. Between September 1926 and February 1928, the newspaper was a weekly issue. The first daily issue was 28 February 1928. In June 1956, ''The Canberra Times'' converted from broadsheet to tabloid format. Arthur Shakespeare sold the paper to John Fairfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
