Hands Up (play)

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Hands Up, or Ned Kelly and His Gang
Written by Edward Irham Cole
Directed by Edward Irham Cole
Date premiered6 January 1900
Place premieredCorner Queen and Wharf Street, Brisbane
Original languageEnglish
SubjectNed Kelly
Genremelodrama

Hands Up, or Ned Kelly and His Gang is a 1900 Australian play by Edward Irham Cole about Ned Kelly.

Contents

It appeared to make its debut in 1900. [1]

Cole performed it, originally with his Wild West Dramatic Company (which he ran with "Texas Jack"), then with his own Bohemian Drama Company. It was one of their most popular works.

The Brisbane Courier said "The performance... went very well through-out, and was freely applauded, the various thrilling events of the drama being graphically portrayed by the various members of the company, who seemed thoroughly at home in their delineations of the rougher parts of bush life." [2]

The Melbourne Herald noted that "a departure from the usual rule observed in dealing with the bushrangers is made, in that the police are not held up to ridicule, but are treated with a respect not always accorded the "force."... The author has striven to portray the history of the outlaws, as far as the stage allows, rather than to present overdrawn, sensational pictures." [3]

There were performances in 1903, [4] 1904, [5] 1907 (In Melbourne [6] and Sydney) [7] and 1909. [8]

Synopsis

Original 1900 Cast

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References

  1. "THE WILD WEST SHOW". The Brisbane Courier . Vol. LVI, no. 13, 098. Queensland, Australia. 4 January 1900. p. 4. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  2. "AMUSEMENTS". The Brisbane Courier . Vol. LVI, no. 13, 104. Queensland, Australia. 11 January 1900. p. 6. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "BOHEMIAN DRAMATIC COMPANY". The Herald. No. 9770. Victoria, Australia. 7 February 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  4. "MEL. B. SPURR". Evening News . No. 11, 402. New South Wales, Australia. 28 December 1903. p. 8. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "BILL OF THE PLAY". The Newsletter: an Australian Paper for Australian People . Vol. 6, no. 68. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1904. p. 7. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Advertising". The Age . No. 16, 192. Victoria, Australia. 2 February 1907. p. 18. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  7. "THE HAYMARKET HIPPODROME". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 21, 591. New South Wales, Australia. 1 April 1907. p. 3. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Advertising". The Age . No. 16, 759. Victoria, Australia. 28 November 1908. p. 18. Retrieved 3 April 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  9. "folders of programs and miscellaneous pieces.", [Texas Jack and his Wild West Dramatic Co. : programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia], Australian performing arts programs and ephemera (PROMPT) collection, nla.obj-891411334, retrieved 3 April 2024 via Trove