''A Cheery Soul'' is a 1963 play by Australian writer
Patrick White set in the fictional Sydney suburb of Sarsaparilla at the end of the 1950s. White described it as being about "the destructive power of good."
Productions
''A Cheery Soul'' premiered at the
Union Theatre Repertory Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...
in Melbourne in November 1963 directed by
John Sumner, with
Nita Pannell as the 'cheery soul' Miss Docker.
Other major productions have included:
* 1979
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
directed by
Jim Sharman
James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director since the 1960s, and is best known in ...
starring
Robyn Nevin
* 1992
Royal Queensland Theatre Company (Brisbane) directed by
Neil Armfield starring
Carole Skinner
* 2000
Company B Belvoir and Sydney Theatre Company directed by Neil Armfield starring Robyn Nevin
*2018 Sydney Theatre Company directed by
Kip Williams starring
Sarah Peirse
In popular culture
The play's chief character Miss Docker, as portrayed in 2018 by Sarah Peirse, was the subject of a portrait by
Jude Rae, entered into the 2019
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
. The artist had many sittings with the actor and has said of it: "Miss Docker's moments of isolation on stage also suggested a formal structure
or the paintingbased on a famous 17th century portrait by
Diego Velásquez of the actor Pablo de Valladolid, a buffoon in the court of
King Phillip IV of Spain."
The artist also said: "perhaps this painting is something of an anti-portrait, a reminder that we are to some degree actors, projecting various versions of ourselves..."
1966 TV adaptation
It was adapted for British TV in 1966 on the BBC. The ''Daily Mirror'' called it tedious.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheery Soul, A
1963 plays
Plays by Patrick White