The Black Feather is a 1944 Australian radio play by Edmund Barclay. It was a propaganda play for World War Two.
| Genre | radio drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 mins (8:30 pm – 9:00 pm) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | 2FC |
| Syndicates | ABC |
| Written by | Edmund Barclay |
| Directed by | Charles Wheeler[1] |
| Original release | 8 February 1944 |
It originally aired in 1944 and was produced again in 1945, directed by Frank Harvey.[2]
Premise
editAccording to ABC Weekly "The black feather is a symbol that has arisen during the present war. The white feather came to mean cowardice in the days of the cockpit, because a white feather in a game-cock was the sign of a cross-breed in birds, and suggested that the cock was no good for fighting. To learn what the black feather stands for listeners must tune in."[3]
Another account in the same magazine described it as such: "the story of an event long overdue In Australia—the housewives’ rebellion against black marketing. "You remember the affair of the Black Feather, and how it swept Australia like a cleansing me. Some say it first leapt up in Perth, others trace the origin to Goulburn, but as a matter of cold, hard fact, it all began in New Guinea.” [4]
References
edit- ^ "Tuesday, February 8", ABC Weekly, 6 (6), Sydney, 5 February 1944, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Friday", ABC Weekly, 7 (30), Sydney, 28 July 1945, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "The Black Feather", ABC Weekly, 6 (6), Sydney, 5 February 1944, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "This week's A.B.C. PLAYS on the National programmes", ABC Weekly, 7 (30), Sydney, 28 July 1945, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove