y separately published work icon Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times single work   drama   - Three acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1983... 1983 Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times
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Production Details

  • First performed by the Lighthouse Company at the Playhouse, Adelaide, on 5 March 1982 as part of the Adelaide Festival

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Patrick White's Theatre : Australian Modernism on Stage, 1960-2018 Denise Varney , Sydney : Sydney University Press , 2021 21650143 2021 multi chapter work criticism

'One of the giants of Australian literature and the only Australian writer to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, Patrick White received less acclaim when he turned his hand to playwriting.

'In Patrick White’s Theatre, Denise Varney offers a new analysis of White’s eight published plays, discussing how they have been staged and received over a period of 60 years. From the sensational rejection of The Ham Funeral by the Adelaide Festival in 1962 to 21st-century revivals incorporating digital technology, these productions and their reception illustrate the major shifts that have taken place in Australian theatre over time. Varney unpacks White’s complex and unique theatrical imagination, the social issues that preoccupied him as a playwright, and his place in the wider Australian modernist and theatrical traditions.'

Source: Abstract.
Patrick White and Aesthetic Modernism in Mid-century Australia Denise Varney , Sandra D'Urso , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , June no. 66 2015; (p. 63-80) 'The question of aesthetic modernism and its moorings in a number of social, economic, political and sexual configurations and imaginings around space, time and technological progress is at the centre of a resurgent interest in modernism and modernity over the last two decades. Interest in aesthetic modernism as a mode of critique aimed at conservative tides in culture, politics and the economy gains new relevance in the context of contemporary Australia. This article considers the Australian context in which one of the foremost proponents of aesthetic modernism in drama is Patrick White. We begin by examining the continuing relevance of White's drama by discussing the key modernist tropes that operate transversally across two of his plays, 'The Ham Funeral' and 'Signal Driver'. White's critique of postwar Australian culture forms the central tenet of his modernist playwriting aesthetics. It is further articulated in a 1958 provocation, in which he refers to Australian modernity as being embedded in anti-intellectualism, 'the march of material ugliness' and 'the exaltation of the average'. In this article, we argue that White's modernist drama chronicles twentieth-century social, economic and political formations of nation, and its effects on subjectivity and interpersonal relations. His plays pose a number of challenges to a twentieth-century configuration of nation, to the ideals of modernity that helped to shape it, and these continue into the twenty-first century. We propose that to re-examine modernist aesthetics in Australian drama reconnects us with smart and pleasurable ways of staging and rebutting rampant modernity as a mode of social, sexual and artistic governance that remains uncannily pertinent today.' (Publication abstract)
Geoffrey Dutton : Little Adelaide and New York Nowhere Nicholas Jose , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 183-198)
Patrick White A Theatre of His Own Andrew Fuhrmann , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 356 2013;
Kerry Walker, Patrick White and the Faces of Australian Modernism Anne Pender , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 9 2012; 'This essay considers the work of Australian actor Kerry Walker (b. 1948) in the years 1977-1989. It focuses on Walker's acting style in the roles she played in a variety of works by Patrick White, her approach to acting and her enduring friendship with White. It seeks to document the specific qualities Walker brought to her performances in White's plays and to explain her distinctive understanding of White's drama.' (Author's abstract)
Patrick White's Curious New Play H. G. Kippax , 1982 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 8 March 1982; (p. 8) A Leader of His Craft : Theatre Reviews by H. G. Kippax 2004; (p. 252-254)
— Review of Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times Patrick White , 1983 single work drama
[Review] The Perfectionist [et al] Joanna Weir , 1985 single work review
— Appears in: Meridian , May vol. 4 no. 1 1985; (p. 94-95)
— Review of The Perfectionist David Williamson , 1982 single work drama ; Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times Patrick White , 1983 single work drama ; Netherwood Patrick White , 1983 single work drama
On Stage and Page: Drama Reviews Elizabeth Perkins , 1983 single work review
— Appears in: LiNQ , vol. 11 no. 1 1983; (p. 89-100)
— Review of Inside the Island / The Precious Woman Louis Nowra , 1981 selected work drama ; Marx Ron Blair , 1978 single work drama ; Kullark / The Dreamers Jack Davis , 1982 selected work drama ; A Night in the Arms of Raeleen Clem Gorman , 1983 single work drama ; Sandy Lee Live at Nui Dat Rob George , 1983 single work musical theatre ; Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times Patrick White , 1983 single work drama ; Netherwood Patrick White , 1983 single work drama ; Australasian Drama Studies vol. 1 no. 1 October 1982 periodical issue ; Australasian Drama Studies vol. 1 no. 2 April 1983 periodical issue ; Hold Fast to Dreams : Fifty Years in Theatre, Radio, Television and Books Leslie Rees , 1982 single work autobiography
[Review] Signal Driver Leonard Radic , 1982 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 March 1982; (p. 8)
— Review of Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times Patrick White , 1983 single work drama
[Review] Signal Driver M. Billington , 1983 single work review
— Appears in: Plays and Players , May 1983; (p. 34)
— Review of Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times Patrick White , 1983 single work drama
Signal Driver : Patrick White, and Director, Neil Armfield Discuss Signal Driver with Gus Worby Gus Worby (interviewer), 1982 single work interview
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , vol. 6 no. 6 1982; (p. 12-15)
Patrick White John McCallum , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Belonging : Australian Playwriting in the 20th Century 2009; (p. 91-112)
The Prodigal Son Stephen Orr , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , May no. 387 2012; (p. 8-9) 'This month marks the 100th birthday of Australia's prodigal son: our best novelist, muckraker, playwright, dog breeder - you name it. I'll try to avoid sycophancy, but Paddy White was the one who got me started. I read all of his novels and plays before I was 25 and, I suppose, his voice still resonates in mine, as it does in that of most Australian writers.' (Author's introduction)
No Time for Play David Marr , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Australian Financial Review , 18 May 2012; (p. 1,9-10)
Kerry Walker, Patrick White and the Faces of Australian Modernism Anne Pender , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 9 2012; 'This essay considers the work of Australian actor Kerry Walker (b. 1948) in the years 1977-1989. It focuses on Walker's acting style in the roles she played in a variety of works by Patrick White, her approach to acting and her enduring friendship with White. It seeks to document the specific qualities Walker brought to her performances in White's plays and to explain her distinctive understanding of White's drama.' (Author's abstract)
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Last amended 3 Jun 2009 10:29:07
Subjects:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
Settings:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
  • 1900-1999
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