Beasty Grrrl single work   drama  
Alternative title: Beasty Girl; Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 Beasty Grrrl
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This collaborative piece uses real time video, musical composition, and performance to tell the story of Flynn's homeland, travels, films, politics, lovers, nihilism and his misplaced desire to wrestle sharks and catch bullets.'

Source: Perth International Arts Festival 2003 promotional information. http://www.perthfestival.com.au/Festival/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.detail/pkEvent/100184/ Sighted 2003

Production Details

  • World premiere produced at the Perth International Arts Festival from 6-15 February 2003.

    Director: Scott Rankin.


    Presented by Ten Days on the Island, in association with Perth International Arts Festival, Melbourne Festival, and Queensland Performing Arts Centre Trust, at Devonport Entertainment and Convention Centre, 2 - 6 April 2003.

    Director: Scott Rankin.

    Associate Director: Neil Simpson.

    Composer: Robert Iolini.

    Video Artist: Kirsten Bradley.

    Designer: Gavin Barbey.

    Producer: Marguerite Pepper.

    Cast: Paula Arundell.


    A new and significantly revised version of the play, this time entitled Beasty Girl, was performed as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, October 2003.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

“Once upon a Time There Was a Little Girl…”: Colonialism, “Illegitimacy”, and Speciesism in Scott Rankin’s Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn Karina Smith , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature , September vol. 54 no. 3 2019; (p. 413–428)

'This article argues that Scott Rankin’s play, Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn, uses the life story of Errol Flynn as a metaphor for colonialism in order to contest colonial legal descriptors, such as terra, aqua, and filius nullius. The play focuses on the fictitious “illegitimate” Jamaican daughter of Flynn who travels to Tasmania to follow in her father’s footsteps. The more Carly, Flynn’s daughter, discovers about her father’s life, the more she rejects his colonial values and, by extension, whiteness.' (Publication abstract)

Beauty and the Beasty Carolyn Webb , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 10 October 2003; (p. 2-3)
The Rankin File Jane Albert , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 February 2003; (p. 16-17)
The Rankin File Jane Albert , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 February 2003; (p. 16-17)
Beauty and the Beasty Carolyn Webb , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 10 October 2003; (p. 2-3)
“Once upon a Time There Was a Little Girl…”: Colonialism, “Illegitimacy”, and Speciesism in Scott Rankin’s Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn Karina Smith , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature , September vol. 54 no. 3 2019; (p. 413–428)

'This article argues that Scott Rankin’s play, Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn, uses the life story of Errol Flynn as a metaphor for colonialism in order to contest colonial legal descriptors, such as terra, aqua, and filius nullius. The play focuses on the fictitious “illegitimate” Jamaican daughter of Flynn who travels to Tasmania to follow in her father’s footsteps. The more Carly, Flynn’s daughter, discovers about her father’s life, the more she rejects his colonial values and, by extension, whiteness.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 16 Sep 2019 11:01:51
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