'SET in the dinginess of a dilapidated mansion, edged by a swamp of unusual proportions and inhabited by two middle-aged sisters, Theatre 60's production "Swamp Creatures" abounds in malevolent atmosphere. Allan Seymour [sic] has written a play with three predominant themes: the merits of either living in the country or in the city; the pitfalls Pitfalls or of a scientific approach to life and the power of ab-reactions as a means to supporting, in hermit-like conditions, the crushing force of past happy memories. To interweave these notions, the author has brought together two sisters, one hard, unyielding, domineering and obsessed with the life her body has not created and, the other, younger, kind, bending to the will of her sister, and anxious that her illegitimate son shall reap the full cup of happiness in normal marriage. The son, a tormented creature, arrives on the scene when the elder sister's experiments in mutation are coming to a frightful conclusion, and assists at his mother's and aunt's "party", peopled by those imaginary beings who have formed their background, and who have caused their present despair.'
(Source: 'Swamp Creatures', Le Courrier Australien, 23 September 1960, p.5.)
Swamp Creatures
Sydney
:
ABC Radio National
,
1958
14012450
1958
single work
radio play
Swamp Creatures
( dir. Raymond Menmuir
)
Australia
:
Australian Broadcasting Commission
,
1960
8037026
1960
single work
film/TV
Described by Valda Marshall in the Sydney Morning Herald as 'The story of two sisters living in a remote house on the edge of a swamp'.
Source:
Marshall, Valda. 'TV Merry-go-round', Sydney Morning Herald, 17 July 1960, p.45.
Written 1955-56; in 1956 runner-up in a play competition held by the Journalists' Club and judged by the Playwrights' Advisory Board; in 1957 one of the twenty-five finalists in the play competition held by the London Observer. Has had stage, radio and television performances.
First stage performance 1 November 1957 by the Canberra Repertory Society.
Produced at Turner Hall, Sydney Technical College, for a short season in September 1960.
Producer: Norma Polonsky.
Cast: Amy Byatt (Constance, the elder sister), Joyce Evans (Amy, the younger sister), John Lynch (Christian, Amy's son), Robert Lehens (Mr Fall, Constance's houseman), and Annette Kosseris (Mrs Fall).
(Source: 'Swamp Creatures', Le Courrier Australien, 23 September 1960, p.5.)
