The Multi-Coloured Umbrella

The Multi-Coloured Umbrella
Written by Barbara Vernon
Characters 3 male
3 female
Date premiered 1957
Original language English
Genre comedy
social realist
Setting Bondi Beach

The Multi-Coloured Umbrella is an Australian play written by Barbara Vernon. It was the first Australian play to be adapted for Australian TV.[1]

Plot

The play is set at a house in Bondi Beach belonging to the Donnellys, an upwardly mobile family who are bookmakers at Randwick Racecourse. The younger son, Joe, has troubles with his bride, Kate, a woman from a "good" family. Joe's brother Ben is in love with Kate. This leads to a fight between Joe and Ben.

Theatre background

The play won second place in a 1957 contest for new plays, coming second to The Shifting Heart.[2]

The play was a sequel to an earlier play by Vernon, The Passionate Pianist. The role of Ben was specifically written for the actor Con Fardouly.[3]

It was performed by amateur groups in the towns of Inverell, in the 2NZ drama club, which Vernon co-founded. It then had a run at the Little Theatre in Melbourne before being given a professional production at the Theatre Royal in Sydney in November 1957. This transferred to the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne the following month. The play had a different ending for its Sydney and Melbourne run.[3]

1958 TV adaptation

The Multi-Coloured Umbrella
Directed by Ray Menmuir
Produced by Dave Tapp
Written by George F. Kerr
Based on play by Barbara Vernon
Production
company
ABC
Release date
 29 January 1958 (Sydney) (live)
Country Australia
Language English

An adaptation of the play was produced for Australian television in 1958. It was broadcast on the first night the ABC aired from their new studios at Gore Hill.[4]

Cast

Production

The play was broadcast live on 29 January 1958 on ABC's Sydney station from the Sydney studios. The bulk of the play was done live with some prerecorded scenes shot on location at Bondi Beach.[5]

The play was kinescoped for Melbourne broadcast in February 1958. However, the planned Melbourne broadcast did not happen, as the kinescope recording ("telerecording") that was made of the broadcast was said to be "poor quality". The play was instead broadcast on Melbourne radio.[6]

Reception

The Australian Woman's Weekly called it "an excellent production".[7]

Political controversy

The play was denounced by MLA W. R. Lawrence who said it "showed hysterical scenes, blasphemy of a low type and an immoral level of entertainment." The Sydney Morning Herald wrote an editorial calling Lawrence "an unmitigated bore" and Version "a serious playwright".[8] Other church leaders and critics also complained about the play.[6]

George F. Kerr, who did the adaptation, defended the controversial play in a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, claiming that "It is perfectly possible for a play to be good and yet give offence to some... The writer of a good play is likely to have broken new ground, either in thought or technique, to have given the audience a fresh vision on a scene as seemingly familiar as a Bondi family group. But many people could do without this fresh vision; they resent being told that whereas they thought the world was flat, it is in fact round." He argued that the Donnellys of the play "are not the cosy Mr and Mrs Everybody of Bondi that many viewers may have expected to see on their screens see and, in all honesty, be bored by. The Donnellys are closer to the truth; like all of us from time to time, they are people in trouble.... Certainly this is not a cosy picture of the neighbours. But which is better? To lie about .them or, knowing the truth about their trouble, to be glad for their sake that they emerged from it?"[9]

Radio adaptation

A version was also produced for Australian radio during 1958.[6] There were versions in 1962[10] and 1969.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jane Connors, 'Vernon, Barbara Mary (1916–1978)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 5 June 2016.
  2. ↑ The Age 19 February 1957 p3
  3. 1 2 "A Bookie's Ad Led to a Play", Sydney Morning Herald, 6 November 1957
  4. ↑ "TELEVISION PARADE". The Australian Women's Weekly. 4 December 1957. p. 12. Retrieved 6 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑
  6. 1 2 3 " 'Umbrella' adapted for radio presentation", The Age 14 November 1958
  7. ↑ "New "Royal" channel for State visit". The Australian Women's Weekly. 2[?] (36). 12 February 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 4 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Multi-coloured balderdash", Sydney Morning Herald 31 January 1958 p 2
  9. ↑ LKerr, George F. (3 February 1958). "Brandishing The Umbrella". Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. ↑ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. 36 (10, 229). 19 May 1962. p. 23. Retrieved 4 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "2CN Monday to Sunday". The Canberra Times. 43 (12, 405). 1 September 1969. p. 18. Retrieved 4 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
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