Plays of the 60s - Volume 1

A social-realist play dealing with racial prejudice set in a country milk bar

The play explores a town divided over a new housing development for the Aboriginal population

Passions are stirred by press interest in Peggy, an Aboriginal girl who has won brief fame as a film actress; entrenched pastoral interests; envy and racism; and perceived Aboriginal fecklessness

Despite the intercessions of a local black lawyer and Joe, the 'dago' cafe owner, the summer heat busts into violence

The Well ~ Jack McKinney (1960)

A delightful country comedy that testifies to the impending end of the cultural isolation of rural life

The Promised Woman ~ Theodore Patrikareas (1963)

Possibly the first play by a post-war immigrant staged in Australia, The Promised Woman has also been produced in Greece

Set in a boarding house in Sydney's inner city suburb of Newtown, it captures the dislocation and problems of immigration as it tells the story of a strong young woman who finds a way to break free of traditional constraints

Displays the new world of the post-war immigrant

The Season at Sarsaparilla ~ Patrick White (1962)

Patrick White described his play as 'a charade of suburbia'-a play of shadows, rather than substance

The neighbours of the play are held by their environment, waiting with determination, but little expectation, for the inevitable cycle of birth, copulation and death

Burst of Summer - 7M, 2F / The Well - 7M, 2F / The Promised Woman - 7M, 4F / The Season at Sarsaparilla - 9M, 7F