The Kelly Gang (play) explained

The Kelly Gang; or the Career of the Outlaw, Ned Kelly, the Iron-clad Bushranger of Australia
Premiere:22 July 1899[1]
Place:Opera House Sydney[2]
Orig Lang:English
Subject:bushrangers
Genre:Melodrama

The Kelly Gang; or the Career of the Outlaw, Ned Kelly, the Iron-clad Bushranger of Australia is an 1899 Australian play about bushranger Ned Kelly. It is attributed to Arnold Denham but it is likely a number of other writers worked on it.[3]

Authorship

The play is typically attributed to Arnold Denham, a Perth journalist who has few other credits or theatre experience. However he regularly litigated in defence of "his" copyright in the play. It is considered likely that Denham plagirised from Reg Rede's play The Kelly Gang.[4] [5]

Denham died in 1922.[6] He wrote about the play that:

The fact that four men defied the Government for two years, with a reward of £10,000 on their heads, that their extermination cost the State £115,000, and that their last stand was made in a wooden shanty within two hundred yards of a railway station, where they were opposed by a small army of police, and a field gun, seems to me as dramatic and remarkable as anything in an-cient or modern history.[7]

Reviews

Evening News said "Many of the situations... are strongly reminiscent of the dramatisation of Robbery Under Arms."[8]

Lawsuits

Denham sued for copyright infringement against the producers of other plays about Ned Kelly including Outlaw Kelly in 1899[9] [10] and a different play called The Kelly Gang in 1901.[11]

He was successful in the 1901 case.[12] This decision was appealed unsuccessfully.[13] [14] It has been said "the net result was that Denham, the first pirate in New South Wales of a popular play written and staged in Victoria,21 gained the same exclusive legal rights as the original copyright holder, although this is unlikely to have occurred if the defence evidence had been properly led."[15]

Productions

According to one account Kate Kelly appeared in an original production in Sydney at the Criterion Theatre.[16]

The play was an immediate success. The Sunday Times said "Though the production has not any very striking merit, apart from its sensationalism, the doings of 'the 'ironclad bushranger' appear to fascinate the audiences. The variety scene' at' the Glenrowan Hotel is contributed by several well-known artists, and is also fully appreciated."[17]

The play ran for seven weeks in Sydney in 1899 then toured.[18]

There was a revival in 1908.[19]

A production was staged on 18 May 1907 at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth.[20]

Characters

An outlaw, referred to as "the Terror of the North East".

An outlaw, and the brother of Ned Kelly.

An outlaw associate of Ned, and a neighbour of the Kelly family.

An outlaw associate of Ned, and a neighbour of the Kelly family.

A police informer and former friend of Joe.

A priest. He is based on Father Matthew Gibney.

The sister of Ned and Dan Kelly, called "the Pride of the Forest".

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Advertising. . . 22 July 1899 . 7 September 2013 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  2. News: THE OPERA HOUSE. . The Daily Telegraph . 6273 . New South Wales, Australia . 20 July 1899 . 4 May 2024 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
  3. http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C574634 The Kelly Gang
  4. Web site: Dramatic Copyright in Australia to 1912. University of Queensland. Roslyn . Atkinson. Richard. Fotheringham. 11 September 2006. - originally published in Australasian Drama Studies 11 (1987): 47-63.
  5. Book: Fotheringham, Richard. 568. Australian plays for the colonial stage : 1834-1899. 2006.
  6. News: SOCIETY AND SINNERS OTHER . Call . 407 . Western Australia . 3 March 1922 . 4 May 2024 . 10 . National Library of Australia.
  7. News: OBJECTIONABLE PLAYS. . . 4320 . New South Wales, Australia . 19 December 1901 . 4 May 2024 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
  8. News: "THE KELLY GANG.". . The Evening News. Sydney . 24 July 1899 . 7 September 2013 . 8 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: "THE KELLY GANG.". . The Evening News. Sydney . 2 September 1899 . 7 September 2013 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  10. News: EQUITY COURT. . . 12 August 1899 . 7 September 2013 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  11. News: DISTRICT COURT. . . 17 December 1901 . 7 September 2013 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  12. News: GLORIFYING BUSHRANGERS. . . 14,596 . Victoria, Australia . 17 December 1901 . 4 May 2024 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  13. News: "THE KELLY GANG.". . The Evening News. Sydney . 16 May 1902 . 7 September 2013 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  14. News: LAW REPORT. . . 16 May 1902 . 7 September 2013 . 8 . National Library of Australia.
  15. Web site: Dramatic Copyright in Australia to 1912. University of Queensland. Roslyn . Atkinson. Richard. Fotheringham. 11 September 2006. 8-9. - originally published in Australasian Drama Studies 11 (1987): 47-63.
  16. News: Commercial Success with . The Sun . 1890 . New South Wales, Australia . 18 June 1939 . 6 February 2024 . 11 (Sunday Magazine) . National Library of Australia.
  17. News: LAST NIGHT'S AMUSEMENTS. . . 707 . New South Wales, Australia . 6 August 1899 . 4 May 2024 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  18. News: The Arnold Denham Co. . . 1127 . New South Wales, Australia . 2 November 1899 . 4 May 2024 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  19. News: KELLY GANG. . Referee . 1062 . New South Wales, Australia . 13 March 1907 . 4 May 2024 . 12 . National Library of Australia.
  20. News: 18 May 1907 . Amusements . . 23 . 6601 . . 21 November 2022.

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