Australian Theatre Festival

The Australian Theatre Festival was a series of adaptations of Australian plays filmed by the ABC in 1979-80 and first aired August 1980.[1] Six plays were filmed first the first season at an estimated budget of $5,000 an episode. They aired on Sunday night opposite movies on the commercial channels.[1] Six additional plays were filmed for season two.[2] They were partly inspired by a government ruling that the ABC could keep any money it made selling projects overseas.[3]

Australian Theatre Festival
Country of originAustralia
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12
Original release
Release20 July 1980 (1980-07-20) –
11 November 1981 (1981-11-11)

The series was not a ratings success.[4]

Episodes

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First Series:

  1. "Carolie Lansdowne Says No" by Alex Buzo
  2. "A Toast to Melba" by Jack Hibberd
  3. "Big Toys" by Patrick White
  4. "Departmental" by Mervyn Rutherford
  5. "The Department" by David Williamson
  6. "Bedfellows" by Barry Oakley[5]

Second Series:

  1. "Going Home" by Alma De Groen[6]
  2. "Rusty Bugles" by Sumner Locke Elliot[7]
  3. "A Hard God" by Peter Kenna[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Culled Out!". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 20 August 1980. p. 165 Supplement: Your TV Magazine. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b "PRODUCTION notes". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 6 August 1980. p. 146 Supplement: FREE Your TV Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  3. ^ "THE LINE-UP FOR 1980". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 6 February 1980. p. 46. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  4. ^ Australian Theatre Festival at AustLit
  5. ^ "TELEVISION An affectionate play". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 394. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 August 1980. p. 14. Retrieved 12 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Channel 3". The Canberra Times. Vol. 56, no. 16, 782. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 September 1981. p. 4 (Golden Guild to TV and Radio). Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Warden, Ian (12 November 1981). "Barbarians through a Pythonesque eye". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
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