Red Sky at Morning (play)

Red Sky at Morning
Original languageEnglish
Written byDymphna Cusack
CharactersAlicia
Michael
Landlord
Landlady
Emma
An Officer in the 83rd Regiment
Subjectconvict era
Genremelodrama
SettingSydney
Premiere
DateSeptember 1935
PlaceSydney Player's Club

Red Sky at Morning is a 1935 Australian stage play by Dymphna Cusack.[1] The play helped launch Cusack's writing career[2] and was filmed in 1943.[3]

Synopsis

In 1812 New South Wales, a woman, Alicia, is unhappily married to a brutal officer. She falls in love with an Irish convict, Michael and they decide to flee together.

Production history

The play was first performed at Sydney Player's Club in September 1935 and adapted for radio in 1938.[4] It was later revived in 1939.[5][6]

The play was presented in May 1939 as part of Australian Drama Month at the Independent Theatre.[7] The Sydney Morning Herald said it was "very well presented" although felt it would have been more effective as a one act play.[8]

Critical reception

Noted critic Leslie Rees wrote of the play that:

An undertone of passionate resentment against injustice and coercion is heard, but there is also a mannered wit and an acute realisation of character, a clear-cut picture of the times. It is a play of style. Against these considerable merits must be men tioned a sparseness of action, especially the failure to satisfy expectations in the second act. However, the texture of the speech in this play is so fine, the quality of compassion so moving, that such a fault does not, to my mind at any rate, become paramount. To play a curtain-raiser in the same programme would help conceal the deficiency.[9]

One critic said "it is considered by many competent judges to be the best Australian play to date."[10]

The Sydney Morning Herald said "The last scene grips one, though it ends tamely."[11]

Radio adaptations

The play was adapted for radio in 1938 directed by John Cairns.[12][13][14] The Wireless Weekly said "all the way through there was a suggestion of cliches. The fact that the writing was stylish and poetical does not redeem the play one little bit."[15]

The play was performed again in 1940. Wireless Weekly called it "A well-constructed play, and the dialogue has a lambent, graceful quality. But one feels that Miss Cusack’s passion for discussion and the graceful phrase holds up the action too often. "[16]

There was a version in 1943 where the play was performed by the members of the film adaptation of the play including Peter Finch.[17]

Other versions of the play were produced on radio in 1952[18] and 1957.[19]

Publication

The play was published in 1942 by Melbourne University Press, in association with Oxford University Press.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Austlit – Red Sky at Morning by Dymphna Cusack". Austlit. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "Australian Writers Series". The Australasian. Vol. CXLVII, no. 4, 728. Victoria, Australia. 19 August 1939. p. 42. Retrieved 25 May 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM PREVIEW: "RED SKY AT MORNING"", Pertinent, 2 (7 (March 1943)), Sydney: Pertinent Publishing Co, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  4. ↑ "Social and Personal". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 November 1938. p. 18 Supplement: Women's Supplement. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Australian Drama". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 6 May 1939. p. 19. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  6. ↑ Details of original production at AusStage
  7. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA MONTH". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 616. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 621. New South Wales, Australia. 6 May 1939. p. 19. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "THE DRAMA IN AUSTRALIA". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 22 July 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN DRAMA MONTH". Macleay Argus. No. 8706. New South Wales, Australia. 23 May 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN PLAYS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 3 October 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "SOCIAL and PERSONAL". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 478. New South Wales, Australia. 21 November 1938. p. 18 (Women's Supplement). Retrieved 13 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ ""Turn on the Wireless"". Daily Examiner. Vol. 29, no. 9439. New South Wales, Australia. 4 November 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "SUNDAY ... NOVEMBER 20", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, vol. 32, no. 21, Sydney: Wireless Press, 18 November 1938, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  15. ↑ "SOUND OR NOISE A Criticism of Plays and Players", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, vol. 32, no. 23, Sydney: Wireless Press, 2 December 1938, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  16. ↑ "Debunking Romance", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, vol. 35, no. 13, Sydney: Wireless Press, 30 March 1940, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  17. ↑ "Coming on the air", ABC Weekly, vol. 5, no. 30, Sydney: ABC, 24 July 1943, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  18. ↑ "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A.B.C", ABC Weekly, vol. 14, no. 1, Sydney: ABC, 5 January 1952, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  19. ↑ "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A.B.C.", ABC Weekly, vol. 19, no. 8, Sydney: ABC, 23 February 1957, retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Trove
  20. ↑ "Red Sky at Morning by Dymphna Cusack". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
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