The Problem of Johnny Flourcake

The Problem of Johnny Flourcake is a 1949 Australian radio feature by Ralph Peterson. It was written in verse.

The Problem of Johnny Flourcake
Genrefeature
Running time30 mins (9:00 pm – 9:30 pm)
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Home station2BL
SyndicatesABC
Written byRalph Peterson
Directed byNeil Hutchison
Narrated byAllan Trevor
Recording studioSydney
Original releaseAugust 20, 1949 (1949-08-20)

The play was acclaimed and the ABC presented it again in March 1950 with the lead role played by Anthony Quayle, then touring Australia in a play.[1][2] This established a relationship between Peterson and Quayle that proved crucial when Quayle helped Peterson's play The Square Ring be produced.[3]

Premise

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"The birth of an aboriginal boy, his growth and education at a mission school, and the trials and tribulations which beset him as an adolescent and young adult."[4]

Reception

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According to Smith's Weekly, "Always directly personal, the narration touched on the misery and terror endured by Johnny's fore fathers, the callous treatment of his black brethren of to-day, and the diminishing future of corruption or neglect. AH this was related in the most lucid story form, with a single narrator leading us past successive moments of drama. Most of the verse was direct and simple, and the dramatic episodes were economically brief."[5]

The Sun called it "one of the most moving and beautifully-written scripts yet heard in local radio."[6]

The Daily Telegraph reviewer "hoped" the play "was the last word — or the last 20,000 words — on this sad topic."[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Shakespearian Actor for Aboriginal Story". The Age. No. 29, 564. Victoria, Australia. 27 January 1950. p. 3 (The Age Radio Supplement). Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Shakespearian Actor As Narrator", ABC Weekly, 12 (4), Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 28 January 1950, nla.obj-1448110983, retrieved 22 November 2023 – via Trove
  3. ^ "Sydney Writer's London Stage Hit". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 196. New South Wales, Australia. 26 October 1952. p. 12. Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Aboriginal Story In Free Verse". The Age. No. 29425. Victoria, Australia. 18 August 1949. p. 1 (The Age Radio Supplement). Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "On The Air sponsors--please spare that child!". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XXXI, no. 28. New South Wales, Australia. 10 September 1949. p. 22. Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Sydney Diary". The Sun. No. 12643. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1949. p. 13 (Late Final Extra). Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Around the Dial". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XIX, no. 38. New South Wales, Australia. 5 May 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.