Naked Possum

Naked Possum is a 1956 Australian play by Barbara Vernon. It was her first play performed in Sydney and is one of the few Australian plays to examine the Malayan Emergency.[1]

Naked Possum
Written byBarbara Vernon
Directed byNoel Rubie
Date premieredSeptember 13, 1956 (1956-09-13)
Place premieredIndependent Theatre, Sydney
Original languageAustralia
SubjectMalayan Emergency
Genredrama
SettingMalaya

Leslie Rees called it "something of a damp squib."[2] The Sydney Morning Herald called it "ripe old melodrama" with "stale situations and limping cliches".[3] However The Bulletin said "it has a remarkably attractive set.. and a most impressive performance by Owen Weingott, while the plot has sufficient intricacy and suspense to keep one guessing."[4]

Premise

During the Malayan Emergency, Australian troops looking for Communists arrive at a temple in the jungle. They meet the widow of a murdered planter who tries to seduce the soldiers.

Original cast

  • Margaret Roberts
  • Owen Weingott
  • Jerold Wells
  • Derek Stanley

References

  1. Jane Connors, 'Vernon, Barbara Mary (1916–1978)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vernon-barbara-mary-11922/text21359, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 29 July 2023.
  2. Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. p. 289.
  3. "Aust Play at the Independent". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 1956. p. 7.
  4. "Women's Letters – Sydney", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues), Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 77 (3997): 18, 19 September 1956, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-694447958, retrieved 30 July 2023 via Trove
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