Love o' Land is a 1934 Australian radio play by Edmund Barclay. It was described as a "cavalcade of Australian history" and involved a family whose adventures coincided with ten scenes in Australian history from 1788 onwards.[2]
 Wireless Weekly 26 Jan 1934 | |
| Other names | A Cavalcade of Australian History |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama play |
| Running time | 60 mins (8:00 pm – 9:00 pm) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | 2FC |
| Syndicates | ABC |
| Written by | Edmund Barclay |
| Directed by | Edmund Barclay |
| Original release | January 26, 1934[1] |
The play was a forerunner to Barclay's later serial about Australian history, As Ye Sow.[3]
The original production aired on Australia Day 1934 and was described as "one of the most ambitious and successful experiments in radio technlque ever broadcast in Australla."[4]
It was performed again by the ABC on 27 January 1935.[5]
Premise edit
ABC publicity called it an "Australian Cavalcade" adding "The action of the play covers one hundred and fifty years of Australian history, beginning with a pioneer family which landed with Governor Phillip in 1788. Against a background of stirring national events, we witness Samuel Bentley and his family at handgrips with pioneering difficulties and follow them through a succession of varying fortunes. The ghosts of such as Phillip, Hunter, Wentworth, Blaxland, Lawson, Hargraves, and Parkes will cast their shadows over the drama, but the play will point its moral —“that history is not made by the owners of great names, but by people whose names are unhonored and unsung.”[6]
The scenes were:
- 1788: The First Fleet.
- 1819: The Promised Land.
- 1824: Birth of Democracy.
- 1834: A Lawless Land.
- 1843: Harvest Home.
- 1851: Gold Madness.
- 1866: The Call of the city.
- 1900: Federation.
- 1914: Before the Deluge
- 1915: Dawn—April 25—Anzac Cove.
- To-day: An Ancestral Throwback.
References edit
- ^ "From The Wireless Studios". The Newcastle Sun. No. 5027. New South Wales, Australia. 20 January 1934. p. 2. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Friday January 26", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 23 (4), Sydney: Wireless Press, January 26, 1934, nla.obj-726546742, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Radio News". The West Australian. Vol. 50, no. 15, 005. Western Australia. 25 July 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "On the Air Next Week". The Mercury. Vol. CXLII, no. 20, 049. Tasmania, Australia. 26 January 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Sunday January 27", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 25 (4), Sydney: Wireless Press, January 25, 1935, nla.obj-733870571, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "The Bently Family Tree", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 23 (4), Sydney: Wireless Press, January 26, 1934, nla.obj-726545923, retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Trove