Objector (Australian Playhouse)

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"Objector"
Australian Playhouse episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 25
Teleplay by Tony Morphett
Original air date3 October 1966 (1966-10-03)
Running time30 mins
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"Objector" is the 25th television play episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series Australian Playhouse . [1] "Objector" was written by Tony Morphett and produced by Brian Faull [2] and originally aired on ABC [3] on 3 October 1966.

Contents

Morphett went on to become one of the leading writers in Australian television. [4]

Plot

A man is conscripted to fight in Vietnam. He wants to go to court to argue against his and his father, a war veteran, calls him a coward. [5]

Cast

Production

Morphett originally wrote the story as a short story for the Adelaide Festival Literary Contest. It was written soon after the Federal Government introduced conscription for Vietnam, but Morphett says it is not "a propagandist play." [5]

It was filmed in Sydney. [6]

Reception

The Bulletin TV critic said the "play kept wandering from prose poetry to plain Australian and back again, like a novice punter trying to pick a two-horse race without a form guide." [7]

The Age said it was "a drama so true to life it hurt." [8] A different critic from the same paper said it "wasn't really a play. It was merely sort of a visual illustration of a voice told by a narrative in the background. The viewer was supposed to exercise his imagination... An actor is supposed to play a part." [9]

The same paper later called it "a noteworthy example how a dramatist can contribute to a worthy understanding." [10]

Filmink said " As would be expected from a script by Morphett, it’s well constructed, strong drama – one of the best scripts in the whole Australian Playhouse series." [11]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "TELEVISION Nothing dull on a Wacky Ship". The Canberra Times . Vol. 41, no. 11, 505. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 October 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 1 March 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Conscription". The Age . 29 September 1966. p. 33.
  3. ↑ "Varied views on Conscription today". The Canberra Times . Vol. 43, no. 12, 177. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 December 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 11 June 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink .
  5. 1 2 John Haynes; J.F. Archibald. "Vol. 88 No. 4518 (8 Oct 1966)". The Bulletin . Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "When a play gets up and walks". The Sydney Morning Herald . 2 October 1966. p. 86.
  7. ↑ John Haynes; J.F. Archibald. "Vol. 88 No. 4519 (15 Oct 1966)". The Bulletin . Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  8. ↑ "Teletopics". The Age . 6 October 1966. p. 13.
  9. ↑ Monitor (8 October 1966). "For parents and teachers". The Age . p. 25.
  10. ↑ Televiewer (29 December 1966). "Staying true to one's viewing". The Age . p. 9.
  11. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (29 August 2023). "Forgotten Australian Television Plays: Boy with Banner, Objector and Watch It". Filmink.


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