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Irene Mitchell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irene Gladys Mitchell MBE (24 November 1905 – 1995) was an Australian actress and theatre director, prominent in the little theatre movement in Melbourne.

Career

[edit]

Mitchell was the eldest[1] daughter of (James) Herbert Mitchell (1886–1971) and Annie Maud May Mitchell, née Hallihan (c. 1888 – 23 May 1914),[2] who had a home, "Aurilla", Princes St, Prahran, Victoria, later of Burnley, Victoria.[3]

As a child, Mitchell studied elocution with Miss Louie Dunn,[a][5] who encouraged her to enter the South Street and other contests in the early 1920s.[6][7] By 1928 she was a member of the Theatre Association,[8] appearing in Godfrey Cass's production of Ma Pettengill, an Australian premiere. In 1929 she won the Governor's gold medal first prize at the South Street Society's recitation competitions.[9] By 1930 she was a committee member of the Proscenium Club, whose rooms were in Nicholas Building, Swanston Street.[10]

In 1931 she was in the cast of Ashfield Players' The Best People by David Gray and Avery Hopwood, and Bulldog Drummond for the Old Wesley Collegians' Dramatic Society and in 1932 had the name part in the Proscenium players' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney.[11] In 1933 she was in Gregan McMahon's production of Shaw's The Apple Cart. Other plays with the Proscenium Club were Cecil Finn Tucker's The Optimist[b] in June 1934, Noël Coward's Hay Fever at the Central Hall, Little Collins Street in September. In June 1935 she was a "dashing Romeo"[13] in a pioneering all-female professional production of Romeo and Juliet under Miss Dunn at the Garrick Theatre.[14] They staged The Merchant of Venice a year later,[15] and Othello (as Iago) in August 1939. She was a member of a five-woman cast playing Ernest Vajda's Fata Morgana at the Carrick in October 1936. In November she appeared in Maxim Gorki's Lower Depths for Dolia Ribush, fresh from the Moscow Arts Theatre,[13] at the Garrick.[16] In January 1937 she played The Children's Hour, and in February The Vinegar Tree; in June she was acclaimed as Rosalind in As You Like It with Gertrude Johnson's newly formed National Theatre Movement[17] (NTM), all at the Princess. In February 1940 she was in the cast of Giving the Bride Away at the Princess, starring Charles Norman, written by Gerald Kirby and "Margot Neville", an Australasian premiere.[18] This show's season was extended due to popular demand, and Just Married, for which Mitchell had also been engaged, had to be postponed.[19] Stepping Out[c] followed, then the company toured the other capital cities with Giving the Bride Away, Just Married, Charley's Aunt and Stepping Out. In April 1942 she again played Rosalind in the NTM production of As You Like It.

Little Theatre

[edit]

Alongside her other commitments, in 1934 Mitchell joined the Melbourne Little Theatre, founded by Brett Randall and Hal Percy in 1931,[13] which had just moved into the old St Chad's church in Martin Street, South Yarra. Her first part was the "Italian Lady" in From Morn to Midnight, an adaptation of Georg Kaiser's Von morgens bis mitternachts.[20] Inquest followed, then in June she conducted a reading of The First Mrs Fraser,[21] arguably a first step towards her ultimate role as director. She played Beverley Nichols' Avalanche in November and John Hastings Turner's The Spot on the Sun (Ada Reeve's farewell production) in March 1935[22] with Dot Rankin, who was to accompany Reeve to London, By November 1935 she was president of the Little Theatre social committee.[23]

Valentine Katayev's Squaring the Circle was performed at the Garrick rather than the club's theatre,[24] as was Ernest Vadja's Fata Morgana,[25] but a report of their playing Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour[26] may have been mistaken. She played the Honorable Reader in S. I. Hsiung's Lady Precious Stream at the Garrick in July 1936.[27] On Caulfield Cup night 1938 the company staged James Bridie's comedy Storm in a Teacup as a testimonial benefit for their director Brett Randall.[28] A season of five plays by five producers was staged in November 1938 as "A Play Bill". Mitchell's contribution was The Last Mrs Fraser, by Virginia Saffold Booth.[29][d]

The understudy had to take her part in Lavender Ladies in April 1939, but she was back on stage in Passers By that December.[30] On 3 August 1940 director Randall revived an earlier hit, The Rescue Party, by Phyllis Morris.[31] A season of five short plays began on 14 December 1940: Lithuania by Rupert Brooke, F. Keith Manzie's For the Honor of Larratania, Edith Susan Boyd's Three Roses, followed by 'Op o' Me Thumb by Frederick Fenn and Richard Pryce and The Man in the Bowler Hat by A. A. Milne.[32] In April 1941 they played another John Hastings Turner's comedy The Scarlet Lady, while Mitchell produced Sidney Rusk's one-act two-hander Fog[33] as a companion-piece.

In August 1941 she married John Henderson, an RAAF pilot from New Zealand. He was posted missing, presumed killed, in April 1943 while on RAF operations in the Middle East.

In February 1943 she played in Robert Morley's comedy Short Story, produced by Randall at the Little Theatre, then served as his stage manager for Rodney Ackland's Dance With No Music, Henry Allan having been posted overseas with the RAAF.[34] She produced the Little Theatre's first Christmas comedy, Frank Harvey's Saloon Bar, Randall playing a key character, but was back in the director's chair for Lionel Hall's She Passed Through Lorraine in March 1943.[35] In April she had the chief part in Samson Raphaelson's comedy, Skylark[36] In June she produced Marguerite Steen's French for Love, starring Eva Schwarcz,[37] later involved in a very public custody case.[38] In December she produced Reginald Berkeley's comedy The World's End, set in a Dartmoor hotel.[39] In April 1944 she returned to acting, in a highly praised[40] The Day Is Gone by W. Chetham-Strode, then produced Drawing Room by Thomas Browne.[41] In June 1944 Randall and Mitchell were among those non-professional actors castigated by Actors' Equity in continuing to work while their strike was on.[42] In July she played in Randall's production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, which ran for three weeks; players included Sydney Conabere.[43] Then in August they presented a second play by Australian Alan Burke, Woman Bites Dog, again produced by Randall with stage direction by Mitchell.[44] She produced J. B. Priestley's Eden End in October, and "Gregory Parable", critic for The Advocate, was not surprised at a workmanlike presentation[45] nor for John Van Druten's Old Acquaintance, produced by Randall and directed by Mitchell in December.[46] In February she produced A. J. Cronin's three-act Jupiter Laughs, starring Wilma Harrison, a professional actor looking gain experience.[47] Her next production was Clare Boothe's The Women, a play with twelve scenes and cast of thirty-nine women — again, "Parable" notes, without blemish.[48] For the Christmas season she starred in, and co-produced with Randall, Emlyn Williams' The Wind of Heaven.[49] Her next production, in June 1945, was George Bernard Shaw's The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles, an "intellectual fantasy", again totally successful.[50] An Australian play with a Chinese theme, Enduring as the Camphor Tree by Russell John Oakes followed in October, hailed by "Parable" as "Australia's first great play".[51] So popular was the production that the usual three-week season was extended by two weeks, and a charity performance for the Brotherhood of St Laurence.[52] Sumner Locke Elliott's The Invisible Circus followed on Boxing Day, 26 December 1946.[53] Jan de Hartog's Skipper Next to God, with an all-male cast, followed in April,[54] then on 28 June the Little Theatre's 120th production, Karel Čapek's The Macropulos Secret opened.[55] Exercise Bowler, written by an anonymous cooperative "T. Atkinson", and depicting two groups fighting over production of a play, followed on 6 September.[56] John Patrick's The Willow and I ran from Boxing Day 1947[57] and in May 1948 Constance Cox's Vanity Fair, an adaptation of Thackeray's novel, which failed to please one critic.[58] Another Australian premiere was her production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons in August.[59] Noël Coward's Hay Fever followed in October, and was well received.[60] June Brunel (Mrs Helmut Newton) and Diana Bell were especially praised.[61]

In 1948 Melbourne Little Theatre, under director Brett Randall, jointly with the College of Adult Education (CAE) founded Everyman Theatres Pty Ltd, a professional company to bring theatre to Victorian country centres. Their first production was Benn Levy's Springtime for Henry. Mitchell appears not to have any substantial involvement with this company.[61] She did however, in May 1951, direct their production of Miles Malleson's version of Molière's comedy, The Miser[62] its first Australian production.[63]

In July 1949 Mitchell produced the verse play Happy as Larry by Donagh Macdonagh,[64] followed in October by William Douglas Home's Now Barabbas, another Australian premiere.[65] Her New Year's production for 1950 was a "hiss the villain" melodrama — Henning Nelms's Only an Orphan Girl,[66] after which she left for London on a working holiday aboard the Ranchi.[67] She had been sponsored by the British Council to attend an actors' and producers' course, "London and Stratford-on-Avon". On her return in December 1950 she produced Douglas Stewart's Shipwreck, a play which revived Sir Dallas Brooks' interest in little theatre[68] In April 1951 she directed Peter Ustinov's Blow Your Own Trumpet[69] In May she directed R. F. Delderfield's comedy All Over the Town, and in August Guy Bolton's Larger Than Life, based on Somerset Maugham's novel, Theatre.[70]

Other activities

[edit]

In 1946 Mitchell produced Richard of Bordeaux for the girls of Toorak College, Frankston.[71]

In 1947 she produced Dorothy L. Sayers' passion play The Just Vengeance at the Melbourne Town Hall for the Methodist Young People's Department in conjunction with the denomination's annual conference.[72] The cast of 40 was bolstered by several professionals, who played anonymously. She produced, for the same organisation, Laurence Housman's, Francis of Assisi (with Brian James in the name part, and music composed by Dorian Le Gallienne) on 1–2 March 1948.[73] She produced Leonid Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped for the Melbourne University Dramatic Club's 1948 Commencement Play at the Union Theatre,[74]

In March 1949 she was guest adjudicator for the Tasmanian Drama Festival, where nine groups, from across the state, competed for the Catherine Duncan Cup.[75] She was on the examinations board of the Melbourne University Rehabilitation drama course and a member of the Australian Dramatic Art and Education Guild council.[76]

In April 1951 she was appointed State adjudicator at the Commonwealth Jubilee Drama Competition,[77] a festival organised at the instigation of Sydney's British Drama League.[78] The contest took her to Yallourn,[79] Sale,[80] and eight other Victorian country groups and ten from Melbourne, in order to select two semi-finalists.[81] Meanwhile, she also adjudicated at a drama contest staged by the Country Women's Association.[82]

In 1951 she directed the stage show An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark with an all-Aboriginal cast.[83] also touring regional cities.[84] She has been credited with giving the name to the annual Melbourne festival.[13] She was declared "Queen of Moomba" by Jacob Chirnside, an elder of the Elondalli nation from Queensland, and with Harold Blair, one of the stars of the show.

In November 1951 she produced Christopher Fry's A Phoenix Too Frequent[85] and Oscar Wilde's Salome, with June Brunel and Frank Thring as Herod at Thring's Arrow Theatre (previously Melbourne Repertory Theatre).[86]

Children's theatre

[edit]

In 1939 she established a Children's Theatre in association with the Little Theatre.[87]

Radio drama

[edit]

Mitchell appeared in many radio plays —

Other interests

[edit]

She was a keen golfer, loved walking with her dog "Robert the Bruce", attended ballet, and had a large library.[90]

She was a close associate of Betty Pounder.

Recognition

[edit]
  • Mitchell was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association.
  • The Irene Mitchell Studio, one of two performance spaces at St Martins Youth Arts Centre (built on the site where St Chad's once stood) was named for her. A plaque under the old pepper tree, where she was wont to take a breather, commemorates her involvement.

Personal

[edit]

On 24 November 1926 Mitchell announced her engagement to Laurie Abrahams of "Newington," Burke Rd, East Malvern.[1] No record of a subsequent marriage has been found. On 22 August 1941 she married Pilot-Officer John Robert Dunlop Henderson[3] (8 October 1915 – 11 April 1943). He was with No. 73 Squadron RAF, lost presumed killed when his Hawker Hurricane aircraft crashed into the sea off Sfax, Tunisia, on 11 April 1943. Her address at the time was 8 St George Rd, Malvern, Victoria, known to her friends as the "slanty shanty".[90]

She had a sister, Vera Pearl Mitchell (born 1907) who married Thomas Hugh O'Halloran in 1931.[91]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Graham, Sandy. "Memories of Irene Mitchell".

See also

[edit]

Notable women theatre directors and entrepreneurs include:

Australia
England

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Louie Dunn (c. 1890–1950) was a successful contestant at South Street eisteddfods in her youth, and later coached many winners. She won several prizes for her 1948 production of Mona Brand's play Here Under Heaven. She died in St Kilda after a motor vehicle collision.[4]
  2. ^ Other plays by Melbourne socialite Dr Tucker (1876–1945)[12] were Pleston's Experiment (1929), Butterflies and Bees (1932), Thunder and Death (1936), also several short stories and a book of golfing fiction.
  3. ^ Original title The Mummy and the Mumps: A farce in three acts (1925) by Larry E. Johnson (born 1874), author of The Absent-minded Bridegroom and other farces
  4. ^ Virginia White Saffold Booth (30 November 1911 – 5 January 2005) was an American dramatist, born in Savannah, Georgia, and married to physicist Eugene T. Booth

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Family Notices". Table Talk. No. 3056. Victoria, Australia. 2 December 1926. p. 65. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia. Includes good photo
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Age. No. 19, 707. Victoria, Australia. 23 May 1918. p. 1. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 29, 641. Victoria, Australia. 23 August 1941. p. 6. Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Drama Teacher Dies in Crash". Weekly Times. No. 4230. Melbourne. 19 July 1950. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Graham, Sandy (1 December 2015). "Memories of Irene Mitchell". Theatre Heritage Australia. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  6. ^ "South Street Competitions". The Ballarat Star. Vol. 66, no. 19664. Victoria, Australia. 30 September 1920. p. 1. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "C.N.F Competitions". Geelong Advertiser. No. 24, 333. Victoria, Australia. 4 June 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia. Comunn Na Feinne was a Scots organisation in Geelong.
  8. ^ "Woman's World". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 16, 020. Victoria, Australia. 21 September 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Prahran Girl Wins Governor's Medal". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 16, 363. Victoria, Australia. 26 October 1929. p. 2. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Theatre Club Activities Resumed". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 16, 439. Victoria, Australia. 23 January 1930. p. 19. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Amateur Players". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 250. Victoria, Australia. 27 August 1932. p. 20. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Obituary". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 987. Victoria, Australia. 22 December 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ a b c d "Irene Mitchell MBE 1905–1995". Live Performance Australia. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  14. ^ "While I Remember". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 18, 120. Victoria, Australia. 13 June 1935. p. 32. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Only Women in the Cast". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 18, 392. Victoria, Australia. 27 April 1936. p. 18. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "A Maxim Gorki Play". The Age. No. 25, 450. Victoria, Australia. 9 November 1936. p. 15. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "As You Like It". The Age. No. 25, 640. Victoria, Australia. 21 June 1937. p. 13. Retrieved 30 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "City Audiences Enthusiastic". The Standard (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 22 March 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Princess — Season Extended". The Age. No. 26, 493. Victoria, Australia. 14 March 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "A German Expressionist Play". The Age. No. 24, 611. Victoria, Australia. 28 February 1934. p. 14. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "Looking Ahead". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 821. Victoria, Australia. 28 June 1934. p. 34. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ "St Chad's, South Yarra". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 27, 625. Victoria, Australia. 4 March 1935. p. 17. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ^ "Studio Party at Little Theatre". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 18, 260. Victoria, Australia. 23 November 1935. p. 25. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ^ "Squaring the Circle". The Age. No. 25, 266. Victoria, Australia. 7 April 1936. p. 14. Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "Hungarian Comedy at the Garrick". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 18, 548. Victoria, Australia. 26 October 1936. p. 33. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ^ "Plays and Players". The Age. No. 25, 669. Victoria, Australia. 24 July 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 27 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ^ "Lady Precious Stream". The Age. No. 25, 342. Victoria, Australia. 6 July 1936. p. 19. Retrieved 30 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ^ "While I Remember". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 19, 149. Victoria, Australia. 1 October 1938. p. 28. Retrieved 30 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. ^ "Ideas in Drama". The Age. No. 26082. Victoria, Australia. 21 November 1938. p. 13. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. ^ "Little Theatre — Passers By". The Age. No. 26412. Victoria, Australia. 11 December 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. ^ "Excellent Acting at Little Theatre". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXIII, no. 4539. Victoria, Australia. 15 August 1940. p. 24. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ^ "Little Theatre". The Age. No. 26, 729. Victoria, Australia. 16 December 1940. p. 8. Retrieved 3 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ^ "Little Theatre". The Age. No. 26835. Victoria, Australia. 21 April 1941. p. 9. Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. ^ "Stage and Screen". The Age. No. 27, 133. Victoria, Australia. 6 April 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  35. ^ "Comedy at St Chad's". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 113. Victoria, Australia. 1 March 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. ^ "Theatre". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVI, no. 4680. Victoria, Australia. 6 May 1943. p. 19. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. ^ "Theatres". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVI, no. 4686. Victoria, Australia. 17 June 1943. p. 18. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  38. ^ "Father Afraid if Son Should Go to Germany". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 21, 892. Victoria, Australia. 21 July 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  39. ^ "An Incredible Comedy". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVI, no. 4714. Victoria, Australia. 30 December 1943. p. 13. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  40. ^ Parable, Gregory (19 April 1944). "Theatre". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVII, no. 4730. Victoria, Australia. p. 18. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  41. ^ "Drawing Room". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 499. Victoria, Australia. 29 May 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia. first produced in England 1940, otherwise nothing found of play or author
  42. ^ "No Settlement Yet of Actors' Strike". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 20, 917. Victoria, Australia. 1 June 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  43. ^ "The Little Foxes". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 547. Victoria, Australia. 24 July 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  44. ^ "Local Author's Play at Little Theatre". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVII, no. 4748. Victoria, Australia. 30 August 1944. p. 20. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  45. ^ "Eden End". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVII, no. 4757. Victoria, Australia. 1 November 1944. p. 20. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  46. ^ "Old Acquaintance". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVIII, no. 4767. Victoria, Australia. 10 January 1945. p. 20. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  47. ^ "Jupiter Laughs". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVIII, no. 4672. Victoria, Australia. 14 February 1945. p. 20. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  48. ^ "The Women". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXVIII, no. 4695. Victoria, Australia. 25 July 1945. p. 20. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  49. ^ "Little Theatre's Provocative Play". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 21, 406. Victoria, Australia. 27 December 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  50. ^ "GBS Success At Melbourne Little Theatre". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 21, 558. Victoria, Australia. 24 June 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  51. ^ "Theatre Music and Film". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXIX, no. 4760. Victoria, Australia. 23 October 1946. p. 28. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  52. ^ "The Life Of Melbourne". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 276. Victoria, Australia. 26 November 1946. p. 10. Retrieved 14 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  53. ^ "Sydney Playwright's Satire on Radio People". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 304. Victoria, Australia. 30 December 1946. p. 10. Retrieved 17 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  54. ^ "Skipper Next to God". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXX, no. 4787. Victoria, Australia. 30 April 1947. p. 28. Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  55. ^ "Capek Play on Longevity". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 21, 874. Victoria, Australia. 30 June 1947. p. 8. Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  56. ^ "Theatre". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 519. Victoria, Australia. 8 September 1947. p. 6. Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  57. ^ "Little Theatre Play Has Unusual Twists". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 614. Victoria, Australia. 29 December 1947. p. 14. Retrieved 19 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  58. ^ "Theatre Music". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXI, no. 4845. Victoria, Australia. 3 June 1948. p. 18. Retrieved 16 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  59. ^ "Theatre Music". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXI, no. 4855. Victoria, Australia. 12 August 1948. p. 18. Retrieved 16 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  60. ^ "Little Theatre players' success in comedy". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 859. Victoria, Australia. 11 October 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 16 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia. "F.K.M." is F. Keith Manzie
  61. ^ a b "Theatre Music". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXI, no. 4865. Victoria, Australia. 21 October 1948. p. 18. Retrieved 16 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  62. ^ ""The Miser" Coming to Theatre Royal". Camperdown Chronicle. Vol. LXXV, no. 4093. Victoria, Australia. 8 May 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  63. ^ "French Comedy Next C.A.E. Play". Camperdown Chronicle. Vol. LXXV, no. 4096. Victoria, Australia. 18 May 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  64. ^ "Engaging Irish Play". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 085. Victoria, Australia. 4 July 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 17 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  65. ^ "Theatre music". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXII, no. 4916. Victoria, Australia. 13 October 1949. p. 18. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  66. ^ "Theatre Music". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXIII, no. 4929. Victoria, Australia. 12 January 1950. p. 18. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  67. ^ "Stage send-off". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 260. Victoria, Australia. 23 January 1950. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  68. ^ ""Shipwreck" wins Viceregal blessing". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 554. Victoria, Australia. 3 January 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 15 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  69. ^ "Ustinov Play Grips Audience". The Age. No. 29, 940. Victoria, Australia. 14 April 1951. p. 11. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  70. ^ Doherty, Frank (30 July 1951). "Maugham story on stage". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 731. Victoria, Australia. p. 2. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  71. ^ "Richard of Bordeaux". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 193. Victoria, Australia. 22 August 1946. p. 7. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  72. ^ "Impressive Passion Play in Town Hall". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 359. Victoria, Australia. 4 March 1947. p. 3. Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  73. ^ "Housman Play At Town Hall". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 22, 084. Victoria, Australia. 2 March 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 19 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  74. ^ "Play for University Commencement". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 22, 107. Victoria, Australia. 30 March 1948. p. 6. Retrieved 19 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  75. ^ "Hobart Players Win Catherine Duncan Cup". The Mercury (Hobart). Vol. CLXIX, no. 24, 411. Tasmania, Australia. 7 March 1949. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  76. ^ "Of Interest to Women". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. CVII, no. 336. Tasmania, Australia. 26 February 1949. p. 12. Retrieved 17 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  77. ^ "Jubilee Drama Competition". Live Wire (Yallourn). No. 1192. Victoria, Australia. 11 April 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  78. ^ ""The Play's the Thing"". The Age. No. 29, 982. Victoria, Australia. 2 June 1951. p. 8. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  79. ^ "Jubilee Drama Competition". Live Wire. No. 1192. Victoria, Australia. 11 April 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  80. ^ "House Full for "The Paragon"". Gippsland Times. No. 11, 866. Victoria, Australia. 5 July 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  81. ^ "Which show will be best?". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 23, 173. Victoria, Australia. 31 August 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  82. ^ "C.W.A. Plans for Festival". The Age. No. 29, 907. Victoria, Australia. 6 March 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  83. ^ "Native Moomba an Exciting Show". The Age. No. 30, 001. Victoria, Australia. 25 June 1951. p. 6. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  84. ^ "To Visit Sale". Gippsland Times. No. 11, 866. Victoria, Australia. 2 July 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  85. ^ "Good start for new theatre". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 23, 246. Victoria, Australia. 24 November 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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