Description
Book SynopsisWhen Dorothy Hewett joked about needing a face-lift and sex-change to improve her standing, she drew attention to forces that shaped the production and reception of her drama. Drawing on production of her plays over four decades, and interviews with Hewett’s collaborators, this book reveals how cultural memories in theatre solidify and dissolve. Viewing theatre production as a mode of remembrance, Beaglehole grapples with Hewett as a divisive figure who was ahead of a conservative Australia. Revisiting frequently produced plays, including chapters on The Man from Mukinupin and The Chapel Perilous, as well as rarely-produced works, including Nowhere and The Tatty Hollow Story, this book articulates the ongoing relevance of Hewett’s drama to the history of theatre in Australia.
Table of ContentsForeword Preface: Notes on Sources Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction: Dorothy Hewett and Her Drama 1 The Hewett Legend and Cultural Memory in Australian Theatre 2 Revisiting Redfern—This Old Man Comes Rolling Home 3 Controversy and The Chapel Perilous 4 The Tatty Hollow Story and the Irreconcilable in Remembering Dorothy Hewett 5 Visions of The Man from Mukinupin 6 The Jarrabin Trilogy—An End to Hewett’s New Writing? 7 Hewett’s Reprise—Nowhere Conclusion: Remembering Dorothy Hewett and Her Drama by Narrating the Lives of Plays Appendix: 1920–2019 Timeline, Including Hewett’s Life and Works Bibliography Index
