The Jackeroo

Last updated
The Jackeroo
Genredrama play
Running time60 mins [1]
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Written byRichard Barry

The Jackeroo is a 1937 Australian radio play by Richard Barry.

It was written for a radio play competition held by a Western Australian newspaper, The Broadcaster. The play was considered too long to qualify for a prize, but the judges recommended it for production. It was presented in Western Australia and purchased by the Australian Broadcasting Commission for broadcast across the nation in January 1938. [2]

Barry died shortly after writing the play (it was his first radio play). [3]

The play was presented as part of ABC's Drama Week Festival in 1938, partly due to request, partly as a tribute to Barry. [4] [5]

It was recorded again in 1939, 1942, 1946 and 1952.

Reviewing a 1942 production, Wireless Weekly said "Anyone who listened to" the play "without realising its satirical import must have been at a loss to discover the merit of the play... The plot of “The Jackeroo” is pure farce, and, with the exception of Molly Deane, the reporter... all the characters are burlesque of stock Australian literary types. Richard Barry has touched off the absurdities of such characters quite neatly, and with a certain amount of sly wit." [6]

Premise

A young Englishman comes to Australia.

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References

  1. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (December 31, 1937), "Thursday January 6", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, nla.obj-718991545, retrieved 25 January 2024– via Trove
  2. ↑ "Broadcasting Programmes For Tonight". News. Vol. XXX, no. 4, 510. South Australia. 6 January 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 25 January 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "RADIO DRAMA WEEK". The Mercury. Vol. CXLVIII, no. 21, 048. Tasmania, Australia. 12 May 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 25 January 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "A.B.C. RADIO DRAMA WEEK". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 7 May 1938. p. 28. Retrieved 25 January 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (May 6, 1938), "Radio drama week Details of the Plays", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, nla.obj-714402064, retrieved 25 January 2024– via Trove
  6. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (June 13, 1942), The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, nla.obj-725188165, retrieved 25 January 2024– via Trove
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