The Well (play)
| The Well | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Jack McKinney |
| Date premiered | 1960 |
| Place premiered | Twelfth Night Theatre, Brisbane |
| Original language | English |
The Well was a 1960 Australian play by poet Jack McKinney, husband of Judith Wright.[1]
The play was published by Theatregoer magazine at a time when publishing Australian plays was rare.[2] It won a prize at the Bathurst Festival.[3] A copy of the play is at the Fryer Library at UQ, in Brisbane, Australia.[4]
Premise
Two families in the Australian Outback clash.
Reception
It premiered at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane. Reviewing a 1960 production The Bulletin wrote "the merit of the piece lies not in the development of action, nor even in its implicit philosophy but in the expertness of observation of human nature... The faults of the play, by traditional standards, are not irreparable. In particular, there are lapses from the consistently effective style of the first act. Such folksy simplicity readily degenerates into banality, but at its best the language of the play has affinities with, of all things, the silent art of Chaplin — an ability to carry both comedy and tragedy in the same vein."[5]
References
- ^ Judith Wright McKinney, 'McKinney, Jack Philip (1891–1966)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mckinney-jack-philip-10995/text19551, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 18 June 2025.
- ^ Harvey, Frank (2 July 1965). "Playwrights and the theatre trust". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ "Tribute to Jack McKinney", The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 17 December 1966, nla.obj-691405429, retrieved 18 June 2025 – via Trove
- ^ The Well ay Fryer Library
- ^ "SUNDRY SHOWS age and Music", The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 9 November 1960, nla.obj-1846566800, retrieved 18 June 2025 – via Trove