The Golden Lover is a 1943 Australian verse drama by Douglas Stewart. It was based on an ancient Māori legend.[2] Stewart was from New Zealand.[3]
| Genre | verse drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 75 mins (8:00 pm – 9:15 pm) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | 2FC |
| Syndicates | ABC |
| Written by | Douglas Stewart |
| Directed by | Fred Clewlow |
| Original release | January 24, 1943[1] |
Background
editIt won the ABC's Verse Drama competition.[4] A number of plays from this competition were produced by the ABC: The Real Betrayal, by Isobel Andrews; We're Going Through, by T. Inglis Moore; It Has Happened Before, by Dorothy Blewett; Mined Gold, by Douglas Worrall Purnell; Succubus, by Catherine Duncan; The Unmapped Lands, by Elisabeth Lambert; Brief Apocalypse, by Kenneth Mackenzie; Fear, by Ruth Bedford; With Wings as Eagles, by Edmund Barclay and Joy Hollyer; Richard Bracken-Farmer, by Wolfe Fairbridge.[5]
The play was published in a collection of Stewart's works in 1945.[6] Reviewing this, Leslie Rees called the play:
A comedy of Māori life, faithful in its simple setting, while psychologically it is as sophisticated as a town piece by Congreve. It is the story of an ill-married girl and her dream lover, a man of the patu paiarehe, “tall as a tree,” and of her choice between drab reality and glamorous escape. Its moods vary from boisterous belly-laughter to passionate or lyric love-making. The printed text is much longer than that broadcast—perhaps too long, although the eye is less irritated by repetition than the ear. Like the other work, this one has classic quality, the verse rising from the colloquial to the enchanted, full of lovely things. Romantic in mental colouring, Stewart finds themes in historical subjects, but to their dramatic illustration he brings nostalgic overtones and understanding, lent from his own rich sense of the beauty and ardour of life, not borrowed from a literary heritage. Hence he is an original.[7]
The play was produced by the ABC in 1943,[8] 1948[9] and 1957.[10]
References
edit- ^ "ABC Programmes—Sunday, Jan. 24", ABC Weekly, 5 (4), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 23 January 1943, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ ""Onlooker" Looks Into a "Magic Mirror"". Advocate. Vol. LXXVI, no. 4665. Victoria, Australia. 21 January 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 22 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Douglas Stewart A.B.C. Prize-Winning Poet", ABC Weekly, 5 (3), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 16 January 1943, nla.obj-1353069150, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "A.R.C. Verse Play". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 32, 766. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 22 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Ten new verse plays", ABC Weekly, 5 (12), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission., 20 March 1943, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ C. Christesen (Autumn 1945), "The Fire on the Snow and The Golden Lover. By Douglas Stewart (Angus & Robertson Ltd., Sydney). Fountains Beyond. By George Landen Dann ("Australasian Publishing Co., Sydney). Quiet Night. By Dorothy Blewett (Australasian Publishing Co., Sydney).", Meanjin Papers, 4 (1), Brisbane: Melbourne University Press, retrieved 22 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Radio Verse Plays Now Published", ABC Weekly, 7 (3), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 20 January 1945, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Romantic Comedy In Verse", ABC Weekly, 5 (4), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 23 January 1943, retrieved 22 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Maori Legend", ABC Weekly, 10 (9), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 28 February 1948, nla.obj-1549889947, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Radio Plays for Next Week A.B.C.", ABC Weekly, 19 (9), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 2 March 1957, nla.obj-1553702332, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
External links
edit- Golden Lover at Ausstage