Cirrus@Austlit

The Cedar Tree is set in the picturesque timber country between Parramatta and the Hawkesbury River, an area opened up in the early days of settlement by the cedar cutters. The story concerns Dianella Weston who carries on the ship-building yard of her father, having been loved by two suitors, Lieutenant Verners, of the Queen's Regiment and Roger Carstairs, a rich Sydney merchant. A dissolute brother introduces the tragic touch, with comedy by the Flying Pieman. Being an 'early' Australian romance, a bushranger is included in the narrative as a several thrilling situations. Love and sacrifice are the main themes, with a good measure of sentiment added.

One of the features of the production was the dance of the animals and birds in the mountain gully, the animals including a number of native bears and a lyre bird. This aspect of the production was produced by Pat Eadie.

A romantic and historical musical set at the foot of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Collits' Inn was described in the Age as a 'Sensational Triumph... universally acclaimed as one of the greatest ever productions ever staged in Australia' (26 December 1933, p.12).

The story revolves around Mary Collits (the daughter of the inn's proprietor, Pierce Collits), who falls in love with Captain John Lake, the commander of a gang of convicts and soldiers building a road across the mountains. The situation is complicated by Robert Keane, a hard-done-by bushranger, who is himself in love with Mary. Keane is supported by Mary's father, who not only shares a similar hatred of the red-coated soldiers, but is also under an obligation to the bushranger. The story culminates in a duel between the two suitors, leaving Keane to die a noble death in a 'fair fight'. The love affair is put on hold, however, when Lake is recalled to England and Mary's memory of him is erased through an accident. When the hero returns three years later to claim his true love, her memory is restored amidst great rejoicing and happily-ever-afters.