Tether a Dragon

Tether a Dragon is a 1951 Australian play by Kylie Tennant about Alfred Deakin and his battle with William Lyne.

Tether a Dragon
Written byKylie Tennant
CharactersAlfred Deakin
Sir William Lyne
Lord Hopetoun
David Syme
Duke of Devonshire
Original languageEnglish
SubjectAustralian history
SettingMelbourne

It won first prize in the 1951 Commonwealth Jubilee Play Competition.[1][2] The play was adapted for radio on the ABC in 1952.[3]

It was published in 1952.[4] A reviewer from the Argus said "With the touch expected of a writer of her stature, Miss Tennant has not made her play a study of the one man and- left the other characters to wallow in obscurity... This play genuinely moved me as I read it. It would be better still to see it competently performed, as, it is to be hoped, it soon will be."[5] The radio play version was repeated in 1953.[6]

Leslie Rees aargued:

Perhaps by intention, the play was effective rather as a series of fresh, rather airy pastel sketches than as a fully-shaped portrait in mature colours. But it hardly avoided the pitfalls of submerging Deakin the man in a mass of complicated politics, even if these were not taken too solemnly. Adapted to radio form, the play made stimulating and pointed listening for those interested in the problem: Is it inevitable that political leadership shall destroy the leader by the very tumult and pressure of the task?[7]

References
  1. "Prize play on Deakin". The Courier-mail. No. 4665. Queensland, Australia. 9 November 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Prizes for Plays". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 533. New South Wales, Australia. 9 November 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Jubilee prize play to be aired by ABC". The Sun. No. 13, 344. New South Wales, Australia. 14 November 1952. p. 12 (Late Final Edition). Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "An Historical Trilogy". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. CXI, no. 237. Tasmania, Australia. 13 December 1952. p. 14. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "An admirable play—but what is its fate?". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 33, 167. Victoria, Australia. 20 December 1952. p. 13. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "The Week in Wireless". The Age. No. 30, 656. Victoria, Australia. 1 August 1953. p. 16. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. Rees, Leslie (1953). Towards An Australian Drama. p. 125.
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