Granite Peak (play)

Last updated
Granite Peak
Written by Betty Roland
Date premiered1951
Original languageEnglish
Genredrama

Granite Peak is a 1951 Australian play by Betty Roland. It was adapted for British television.

Contents

Plot

Roger, heir to a cattle station, loves quiet Rosie, who works for a couple who run a pub and who have a daughter Gladys who was kicked out of the convent. Bessie is an old drunk who gives Rosie advice. Rosie gets pregnant to Brett Parker who is married and Roger sleeps with Rosie (he thinks he's the dad). Kate, Roger's sister, is loved by the neighbour but who loves her foster brother, part-Aboriginal Charlie, who is keen to be a doctor. Kate wants to have sex with Charlie and he loves her but wants to marry her and she's reluctant. Rosie and Roger end happily, Charlie flies off.

Background

Roland started writing it in the 1930s then revised it 20 years later. The play was praised in a 1951 Commonwealth Jubilee Playwriting Competition. But did not win. [1] [2]

The play received various public readings.

TV Production

It was filmed for British television in 1957.

The Guardian called it "bad... the tritest kind of romantic fiction". [3] Other reviews were generally poor. [4]

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References

  1. Jayne Regan, 'Roland, Betty (1903–1996)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/roland-betty-27186/text34709, published online 2020, accessed online 17 July 2023.
  2. "PRIZES FOR PLAYS". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 35, 533. New South Wales, Australia. 9 November 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 17 July 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Australian Authoress's Fiction". The Guardian. 27 April 1957. p. 5.
  4. "Play on Australia left critics cold". The Age. 26 April 1957. p. 4.