A Hard God | |
---|---|
Written by | Peter Kenna |
Characters | Dan Aggie Joe Jack Monica |
Date premiered | 17 August 1973 |
Place premiered | Nimrod Theatre, Sydney |
Original language | English |
Setting | Sydney 1946 |
A Hard God is a semi-autobiographical play by Peter Kenna. [1]
The initial production starred Gloria Dawn, a vaudeville star who had been persuaded to appear in a "straight" role in Kenna's The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day . [2]
The play was very popular and has come to be regarded as an Australian classic. [3]
It was published by Currency Press in 1974. [4]
A Hard God | |
---|---|
Directed by | Carl Schultz John Bell |
Written by | Peter Kenna |
Production company | Nimrod Theatre |
Distributed by | ABC |
Release dates | |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
The Nimrod Theatre version of the play was directed by John Bell. This was filmed by the ABC in 1974. [7] [2] Carl Shutlz directed the production, which had been done on stage under the direction of John Bell. [8]
It was one of a number of stage productions the ABC presented in the early 1970s along with Hamlet, The Misanthrope, and Spoiled.
"A Hard God" | |
---|---|
Australian Theatre Festival episode | |
Directed by | William Fitzwater |
Written by | Peter Kenna |
Original air date | 1981 |
Running time | 80 minutes |
The play was adapted for TV again by the ABC in 1981 for the Australian Theatre Festival. [9] [10]
Sigrid Madeline Thornton is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes Prisoner (1979–80), All the Rivers Run (1983), SeaChange (1998–2019) and Wentworth (2016–2018). She also starred in the American Western series Paradise (1988–91). Her film appearances include Snapshot (1979), The Man from Snowy River (1982), Street Hero (1984) and Face to Face (2011). She won the AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama for the 2015 miniseries Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door.
Esther "Essie" Davis is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and its film adaptation, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, and as Amelia Vanek in The Babadook. Other major works include a recurring role as Lady Crane in season six of the television series Game of Thrones, Sister Iphigenia in Lambs of God, and the role of Ellen Kelly in Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang.
Anne Mary Phelan was an Australian actress of stage and screen who appeared in many theatre, television and film productions as well as radio and voice-over.
Virginia Gay is an Australian actress, writer, and director, mostly known for her work on the Australian TV dramas Winners & Losers and All Saints.
Peter Joseph Kenna was an Australian playwright, radio actor and screenwriter. He has been called "a quasi-legendary figure in Australian theatre, never quite fashionable, but never quite forgotten either."
Spoiled is a television and stage play by Simon Gray, first broadcast by the BBC in 1968 as part of The Wednesday Play series and later adapted for the stage. It is set over a single weekend in the house of a schoolmaster, Howarth, who invites one of his O-Level French students to his home to do some last-minute cramming before an exam. Howarth has an almost unnatural enthusiasm, while his student, Donald, is painfully shy. Meanwhile, Howarth's pregnant wife is far from happy about having someone to stay in the midst of her fears about parenting.
Gloria Dawn was an Australian actress, choreographer singer and vaudevillian performer. She was one of the leading stars of the stage from the 1950s to her death.
Hamlet is a 1974 filmed adaptation of John Bell and Richard Wherrett's theatre production of the play.
The Misanthrope is a 1974 Australian film adaptation of the play The Misanthrope by Moliere. It was one of a series of four play adaptations the ABC made around this time, others including Hamlet, A Hard God and Spoiled.
The Slaughter of St. Teresa's Day is a play by Australian author Peter Kenna.
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.
Jenny is a 1962 Australian TV drama.
"The Swagman" is a 1965 Australian television play. It aired as part of Wednesday Theatre on 31 March 1965 in Sydney and Melbourne.
Wuthering Heights is a 1959 Australian television play adapted from Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. It was directed by Alan Burke and based on a script by Nigel Kneale which had been adapted by the BBC in 1953 as a TV play starring Richard Todd. It was made at a time when Australian drama production was rare.
Goodbye, Gloria, Hello! is a 1967 TV play broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It ran for a little over an hour and aired on the ABC on 10 April 1967. It was written by Peter Kenna. It was based on a stage play.
Geraldine Hakewill is an Australian actress and singer. She acted as Chelsea Babbage in the Australian TV series Wanted for three seasons from 2016 to 2018 and Peregrine Fisher the titular character in Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries for two seasons from 2019 to 2021.
The First Joanna is a 1943 play by Dorothy Blewett that was adapted for radio and television.
The Slaughter of St. Teresa's Day was a 1960 Australian TV play based on the stage play of the same name by Peter Kenna.
"Rusty Bugles" is a television play episode of the Australian ABC television series Wednesday Theatre which aired on 23 June 1965.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a 1972 Australian television play based on the stage play by Bertolt Brecht which ran at the Old Tote Theatre in Sydney, directed by Richard Wherrett and starring John Bell.