Red Sky at Morning (play)

Red Sky at Morning is a 1935 Australian stage play by Dymphna Cusack. The play helped launch Cusack's writing career.[1]

Red Sky at Morning
Written byDymphna Cusack
CharactersAlicia
Date premiered1935
Place premieredSydney Player's Club
Original languageEnglish
Subjectconvict era
Genremelodrama
SettingSydney

It was first performed at Sydney Player's Club in September 1935 and adapted for radio in 1938.[2] It was later revived in 1939.[3][4]

The play was published in 1942 along with other Australian plays including Daybreak, Touch of Silk and Interval. The Sydney Morning Herald said "The last scene grips one, though it ends tamely."[5] It was often produced on radio and in amateur theatres during the subsequent years.

Noted critic Leslie Rees wrote of the play that:

An undertone of passionate resentment against injustice and coercion is heard, but there is also a mannered wit and an acute realisation of character, a clear-cut picture of the times. It is a play of style. Against these considerable merits must be men tioned a sparseness of action, especially the failure to satisfy expectations in the second act. However, the texture of the speech in this play is so fine, the quality of compassion so moving, that such a fault does not, to my mind at any rate, become paramount. To play a curtain-raiser in the same programme would help conceal the deficiency.[6]

The play was presented in May 1939 as part of Australian Drama Month at the Independent Theatre.[7] Thev Sydney Morning Herald said it was "very well presented."[8] One critic said "it is considered by many competent judges to be the best Australian play to date."[9]

Premise

In 1812 New South Wales, a woman is unhappily married to a brutal officer.

Adaptations

The play was adapted for radio in 1938.[10] This production was greatly acclaimed.[11] It was performed again in 1940.

The play was filmed in 1944.[12]

References
  1. "Australian Writers Series". The Australasian. Vol. CXLVII, no. 4, 728. Victoria, Australia. 19 August 1939. p. 42. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Social and Personal". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 November 1938. p. 18 Supplement: Women's Supplement. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  3. "Australian Drama". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 6 May 1939. p. 19. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  4. Details of original production at AusStage
  5. "AUSTRALIAN PLAYS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 3 October 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  6. "THE DRAMA IN AUSTRALIA". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 22 July 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  7. "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA MONTH". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 616. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 621. New South Wales, Australia. 6 May 1939. p. 19. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA MONTH". Macleay Argus. No. 8706. New South Wales, Australia. 23 May 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ""Turn on the Wireless"". Daily Examiner. Vol. 29, no. 9439. New South Wales, Australia. 4 November 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "A Review of Last Year's Radio Plays". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 18 January 1939. p. 44. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "New Australian Film Production". Truth. No. 2767. New South Wales, Australia. 17 January 1943. p. 23. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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