Penelope's Elopement single work   drama   - One act
Issue Details: First known date: 1931... 1931 Penelope's Elopement
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Penelope [...], who plans to elope with that strongly suspected member of Victorian society— an actor [...] — engages the assistance of a romantic middle aged spinster, Miss Battarbee [...]. The lovers are brought together as a result of the actor's audacity in posing as the newly-installed vicar, after capturing the reverend gentleman and borrowing his clothes. Then Miss Battarbee gains the reward of her kindness, recognising in the vicar her former sweetheart, from whom she had been separated by her parents.'

Source:

'One-act Plays: Entertainment in North Perth', West Australian, 22 June 1934, p.16.

Notes

  • Described by contemporary newspapers as 'a play in verse and costume'.

Production Details

  • The action of Penelope's Elopement is set in a garden, and the play appears to have been designed with a view to outdoor performance.

    The earliest performance traced so far is in late December – early January 1931: the exact dates are not given, but the Playwriter Theatre were due to arrive in Flinders sometime after 29 December 1931, and, during the 'few days' in which they stayed in the area, were to give a performance of Penelope's Elopement in the gardens of 'Palafia', the home of a Mrs Sproule. (See 'Social Notes', Argus, 16 December 1931, p.15.)

    The same troupe also gave a performance of the play in the gardens at 'Bolobek', in Macedon, Victoria, in early February 1932. (See 'Party at "Bolobek" Macedon', Table Talk, 4 February 1932, p.39.)

    The play was performed in Perth theatres in mid-1933.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1931-1932
Last amended 27 Apr 2015 15:10:52
Settings:
  • 1800-1899
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X