Sing for St. Ned is a 1951 Australian stage play by Ray Mathew about Ned Kelly.
The play was described as a "fantasia". It was critically acclaimed, receiving special mention in the Jubilee Play Competition but struggled to be produced as was the case with many Australian plays of its era. Nonetheless, it is regarded as one of Mathew's key works.[1][2]
The play anticipated the musical satire of later Australian works such as The Legend of King O'Malley with its use of improvisation and Brechtian techniques.[3]
Reception
One writer called it "partly a parody of Stewart's Ned Kelly, and includes group asides, soliloquies, and direct audience address".[4]
Eunice Hanger wrote the play "makes a Brechtian melange of the Kelly story, seen by the Kellys and by the actors playing the story, with singing, farce, real tragedy, and debunked heroics. The audience are invited to join in the singing. The dead characters get up and sing at the end. The characters Ned, Byrne, and Dan stop acting and argue Ned's case from the vantage-point of the contemporary scene; and every now and then a scene is played straight, and by contrast with the rest is very moving."[5]
The play most completely removed from Leslie Rees argued Matthews was "ahead of his time with" the play although he also felt it "did not quite 'jell'".[6]
References
- ^ "A Bun for the Playwrights.", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 72 (3744), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 14 Nov 1951, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-526419636, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Playwrights' Advisory Board", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 74 (3805), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald (published 1880), 14 Jan 1953, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-532497033, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Peter (1979). After "The doll" : Australian drama since 1955. p. 78.
- ^ Carroll, Dennis (1985). Australian contemporary drama, 1909-1982 : a critical introduction. p. 107.
- ^ "Place in Australian" Plays Eunice Hanger The Australian Quarterly Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 1962), pp. 67-73 at p 72, Published By: Australian Institute of Policy and Science
- ^ Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. Angus & Robertson. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-207-15354-9.
External links
- Sing for St Ned at Ausstage
