Sun and Shadow is a 1870 Australian stage play by Walter Cooper. [1] [2]
The Age said "the drama met with a most enthusiastic reception." [3]
The Herald said "it can only be pronounced as a mass of incongruities; in fact, "a thing of shreds and patches." As a dramatic work it is not likely to add to tho fame of the author." [4]
Evening News said "The drama itself must certainly, judging from the lavish applause with which it was greeted, be considered an unqualified success. As a literary work of art it is an exceedingly commendable production; the characters are boldly and graphically sketched, and the dialogue lively and well pointed. Perhaps the principal defect of the latter is a trifling redundancy of colonial colloquialisms of the class most affected by bushmen and diggers, such as 'My colonial oath,' &c.; and the drama would, technically speaking, play much 'closer' for a judicious curtailment of the first and second acts. As a piece of the sensational school, it is decidedly inferior to none." [5]
The original production involved a court action. [6]