image of person or book cover 8310781705698798165.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Box the Pony single work   drama   - 16 scenes
Issue Details: First known date: 1997... 1997 Box the Pony
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

One-woman play, written by and for Leah Purcell, which draws on her experiences growing up, her relationship with her mother, and the contrast between her country upbringing and city life.

Exhibitions

14131409
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Notes

  • Dedication: To Dad, Patrick, Rodney, Elaine, Oriel, Colleen, Lesley and Debra 'as I saw it'. To the loving memory of my darling, courageous mother, Florence Faith Chambers 1928 to 1988.
  • This play was commissioned by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games as part of the Sydney 2000 Cultural Olympiad and the Olympic Festivals.
  • Notes to the Play by Robyn Sheahan-Bright (pp.127-139).
  • Further reading (pp.140-143).

Production Details

  • First produced at the Sydney Opera House's Festival of the Dreaming, September 1997 by Performing Lines Ltd. Directed by Sean Mee. Subsequently produced across Australia including the Adelaide Festival, 1998, the Edinburgh Festival and in London and Germany.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Sydney, New South Wales,:Hodder Headline , 1999 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Box the Pony : Introduction, Leah Purcell , single work criticism biography (p. 1-7)
Box the Pony : Introduction, Scott Rankin , single work criticism biography (p. 8-14)
Notes to the Play, Robyn Sheahan-Bright , single work criticism (p. 127-139)
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1997
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Hodder Headline , 1999 .
      image of person or book cover 8310781705698798165.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: xii, 147p.p.
      Description: illus. (production photos).
      Note/s:
      • Forewords by Robyn Archer and Sue Nattrass.
      ISBN: 0733610692, 0733611915
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Works about this Work

Talkin’ Blak : Humour in Indigenous Australian Theatre, 1970−2000 Karen Austin , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Philament , February no. 20 2015; (p. 129-164) 'This paper looks at the renaissance of Indigenous Australian theatrical performance, from the early 1970s to its prominence in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It focuses on the specific ways that humour has been used by Indigenous Australian performing artists to highlight unpleasant social issues in their communities, such as poverty, alcohol abuse, and the removal/stealing of children from their families. In conjunction with witty repartee, visual comedy both in movement and mimicry is often used by Indigenous performers. Philosopher Henri Bergson, well-known for his contributions to humour studies, claims that the physical humour in inflexible, repetitive, or exaggerated movements is inherently funny. Bergson argues that rigidity of movements or “something mechanical encrusted on the living” makes comedians appear inhuman and, as a consequence, this makes people laugh. Contemporary philosopher and humour theorist Simon Critchley notes that the opposite is also true: We often find it funny when people give the impression of being all too human. For Critchley, the recognition of predictable behaviours is just as funny as any automated actions.' (129-130)
Leah Purcell on Radiance, Henry Lawson and Indigenous Theatre Benjamin Neutze , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: Daily Review , 16 December 2014;
Animal Handlers : Australian Women Writers on Sexuality and the Female Body Odette Kelada , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Outskirts : Feminisms along the Edge , May vol. 26 no. 2012; 'The year 2011 saw the igniting of mass protest around the issue of sexual double standards for women with numerous marches worldwide called 'SlutWalks'. Thousands of women across a range of countries including America, Europe, Britain and Australia took to the streets to defend the right of women to dress and behave freely without stigmatisation and violence. The 'SlutWalks' started in reaction to a local policeman in Toronto telling a class of college students to avoid dressing like 'sluts' if they did not wish to be victimised (SlutWalk Toronto site). The public protest in response to this incident demonstrates resistance to historically embedded discourses that demean women's sexuality and blame women for abuse and rape they suffer. Terms such as 'slut' perpetuate a virgin/whore dichotomy fundamental to the oppression of female sexual self-expression. These marches are a recent example that follows on from a tradition of mass protests for women's sexual equality and right to safety such as 'Reclaim the Night'. Drawing on writing and conversations with poets Dorothy Porter and Gig Ryan, novelists Drusilla Modjeska, Kate Grenville, Carmel Bird and Melissa Lucashenko and playwright, Leah Purcell, this article offers insights into individual creative women's responses to this theme of women's sexuality. I argue that the work and ideas of these women are examples of the unique and powerful dialogue that can happen through a focus on creativity and female stories in Australia.' (Author's introduction)
Boxing with the Oppressors : Scott Rankin and Leah Purcell's Performative Exploration of the Resisting Self of Aboriginal Women in Social Reality Khairul Chowdhury , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Empowering and Disempowering Indigenes : Staging Australian Aboriginal Experience 2010; (p. 279-289)
Presenting the Past : Historiography in Aboriginal Theatre of the 80s and 90s K. G. Naga Radhika , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 70 no. 3 2010; (p. 144-162)
Local Groups' Energy to Be Applauded Alanna Maclean , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Canberra Times The , 1 January 1999; (p. 10)
— Review of At the Crossroads Jan Cornall , 1998 single work drama ; Up the Road John Harding , 1991 single work drama ; Box the Pony Leah Purcell , Scott Rankin , 1997 single work drama ; Third World Blues David Williamson , 1997 single work drama ; Summer Was a Fast Train without Terminals Merlinda Bobis , 1998 selected work poetry drama Alanna Maclean surveys the theatre performances of the previous year in Canberra, including a brief mention of Merlinda Bobis and 'the local Filipino community's first steps towards a Filipino theatre presence.'
Coming Soon 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 7 March 1999; (p. 23)
— Review of Box the Pony Leah Purcell , Scott Rankin , 1997 single work drama
Coming Soon 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 18 April 1999; (p. 19)
— Review of Box the Pony Leah Purcell , Scott Rankin , 1997 single work drama
Paperbacks Angela Bennie , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 June 1999; (p. 11)
— Review of Box the Pony Leah Purcell , Scott Rankin , 1997 single work drama ; Henry Lawson : A Life Colin Roderick , 1991 single work criticism biography ; Leaning Towards Infinity : How My Mother's Apron Unfolds into My Life Sue Woolfe , 1996 single work novel
One Woman Show Thérèse Radic , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 212 1999; (p. 19)
— Review of Box the Pony Leah Purcell , Scott Rankin , 1997 single work drama
Aboriginal Encounters : Cross-Cultural Perspectives on First Nation Drama Marc Maufort , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Transgressive Itineraries : Postcolonial Hybridizations of Dramatic Realism 2003; (p. 147-231) Section II of this chapter is entitled 'Staging Australian Aboriginality.'
y separately published work icon A Compelling Force : Indigenous Women Playwrights Maryrose Casey , 2007 St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2007 Z1271301 2007 single work criticism
Shelf Life Jason Steger , 2000 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 28 October 2000; (p. 8)
Presenting the Past : Historiography in Aboriginal Theatre of the 80s and 90s K. G. Naga Radhika , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 70 no. 3 2010; (p. 144-162)
Boxing with the Oppressors : Scott Rankin and Leah Purcell's Performative Exploration of the Resisting Self of Aboriginal Women in Social Reality Khairul Chowdhury , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Empowering and Disempowering Indigenes : Staging Australian Aboriginal Experience 2010; (p. 279-289)
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Awards

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Last amended 3 Jul 2018 08:10:55
Subjects:
  • Murgon, Murgon - Wondai area, Kingaroy - Murgon - Kilkivan - Woolooga area, Central West Queensland, Queensland,
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
Common subjects:
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