Playwrights' Advisory Board Explained

The Playwrights' Advisory Board was an Australian organisation established in 1938 to assist the cause of Australian playwriting.^[1] It was established by Leslie Rees, Rex Rienits and Doris Fitton. Its functions included negotiating productions with theatres, acting as an intermediary in the nomination and collection of royalties, advising theatres and playwrights on scripts, and holding script competitions.^[2] Members of the board included names such as Dymphna Cusack and Sumner Locke Elliott.

The Board ceased operations in 1963.

The Board's most notable achievement was holding a competition which helped unearth Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

Competitions

1. 1944 – winner: Sons of Morning^[3] by Catherine Duncan; second: Positions Vacant by Gwen Meredith; third: They Also Serve by Dymphna Cusack^{[4] [5]}
2. 1946 – equal first: Ha Ha Among the Trumpets by George Landen Dann and And the Moon Will Shine by Miss Lynn Foster;^[6] second: Stand Still Time by Dymphna Cusack
3. 1947 – winner: The First Joanna by Dorothy Blewett^[7]
4. 1955 – equal first: The Torrents by Oriel Gray and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler; runner up Pacific Paradise by Dymphna Cusack, Flood by Eunice Hanger and Cornerstone by Gwen Meredith; We Find the Bunyip received a special mention
5. 1957 – winner: The Shifting Heart by Richard Beynon; second: The Multi Coloured Umbrella by Barbara Vernon
6. 1960 General Motors Holden competition (voted on by The Trust and the PAB) – no winner but four recommendations, Donny Johnson by Alan Seymour, Zelda Trio by Laurence Collinson, Hateful Face in the Mirror by John Pinkney, Wish No More by Marien Dreyer
7. 1961 Journalists Club Award (decided by the PAB) – equal first When the Gravediggers Come by Robert Amos and The Tower by Hal Porter

1940 Recommendations

In 1940 the Board recommended the following plays for production:

• Ancestors by Vance Palmer
• Anoli the Blind by Sydney Tomholt
• Dampier's Ghost by Henrietta Drake-Brockman
  • The Drovers by Louis Esson The Four-Poster by Dora Wilcox
• In the Park by Betty Ward
• Leading Lady by Sydney Tomholt
• Morning by Betty Roland
  • • Mother's Day by Leslie Rees Pioneers by Katharine Susannah Prichard Resignation of Mr. Bagsworth by Lionel Shave
• Searchlights by Sydney Tomholt
  • Shallow Cups by Dymphna Cusack A Sirius Cove by Lionel Shave
• Stampede by Bernard Cronin
• The Sub-Editor's Room by Leslie Rees
• That's Murder by Lionel Shave
• The Woman Tamer by Louis Esson
• A Second Moses by George Landen Dann
  • Daybreak by Catherine Shepherd Four Generations by Don Whittington
• Interval by Sumner Locke-Elliott
• Men Without Wives by Henrietta Drake-Brockman
• No Incense Rising by George Landen Dann
• No Magic Now by Helen Bousfield
• Red Sky at Morning by Dymphna Cusack
• Royal Mail by Alexander Turner
• Sea Piece by Catherine Shepherd
• The Touch of Silk by Betty Roland
• Travail by H. Marchant Flinn
• Wives Have Their Uses by Gwen Meredith

1953 Play List

In 1953 the Board announced it was acting as agent for the following plays:

• Tether a Dragon by Kylie Tennant
• The House That Jack Built by George Farwell
• The First Joanna by Dorothy Blewett
• Mischief in the Air by Max Afford
• Invisible Circus by Sumner Locke-Elliott
• Awake My Love by Max Afford
• Ned Kelly by Douglas Stewart
• Lady in Danger by Max Afford
• Granite Peak by Betty Roland
• Sing for St. Ned by Raymond Mathew
• No Incense Rising by George Landen Dann
• Over to Mother by Phillip Grenville Mann
• Hail Tomorrow by Vance Palmer
• Sons of the Morning by Catherine Duncan
• Caroline Chisolm by George Landen Dann
• Morning Sacrifice by Dymphna Cusack
• Daybreak by Catherine Shepherd
• Red Sky at Morning by Dymphna Cusack
• Interval by Sumner Locke-Elliott
• The Touch of Silk by Betty Roland
• Wives Have Their Uses by Gwen Meredith
• Quiet Night by Dorothy Blewett
• Fountains Beyond by George Landen Dann
• The Explorers by John Sandford
• Sky Without Birds by Oriel Gray
• Over-proof Spirits by A. Ashworth and P. Kelly
• Portrait of a Gentleman by George Farwell

External links

• Playwrights Advistory Board Library at Uni of Queensland

Notes and References

1. News: Will Advise Playwrights . . III . 205 . New South Wales, Australia . 16 November 1938 . 24 July 2023 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
2. News: THE DRAMA IN AUSTRALIA. . . 55 . 16,553 . Western Australia . 22 July 1939 . 24 July 2023 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
3. News: Playwrights' Parade . . 11,303 . New South Wales, Australia . 15 April 1946 . 24 July 2023 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
4. News: Women Win Main Playwright Prizes . . IX . 291 . New South Wales, Australia . 8 March 1945 . 24 July 2023 . 11 . National Library of Australia.
5. News: Music and Drama . . 33,451 . New South Wales, Australia . 10 March 1945 . 24 July 2023 . 8 . National Library of Australia.
6. News: Queensland Playwright Wins Prize . . 2933 . Queensland, Australia . 17 April 1946 . 24 July 2023 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
7. News: Stage Play Competition . . 34,312 . New South Wales, Australia . 11 December 1947 . 24 July 2023 . 16 . National Library of Australia.