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Dedication: To the memory of "Pakie" Macdougall to whose kindly encouragement these plays owe their beginning
None of these plays may be performed in public without permission in writing first being obtained-for performance in New South Wales or Queensland, from Will Andrade, 173 Pitt Street, Sydney; in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania, from Miss M.F. Miller, Box 707F, G.P.O., Melbourne, to either of whom a fee of 10/6 per performance must be remitted.(Note after t.p. and dedication)
Introduction by George Mackaness ....this assemblage of five "proven" plays from the pen of Lionel Shave is important dramatically, for it now makes available in printed form for the first time some of the most outstanding Australian dramatic successes of the last two decades....Lionel Shave owes his success, apart, of course, from his natural genius, to the pains he has taken with plot construction, to his realism in the treatment of character and to the skill he shows in the use of dialogue....In the present volume will be found only five of the twenty odd plays of Lionel Shave. In all he has written four of full length. Of the one-acters, one, That's Murder, has recently been pronounced as "perhaps the most popular short play ever written by an Australian."...' G.M.(i-ii).
E. Morris Miller and Frederick T. Macartney's Australian Literature : A Bibliography to1938 Extended to 1950 (1956): 424 comments: 'These one-act plays comprise "A Sirius Cove" in which a woman's plans for her daughter's marriage are defeated by a hardly credible ruse on the part of the lover whom the latter prefers; "Red and Gold", with its action in the days of the gold-diggings and bushrangers; "That's Murder: A Mystery Comedy"; "The Resignation of Mr. Bagworth", with a bank official's settled habits prevailing over a chance of betterment; and "Twelve Moon's Cold", proceeding from cross-purposes connected with recovery of a thief's booty after he is released from jail. The interest in each instance is sustained with easy animation.'
Contents
* Contents derived from the Sydney,New South Wales,:Australasian Publishing Co.,1948 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955 ed. Jack Bedson and Julian Croft (1993):335-336 comments 'A mystery comedy. An incredible impersonation by the true lover shocks the moneyed 'desirable' eligible into breaking off with the heroine and all live happily ever after.' The play is set in 'A lounge-vestibule in Mrs. Pilcarrow-browne's bellevue Hill home. The present.'
The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955 ed. Jack Bedson and Julian Croft (1993): 334-335 comments: 'The play is set in the interior of a bush shanty on the road to the diggings. 1865.' Its synopsis is as follows: 'The "new chum" becomes demented in the loneliness of the bush.' and a final comment: 'A cleverly woven plot - some very good twists and denouement.'
The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955 ed. Jack Bedson and Julian Croft (1993): 336 comments:'A murder has been committed, or is it suicide? If it is murder, is it the work of the wife, the mistress or the maid?'
The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955 ed. Jack Bedson and Julian Croft (1993): 335 comments: 'A comedy. The theme is how much is man a creature of habit.' The play is set in a cafe.
The Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955 ed. Jack Bedson and Julian Croft (1993): 337 comments: 'A double double-cross by underworld characters.' The play has 'A good plot well handled.'
