The Bronze Plain

The Bronze Plain is a 1951 Australian radio play written by Coral Lansbury.

The Bronze Plain
Genreverse drama play
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
SyndicatesABC
Written byCoral Lansbury
Original releaseNovember 5, 1951 (1951-11-05)

It was one of a number of acclaimed verse dramas produced by the ABC following the success of Fire on the Snow. Leslie Rees wrote "By virtue of vivid, fluent verse, it evoked a picture of cold evil in the steely, ruthless Captain Godwin, contrasted with lyrical elements in the love of Godwin’s daughter for Brian McRae, a land-owning part-Aboriginal with a tongue to speak of both his heartache and his country."[1]

The play was rebroadcast in 1952[2] and 1955.

Premise

The story of wreckers in colonial New South Wales.

According to ABC Weekly "as it opens, two men face each other over a pile of documents in a little room at the Sydney barracks. Captain Godwin, steely and calculating, has demanded of Major Croudace a grant of land. He has asked not the fertile plain land which is readily available, but a stretch of barren country along the rocky coast. He asks also for four hardened “lifers” to work it. Major Croudace senses that something is amiss, but he can hardly guess that Captain Godwin intends to make his fortune, not from farming, but from wrecking and plundering ships. Downstairs, meanwhile, the annual ball is in progress. Among the guests is Brian Mcßae, a young man of fine character, but brooding bitterly under the hurt of social ostracism, for he is of half-caste blood. Another guest is Katherine, Godwin's daughter. The two are instantly attracted. Thus the seeds are sown for a drama of conflicting loyalties and interests, in which harshness and evil are counterbalanced by eloquent and poetic tenderness."[3]

References
  1. Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. pp. 284–285.
  2. "Boy violinist, Negress soprano for ABC tour". The Sun. No. 13, 217. New South Wales, Australia. 10 June 1952. p. 22 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 11 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A. B. C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 17 No. 26 (25 June 1955)), nla.obj-1702006288, retrieved 11 October 2023 – via Trove
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