The Illusionists (play)
| The Illusionists | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Morris West |
| Date premiered | 1955 |
| Place premiered | ABC radio |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | modern life |
| Genre | verse drama |
The Illusionists is a 1955 stage play by Morris West about an advertising agent who longs to paint. It was a verse drama, like his later play The Heretic. West had just sold his radio company and begun writing novels.[1]
The play was highly commended in the 1955 playwriting competition from the Playwrights' Advisory Board that was won by Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and The Torrents. (Others highly commended were Flood, Hoad of Moluka, Cornerstone and We Find the Bunyip. There had been 130 entries.)[2]
Premise
[edit]A commercial artist, Roger Maxwell, leaves his job working for an advertising agency and wife and child to become a painter.
Radio adaptation
[edit]
The play was adapted by the ABC for radio in 1955,[3] 1956,[4] 1959[5] 1962[6] and 1965.[7] The 1962 production was part of a series on the ABC of nine radio plays representing 30 years of broadcasting (other Australian plays were Winter Passion and The Fire on the Snow.)[8]
Reviewing the 1955 radio production, The Age said "although written in a white hot intensity that became rather over powering and without the relief of wit or humour the play had the virtue of being a connected and believable story... a nice piece of work".[9]
Stage production
[edit]The play was presented at the Theatre in the Round in London in June 1957 starring Bruce Stewart and directed by Leila Blake.
Reviewing this production, the London Daily Telegraph said "neither the novelty of the setting nor the blank verse - some of it rather purple - could disguise that there was practically nothing new to be said."[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "The arts Insisting on the right to be wrong", The bulletin, 92 (4709), 20 Jun 1970, nla.obj-1457563459, retrieved 8 July 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Two best plays by Victorians". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 August 1955. p. 6.
- ^ "PEOPLE AND PROGRAMMES AND PROGRAMMES", ABC Weekly, 17 (22), Sydney, 28 May 1955, retrieved 8 July 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "No title", ABC Weekly, 18 (7), Sydney, 18 February 1956, nla.obj-1427371092, retrieved 8 July 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "No title", ABC Weekly, 21 (7), Sydney, 18 February 1959, nla.obj-1528083964, retrieved 8 July 2023 – via Trove
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (August 27, 2022). "3 Forgotten Australian Television Plays". Filmink. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
- ^ "Drama on radio". The Age. 20 May 1965. p. 25.
- ^ "Nine radio plays in ABC festival". The Age. 3 May 1962. p. 25.
- ^ "Broadcasting to people on the land". The Age. 4 June 1955. p. 18.
- ^ L.L. (17 June 1957). "Talented cast in old theme". The Daily Telegraph. p. 10.