Abstract
This chapter charts the early history of outdoor Shakespeares in Australia from the first productions mounted in the gardens of stately homes to the experiments in Elizabethan performance conditions of the 1950s and 1960s that aimed to showcase the comparative advantages of the Elizabethan open-air stage. Open-air Shakespeares discussed here include those staged by Allan Wilkie’s touring company in the 1920s, Colin Ballantyne’s 1951 As You Like It in Adelaide, and various productions staged in Perth at the University of Western Australia through to the opening of the University’s New Fortune theatre with Hamlet in 1964.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Bill Dunstone, “Dinkum Shakespeare? Perth, Empire and the Bard,” in O Brave New World: Two Centuries of Shakespeare on the Australian Stage, ed. John Golder and Richard Madelaine (Sydney: Currency Press, 2001), 166.
Michael Dobson, Shakespeare and Amateur Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 173.
John Golder, “A Cultural Missionary on Tour: Allan Wilkie’s Shakespearean Company, 1920–30” in O Brave New World: Two Centuries of Shakespeare on the Australian Stage, ed. John Golder and Richard Madelaine (Sydney: Currency Press, 2001), 121.
Gay McAuley, Space in Performance (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1999), 7
Terry Craig, “Te University and the Arts,” in Campus in the Community: The University of Western Australia, 1963–1987, ed. Brian de Garis (Nedlands, WA: University of Western Australia Press, 1988), 48.
John Bell, The Time of My Life (Crow’s Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2002), 43.
Penny Gay, “International Glamour or Home-grown Entertainment? 1948–1964,” in O Brave New World: Two Centuries of Shakespeare on the Australian Stage, ed. John Golder and Richard Madelaine (Sydney: Currency Press, 2001), 199.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Rosemary Gaby
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gaby, R. (2014). Early Experiments: Pastoral and Elizabethan Staging. In: Open-Air Shakespeare: Under Australian Skies. Global Shakespeares. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426864_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426864_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-49093-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-42686-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)