y separately published work icon The Custodians single work   drama   - Two acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1993... 1993 The Custodians
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

'A rooky police constable is posted to a small outback town, but this time the constable is a woman of Italian ethnic background, Constable Maria Giotto. And, what is more, she is a volunteer transferee.

'Maria becomes friendly with an Aboriginal family, and finds herself caught between her loyalty to her Aboriginal friends and loyalty to her fellow police officers.

'Newcomer Maria is not the only police officer experiencing difficulty in meeting the demands of friendship and the requirements of the police bureaucracy. Sergeant Alec Ross, close to retirement, is also an old friend of Paddy, the Aboriginal man.

'The country town is torn by racial and cultural conflict, which culminates in the death in custody of Paddy's son, Paul.'

Source:

Nugent, Ann. 'Drama Set in Country Town Tackles Difficult Social Issues', Canberra Times, 30 August 1993, p.15.

Notes

  • The original version of Eric Greer Earley's The Custodians was a radio play (see 'Related Works'), said by Robert Macklin to have 'won an award' (not yet traced), but no production appears to have ensued. Subsequently, it appears to have been rewritten as a film script (not yet traced) and then, with the assistance of Carol Woodrow, been produced on stage in 1993. Woodrow, according to Macklin, 'has –with the author – combined the strongest elements of all the versions' for the stage play.

    Source:

    Macklin, Robert. 'Life ... Neither Here nor There', Canberra Times, 15 August 1993, p.27.

Production Details

  • First produced by the Canberra Theatre Trust at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 4 September 1993.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 1993 .
      Extent: vii, 63pp.
      Description: port.
      ISBN: 0868193844
      Series: Current Theatre Series Currency Press (publisher), 1983- series - publisher 'Current Theatre Series consists of Australian plays published with the program inserted and sold during theatre seasons. The aim of the series is to promote and encourage new dramatic writing and make it accessible to theatregoers and the public. The text is presented at the first day of rehearsal and does not contain changes which the author may choose to make after the play has commenced its present season - these will be incorporated into any new edition published by Currency.' Currency Press.

Works about this Work

The Custodians : Exposing Sinister Acts Khairul Chowdhury , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Empowering and Disempowering Indigenes : Staging Australian Aboriginal Experience 2010; (p. 141-149)
Custodian of Deaths in Custody Portrait 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 20 October no. 62 1993; (p. 33)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
'Uralba man Eric Earley has taken the theatre world by storm with his play The Custodians.'
Untitled Kay Dixon , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Muse , October no. 124 1993; (p. 33-34)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Untitled John Moses , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 10 September 1993; (p. 16)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Drama Set in Country Town Tackles Difficult Social Issues Ann Nugent , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 30 August 1993; (p. 15)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Custodian of Deaths in Custody Portrait 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 20 October no. 62 1993; (p. 33)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
'Uralba man Eric Earley has taken the theatre world by storm with his play The Custodians.'
Performance Drives Home Real Issues about Real People Ann Nugent , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 6 September 1993; (p. 14)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Drama Set in Country Town Tackles Difficult Social Issues Ann Nugent , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 30 August 1993; (p. 15)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Untitled John Moses , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 10 September 1993; (p. 16)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
Untitled Kay Dixon , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Muse , October no. 124 1993; (p. 33-34)

— Review of The Custodians Eric Greer Earley , 1993 single work drama
The Custodians : Exposing Sinister Acts Khairul Chowdhury , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Empowering and Disempowering Indigenes : Staging Australian Aboriginal Experience 2010; (p. 141-149)
Last amended 25 May 2017 08:54:05
X