The Forger (radio play)

Last updated
The Forger
Genreplay drama
Running time60 mins
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
SyndicatesABC
Written by Hal Porter
Directed by Leslie Rees
Original release1964

The Forger is a 1964 Australian radio play by Hal Porter about Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. [1] [2]

Wainewright's life was previously adapted for Australian radio in Portrait of a Gentleman and Porter had fictionalised Wainewright's life in his novel The Tilted Cross . [3]

The radio play was produced again in 1965, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1985.

Leslie Rees wrote "According to the thesis advanced by Porter, it was Wainewright’s covetous, bitchy and calculating wife who looked after the three mysterious killings in England for which Wainewright himself has traditionally taken the brunt of blame. So in the play the wife bulked just as large as did Thomas, possibly more so. On the A.B.C., The Forger made a telling, unpredictable hour." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy West</span> English actor (born 1934)

Timothy Lancaster West CBE is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on stage and television, including stints in both Coronation Street and EastEnders, and Not Going Out, as the original Geoffrey Adams. He is married to the actress Prunella Scales; from 2014 to 2019, they travelled together on UK and overseas canals in the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Griffiths Wainewright</span> 19th-century English and Australian artist

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright was an English artist, author and suspected serial killer. He gained a reputation as a profligate and a dandy, and in 1837, was transported to the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land for frauds on the Bank of England. As a convict he became a portraitist for Hobart's elite.

<i>The Invisible Circus</i> (play) Play by Sumner Locke Elliott

The Invisible Circus is a 1946 Australian stage play by Sumner Locke Elliott set in the world of commercial radio drama, a field that Elliott knew well from many years writing for George Edwards. Elliott is represented in two characters, the idealistic Brad and the more jaded Mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Rees (writer)</span> Australian writer (1905–2000)

George Leslie Clarke Rees was an Australian writer for children who was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.

"The Tower" is a 1964 TV play broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It aired on 2 December 1964 as a stand-alone in Melbourne and on 28 April 1965 as part of Wednesday Theatre in Sydney. It aired on 6 January 1965 in Brisbane. It was based on a play by Hal Porter and directed by Christopher Muir in the ABC's studios in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coralie Clarke Rees</span> Australian writer

Coralie Clarke, later Coralie Clarke Rees BA was a Western Australian author.

The Tilted Cross (1961) is a novel by Australian author Hal Porter.

Life of the Party is a 1957 Australian play by Ray Mathew.

<i>Portrait of a Gentleman</i> (play) 1948 play by George Farwell

Portrait of a Gentleman is a 1940 Australian radio play by George Farwell about Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. It was the first time Wainewright's life had been dramatised.

When the Gravediggers Come is an Australian play by Robert Amos. It won the 1961 Australian Journalists Award for Best Play along with The Tower by Hal Porter. Amos had lived in China before arriving in Australia in 1949.

Chris Gardner was the pen name for Marjorie Gardner, an English-Australian writer of television, radio and theatre.

Mockery Bend is a 1952 Australian radio play by Coral Lansbury.

Nellie Lacey and the Bushranger is an Australian stage play by Charles Porter.

Daddy Was Asleep is a 1945 Australian radio play by Betty Roland. She felt it was her best play since The Touch of Silk.

Julie Was is a 1959 Australian radio play by Peter Kenna. It was his first radio play and followed his debut as a writer with The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day.

The Path of the Eagle is a 1943 Australian radio play by Catherine Duncan. It was originally written under the title Succubus. The play was a telling of the Oedipus story.

Twilight of a Hero was a 1962 Australian radio play by Patricia Hooker. It was her first radio play.

They Sailed on Friday is a 1957 Australian radio play by William Jenner about an incident in the life of Matthew Flinders.

A Citizen of the World is a 1940 Australian radio play by Catherine Shepherd about Oliver Goldsmith. It was one of her most notable works.

An Invitation to Dinner is a 1964 Australian radio play by Noel Robinson. The story concerned Matthew Flinders.

References

  1. Play details at Fryer Library
  2. "Ear for drama". The Age. 13 Aug 1964. p. 27.
  3. "Fantasies of a convict forger". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 January 1962. p. 11.
  4. Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. p. 364.