Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes
Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes is a 1971 Australian play written by Bob Ellis and Dick Hall. It followed Ellis' successful The Legend of King O'Malley.[1]
Background[]
In 1970 Bob Ellis went to a party given by Gough Whitlam's secretary Dick Hall thinking he was going to be asked to write speeches for Whitlam. Instead Hall proposed they collaborate on a musical about the attempted assassination of Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868. They wrote the play over weekends.[2]
Productions[]
It premiered at the Nimrod Theatre in 1971 directed by Aarne Neame.[3] Reviewing the 1971 production the Sydney Morning Herald critic felt the second half was better than the first.[4] The reviewer from The Bulletin said:
Slabs of factual research and transcription covering trials, commissions and interviews (fascinating in content, no doubt, but deadly dull as theatre) are interspersed with stretches of music-hall song-and dance routines in a desperately contrived effort to sugar the pill. But the pill sticks firmly in the throat. The authors are concerned with politics, not Parkes. They have produced a play without characters, a documentary dolled up as a theatrical event and a somewhat confusing documentary at that.[5]
The play was also produced in Melbourne in 1972.[6]
References[]
- ^ "SENDING UP FATHER". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 September 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 24 June 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ Nicklin, Lenore (25 August 1971). "Henry Parkes will tread the boards tonight". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 7.
- ^ Production page at Ausstage
- ^ Kippax, H.G. (30 August 1971). "Sir Henry was the villain". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8.
- ^ Hoad, Brian (4 September 1971). "Bullet in the buttock". The Bulletin. p. 37.
- ^ Play listing at Ausstage
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