Australian Theatre Festival Explained

Country:	Australia
Num Seasons:	2
Num Episodes:	12

The Australian Theatre Festival was a series of adaptations of Australian plays filmed by the ABC in 1979-80 and first aired August 1980. Six plays were filmed first the first season at an estimated budget of $5,000 an episode. They aired on Sunday night opposite movies on the commercial channels.^[1] Six additional plays were filmed for season two.^[2] They were partly inspired by a government ruling that the ABC could keep any money it made selling projects overseas.^[3]

The series was not a ratings success.^[4]

Episodes

First Series:

1. "Carolie Lansdowne Says No" by Alex Buzo
2. "A Toast to Melba" by Jack Hibberd
3. "Big Toys" by Patrick White
4. "Departmental" by Mervyn Rutherford
5. "The Department" by David Williamson
6. "Bedfellows" by Barry Oakley^[5]

Second Series:

1. "Going Home" by Alma De Groen^[6]
2. "Rusty Bugles" by Sumner Locke Elliot^[7]
3. "A Hard God" by Peter Kenna

Notes and References

1. News: 20 August 1980 . Culled Out!. . 14 July 2013 . . National Library of Australia . 165 Supplement: Your TV Magazine.
2. News: 6 August 1980 . PRODUCTION notes. . 7 August 2013 . . National Library of Australia . 146 Supplement: FREE Your TV Magazine.
3. News: 6 February 1980 . THE LINE-UP FOR 1980. . 15 July 2013 . . National Library of Australia . 46.
4. http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C666848 Australian Theatre Festival
5. News: 14 August 1980 . TELEVISION An affectionate play . 12 May 2017 . . Australian Capital Territory, Australia . 14 . National Library of Australia . 54 . 16,394.
6. News: Channel 3 . . 56 . 16,782 . Australian Capital Territory, Australia . 7 September 1981 . 22 June 2024 . 4 (Golden Guild to TV and Radio) . National Library of Australia.
7. News: Warden . Ian . 1981-11-12 . Barbarians through a Pythonesque eye . 2024-06-22 . The Canberra Times.