Bird with a Medal

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Bird with a Medal
Written byRu Pullan
Date premieredMarch 16, 1961 (1961-03-16)[1]
Place premieredMelbourne Little Theatre, Melbourne
Original languageEnglish
Subjectteenage delinquency
SettingA boarding house room

Bird with a Medal is a 1961 Australian stage play by Ru Pullan. It concerned delinquency among young people.[2] The play was part of the realist drama tradition in Australian theatre at the time.[3]

Reception[edit]

Variety said Pullan "has not mastered stage technique."[4]

The Bulletin said Pullan "tells us nothing more than we have come to expect from the pen of the typical honest, observant pressman. Like him he never really succeeds in getting behind the headlines, but he has raised a burning social issue from the printed column to the stage."[5]

A copy of the play is at the Fryer Library, the University of Queensland.[6]

Premise[edit]

A girl runs away from a happy home and becomes involved with bodgies.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Advertisement". The Age. 11 March 1961. p. 60.
  2. ^ "Australian premiere". The Age. 11 March 1961. p. 9.
  3. ^ Men at Play: Masculinities in Australian Theatre since the 1950s by Jonathan Bollen, Adrian Kiernander and Bruce Parr, Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY, 2008
  4. ^ "Bird with a Medal". Variety. 5 April 1961. p. 70.
  5. ^ "Dated Plays", The bulletin., Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 22 Mar 1961, nla.obj-745346412, retrieved 11 May 2024 – via Trove
  6. ^ Bird with a Medal at UQ