image of person or book cover 1353601683668385963.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon Hydra single work   drama  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Hydra
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'They were writers, dreamers and free spirits. In the 1950s, Australian authors Charmian Clift and George Johnston fled halfway across the world to the idyllic Greek island of Hydra, determined to carve out a bohemian living as artists.

'As they revel in their picturesque community, far off the world’s literary map, inspiration for the great Australian work strikes. But a many-headed monster of jealousy, infidelity, illness and alcoholism also rises from the crystal blue waters of their sun-kissed island home.

'Award-winning Sue Smith weaves the original writings of two of Australia’s literary icons into a moving relationship drama. She conjures the passion and intensity of the near mythical ‘King and Queen of Hydra’ as they follow their dream, only to end up in a Greek tragedy of their own making.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Production Details

  • Co-produced by the Queensland Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia, 9 March - 6 April 2019 (Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland) and 1-19 May 2019 (Dunstan Playhouse, South Australia).

    Director: Sam Strong.

    Designer: Vilma Mattila.

    Lighting Designer: Nigel Levings.

    Cast includes Anna McGahan, Nathan O’Keefe, and Bryan Probets.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Kensington, Randwick area, Sydney Eastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: NewSouth Publishing , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 1353601683668385963.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 96 p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published May 2019.

      ISBN: 9781742236544 (pbk)

Works about this Work

‘Hydra’, A Play about the Greek Island’s Bohemian Side Con Stamocostas , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: Neos Kosmos , January 2019;

'During the 50’s and 60’s Hydra’s turquoise-blue ocean water had a magnetic effect on bohemians, artists, writers and musicians such as Leonard Cohen.' (Introduction)

Island Idyll Goes Awry as Bohemians Bicker Martin Buzacott , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 19 March 2019; (p. 14)

— Review of Hydra Sue Smith , 2019 single work drama

'Alcoholism, terminal illness, suicide, infidelity and a self-obsessed couple of writers marooned on a barren island in the Aegean. What’s not to love if you’re a writer writing about writers and ­inspired by the grand tradition of Greek tragedy?' (Introduction)

Sue Smith’s Hydra : How Love, Pain and Sacrifice Produced an Australian Classic Alastair Blanshard , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 15 March 2019;

'Running through Hydra, the new play by Australian playwright Sue Smith, is the myth of Icarus, the boy who flew so high that his wings melted and he crashed to his death in the sea near the Greek island of Samos.' (Introduction)

Island Idyll Goes Awry as Bohemians Bicker Martin Buzacott , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 19 March 2019; (p. 14)

— Review of Hydra Sue Smith , 2019 single work drama

'Alcoholism, terminal illness, suicide, infidelity and a self-obsessed couple of writers marooned on a barren island in the Aegean. What’s not to love if you’re a writer writing about writers and ­inspired by the grand tradition of Greek tragedy?' (Introduction)

Sue Smith’s Hydra : How Love, Pain and Sacrifice Produced an Australian Classic Alastair Blanshard , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 15 March 2019;

'Running through Hydra, the new play by Australian playwright Sue Smith, is the myth of Icarus, the boy who flew so high that his wings melted and he crashed to his death in the sea near the Greek island of Samos.' (Introduction)

‘Hydra’, A Play about the Greek Island’s Bohemian Side Con Stamocostas , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: Neos Kosmos , January 2019;

'During the 50’s and 60’s Hydra’s turquoise-blue ocean water had a magnetic effect on bohemians, artists, writers and musicians such as Leonard Cohen.' (Introduction)

Last amended 5 Sep 2019 10:39:42
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    Greece,
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    Western Europe, Europe,
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    Greece,
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    Western Europe, Europe,
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