Australian Theatre Festival

Last updated

Australian Theatre Festival
Country of originAustralia
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12
Original release
Release20 July 1980 (1980-07-20) 
11 November 1981 (1981-11-11)

The Australian Theatre Festival was a series of adaptations of Australian plays filmed by the ABC in 1979-80 and first aired August 1980. [1] Six plays were filmed first the first season at an estimated budget of $5,000 an episode. They aired on Sunday night opposite movies on the commercial channels. [1] Six additional plays were filmed for season two. [2] They were partly inspired by a government ruling that the ABC could keep any money it made selling projects overseas. [3]

Contents

The series was not a ratings success. [4]

Episodes

First Series:

  1. "Carolie Lansdowne Says No" by Alex Buzo
  2. "A Toast to Melba" by Jack Hibberd
  3. "Big Toys" by Patrick White
  4. "Departmental" by Mervyn Rutherford
  5. "The Department" by David Williamson
  6. "Bedfellows" by Barry Oakley [5]

Second Series:

  1. "A Hard God" by Peter Kenna [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Thompson (actor)</span> Australian actor (born 1940)

Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and a major figure of Australian cinema, particularly Australian New Wave. He is best known as a lead actor in several acclaimed Australian films, including such classics as The Club (1980), Sunday Too Far Away (1975), The Man from Snowy River (1982) and Petersen (1974). He won Cannes and AFI acting awards for the latter film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Brown</span> Australian actor (born 1947)

Bryan Neathway Brown AM is an Australian actor and author. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include Breaker Morant (1980), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), F/X (1986), Tai-Pan (1986), Cocktail (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), F/X2 (1991), Along Came Polly (2004), Australia (2008), Kill Me Three Times (2014) and Gods of Egypt (2016). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his performance in the television miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Randell</span> Australian actor (1918–2005)

Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Turpie</span> Australian media performer

Ian Bruce Turpie, sometimes referred to as Turps, was an Australian performer, actor, pop singer and presenter. He was the host of the teen pop music TV show, The Go!! Show (1965–66) and various TV game shows, The Price Is Right, and Supermarket Sweep (1992–1994). As a TV actor he portrayed Keith Warne on Swift and Shift Couriers and Wazza and Narrator in Housos (2011). He was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2011 and died the following year, aged 68.

Sally Ann Boyden is an Australian singer, songwriter, children’s television program writer and actress. Boyden commenced her performance career, at the age of seven, on TV series, Young Talent Time, in 1973. After leaving in 1976, she released her debut solo album, The Littlest Australian, and appeared on United States TV's The Waltons to begin her international acting career.

The Dugites were an Australian rock band who formed in the late 1970s and went on to record three albums in the early 1980s. The Dugites combined elements of power pop, new wave and electronic, producing songs with strong melodies, hooks and a smattering of politics. With hit singles "In Your Car", "Waiting" and "Juno and Me", they received extensive airplay, appearances on Countdown and toured nationally around Australia. The band's name refers to the brown venomous snake, the dugite, common to Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine McClements</span> Australian actress

Catherine McClements is an Australian stage, film and television actress and television presenter. She is known for her TV roles in Water Rats and Tangle, for which she won Logie Awards, and has performed in stage productions for theatre companies such as Belvoir St Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Haywood</span> Australian actor

Chris Haywood is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, location and unit manager.

Vincent Martin Ball, is an Australian retired actor of film, theatre and radio active in the industry for nearly 55 years firstly in Britain starting in the late 1940s and then his native Australia. Ball, a Royal Air Force military veteran, has also authored a number of books.

Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally.

<i>The Timeless Land</i> Novel by Eleanor Dark

The Timeless Land (1941) is a work of historical fiction by Eleanor Dark (1901–1985). The novel The Timeless Land is the first of The Timeless Land trilogy of novels about European settlement and exploration of Australia.

A Hard God is a semi-autobiographical play by Peter Kenna.

<i>Stormy Petrel</i> (TV series) Television series

Stormy Petrel is an early Australian television drama. A period drama, the 12-episode serial told the story of William Bligh and aired in 1960 on ABC. It was the first live TV serial from the ABC.

Picture Page was an early Australian television series which aired from 1956 to 1957 on ABC. It was hosted by Valerie Cooney.

Coralie Lansdowne Says No is a play by Alex Buzo about a woman's struggle for independence.

Big Toys is a 1977 Australian play by Patrick White. It was his first play in 14 years.

"Departmental" is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival. Reviews were poor.

<i>Sara Dane</i> Australian TV series or program

Sara Dane is a 1982 Australian television miniseries about a woman transported from England to Australia for a crime she did not commit.

The Last Outlaw is a 1980 Australian four-part television miniseries based on the life of Ned Kelly. It was shot from February to May 1980 and the end of its original broadcast, in October–November 1980, coincided with the centenary of Ned Kelly's death.

All the Green Year is a 1980 Australian television series based on a novel about three boys growing up near Melbourne on the eve of the Great Depression.

References

  1. 1 2 "Culled Out!". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 20 August 1980. p. 165 Supplement: Your TV Magazine. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 "PRODUCTION notes". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 6 August 1980. p. 146 Supplement: FREE Your TV Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  3. "THE LINE-UP FOR 1980". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 6 February 1980. p. 46. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  4. Australian Theatre Festival at AustLit
  5. "TELEVISION An affectionate play". The Canberra Times . Vol. 54, no. 16, 394. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 August 1980. p. 14. Retrieved 12 May 2017 via National Library of Australia.