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y separately published work icon The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts single work   drama   humour   - Four acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1912... 1912 The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The action takes place in Melbourne in the weeks leading up to a federal election. The Women’s Anti-Socialist League have selected Doris Quiverton—daughter of the conservative Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Quiverton—to stand for the seat of Wombat. However, no sooner than Doris learns that she has been selected, her fiancé, Sydney Barrett, reveals that he is competing for the same seat. A socialist and an atheist, Barrett opposes everything both Doris’ Liberal father and the Women’s Anti-Socialist League stand for. Doris must carefully navigate extreme political ideals and intense personal relationships. 

"That hilarious comedy, "The Time is Not Ripe," published in 1912, is rather a breathless play, in which the political distractions of that era are complicated by the invention of a love affair between the socialist leader and the daughter of his principal opponent."

The Daily Mercury (1943). Louis Esson. [online] p.2. Available [Accessed 5 Mar. 2018].

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon The Time Is Not Yet Ripe Louis Esson , Sydney : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1978 12987243 1978 single work radio play

Notes

  • A (not very good, but useful) audio reading is available here through the Internet Archive. 

  • The University of Queensland digitised an audio version of the play, which is available at this link through the e-space archive system. 

Production Details

  • First produced by the Melbourne Repertory Theatre at the Athaneum Hall, Melbourne, 23 July 1912. Also by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, November 1973.

    Broadcast on ABC Radio National on Sunday 19 December 2010 as part of the Playing the 20th Century series.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Strawberry Hills, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 2008 .
      Extent: 71p.
      Edition info: Rev. ed.
      Note/s:
      • Includes program for the Here Theatre production directed by Jane Woollard.
      ISBN: 9780868198453 (pbk.)
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Other Formats

  • Also braille, sound recording.
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Related Works

VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

Tiny Leaf Men and Other Tales From Outer Suburbia : Re-Presenting the Suburb in Australian Children’s Literature Kelly-Elise Oliver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations Into Children's Literature , vol. 21 no. 1 2011; (p. 57-66) 'This paper explores how, through word and image, Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia challenges stereotypical representations of the suburban. Typically, suburban spaces have been represented as aesthetically bland, mundane, and ornamental. Tan takes these tropes and ironically re-deploys them anew, and in doing so undermines anti-suburban sentiment, which has dominated Australian literary and popular culture.

Although the notion of anti-suburbanism in Australian fiction has been well documented, its presence in children's literature has received far less attention. As a case study, Tales From Outer Suburbia, signals the ability of children's literature to present more positive representations of suburbia because of its inherent commitment to the socialisation of children, which is prioritised over the tradition of anti-suburbanism.' (Author's abstract)
Overshadowed by Stilted Narrative Alanna Maclean , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 October 1995; (p. 39)
— Review of The Sunny South George Darrell , 1884 single work drama ; The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
Untitled Kay Dixon , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Muse , November-December no. 147 1995; (p. 41)
— Review of Brumby Innes : A Play in Three Acts Katharine Susannah Prichard , 1927 single work drama ; The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
The Time is Not Yet Ripe (1912) Elizabeth Webby , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Modern Australian Plays 1990; (p. 5-13)
Irish Memories and Australian Hopes : William Butler Yeats and Louis Esson John McCallum , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 34 no. 2 1989; (p. 33-40) Esson drew his inspiration for a distinctively Australian theatre from a bewildering array of models from overseas, but he was highly influenced by the Irish poet and playwright, W. B. Yeats. Yeats encouraged Esson to write about Australia as if it were the centre of the universe. But despite the creative output of the 1920s, Esson failed to attract a large audience. McCallum concludes that, if not for Yeats, Esson probably would not have written the material on which his reputation is based and would not now be considered a pioneer dramatist.
[Review] Don's Party Leonard Radic , 1974 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 9 February 1974; (p. 15)
— Review of Don's Party David Williamson , 1971 single work drama ; The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
Untitled Kay Dixon , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Muse , November-December no. 147 1995; (p. 41)
— Review of Brumby Innes : A Play in Three Acts Katharine Susannah Prichard , 1927 single work drama ; The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
Overshadowed by Stilted Narrative Alanna Maclean , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 October 1995; (p. 39)
— Review of The Sunny South George Darrell , 1884 single work drama ; The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
The Time Is Not Yet Ripe 1912 single work review
— Appears in: The Argus , 24 July 1912; (p. 6)
— Review of The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
Untitled 1912 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 8 August vol. 33 no. 1695 1912; (p. 2)
— Review of The Time is Not Yet Ripe : A Comedy in Four Acts Louis Esson , 1912 single work drama
Australian Drama 1921 single work column
— Appears in: Corroboree : The Journal of the Australian Literature Society , 1 October vol. 1 no. 1 1921; (p. 5-6)
Tiny Leaf Men and Other Tales From Outer Suburbia : Re-Presenting the Suburb in Australian Children’s Literature Kelly-Elise Oliver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations Into Children's Literature , vol. 21 no. 1 2011; (p. 57-66) 'This paper explores how, through word and image, Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia challenges stereotypical representations of the suburban. Typically, suburban spaces have been represented as aesthetically bland, mundane, and ornamental. Tan takes these tropes and ironically re-deploys them anew, and in doing so undermines anti-suburban sentiment, which has dominated Australian literary and popular culture.

Although the notion of anti-suburbanism in Australian fiction has been well documented, its presence in children's literature has received far less attention. As a case study, Tales From Outer Suburbia, signals the ability of children's literature to present more positive representations of suburbia because of its inherent commitment to the socialisation of children, which is prioritised over the tradition of anti-suburbanism.' (Author's abstract)
Irish Memories and Australian Hopes : William Butler Yeats and Louis Esson John McCallum , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 34 no. 2 1989; (p. 33-40) Esson drew his inspiration for a distinctively Australian theatre from a bewildering array of models from overseas, but he was highly influenced by the Irish poet and playwright, W. B. Yeats. Yeats encouraged Esson to write about Australia as if it were the centre of the universe. But despite the creative output of the 1920s, Esson failed to attract a large audience. McCallum concludes that, if not for Yeats, Esson probably would not have written the material on which his reputation is based and would not now be considered a pioneer dramatist.
The Time is Not Yet Ripe (1912) Elizabeth Webby , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Modern Australian Plays 1990; (p. 5-13)
National Drama as Melodrama Jack Hibberd , 1978 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , December vol. 23 no. 4 1978; (p. 53-58)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (28)
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