The Explorers (play)

The Explorers is a 1952 Australian radio play about the Burke and Wills expedition by John Sandford. It was Sandford's first play.[1]

The Explorers
ABC Weekly 22 March 1952
Genredrama play
Running time90 mins (9:30 pm – 11:00 pm)
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Home station2BL
SyndicatesABC
StarringLloyd Berrell
Written byJohn Sandford
Directed byFrank Harvey
Recording studioSydney
Original releaseMarch 25, 1952 (1952-03-25)

The 1952 radio production starred Allan Trevor and Lloyd Berrell.[2] It was one of a series of longer plays broadcast on ABC that ran at 90 minutes (the others were productions of British plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest and Hamlet).[3]

The radio play was based on a stage play by Sandford that had received an honourable mention in an Australian playwriting competition held by the Playwrights' Advisory Board but had not been produced. One of the judges for the competition was Frank Harvey who directed the radio production.[4] Leslie Rees, Chairman of the Board, said the play was powerful" and listed it as one of those plays that although they "demand large casts and frequent scene changes, it is a shame that they should not be given opportunity of full production on the stage as in any properly theatre-minded country."[5] The PAB listed the play in 1953 as one of a number of Australian plays worth production.[6]

The play was repeated in December 1952 (in a shortened version)[7] and produced again with a new cast in 1957.[8][9]

Reception

The Daily Telegraph called it "very ordinary... If the main purpose of this play was to lead up .to the tragic end of the two explorers, then they cettainly took an unconscionable time a-dying."[10]

The Adelaide Mail said "it seemed to me to be more of a documentary than a straight drama... the play was padded out too much with extraneous incidents which could have been conveyed in a sentence rather than having whole scenes devoted to them. As a result the entire action seemed episodic. Further, while consider able attention was paid to the minor characters of Brahe. Paton. and Mc Donagh, that of Wright never really emerged— a sad failing as his almost criminal negligence was the main cause of the failure of the expedition."[11]

Leslie Rees said "Sandford brought a surging, unfettered energy to the visualization of Burke’s fatal faults of impetuosity, impatience, stubbornness and pride, contrasted with the quiet understanding but ineffectuality of Wills as they trod the first route across the continent to Carpentaria. Here a potentially monotonous and drear subject was given new incisiveness and power because of the very artlessness of the approach."[12]

Premise

The story of the Burke and Wills Expedition, and their death due in part to just missing their fellow expedition members.[13] ABC Weekly called it "the tragic story of Burke and Wills’ fatal expedition in search of a route from Victoria to the northern coast of Australia. Sandford shows a keen sense of characterisation and dialogue. The death of Gray, the terrible second arrival at Cooper’s Creek on the very day the base party left to go south, and the tragic end of Burke and Wills are given forceful treatment in a way that emphasises the faults of Burke’s character, together with his iron courage and energy, and the magnitude of the exploring task before him. "[14]

Cast of 1952 radio production
ABC Weekly 13 Dec 1952

Cast of 1957 radio production
  • Ray Barrett as Burke
  • Richard Davies as Wills
  • Nigel Lovell as King
  • Jack Hume as McPherson
  • Moray Powell as Dr Becker
  • Reg Lye as Wright
  • Keith Buckley as Greg Dosh Mahommet
  • TOm Farley as McDonagh
  • James Forrest as Baton
  • Bruce Beeby as Brahe, narrator
  • Leonard Teale as Hewitt
  • Rupert Chance as Landells
  • Don Crosby as Dr Wheeler

References
  1. "New Series of Longer Plays to Open With Australian Drama". South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus. Vol. LII, no. 24. New South Wales, Australia. 24 March 1952. p. 2 (South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus Feature Section). Retrieved 7 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Australian Broadcasting Commission., "Tuesday is Listening Night for Egur More Outstanding Plays", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 12 (22 March 1952)), nla.obj-1662271093, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
  3. Australian Broadcasting Commission., "Radio Plays A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 12 (22 March 1952)), nla.obj-1662271490, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
  4. "Play On Burke & Wills". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 164. New South Wales, Australia. 16 March 1952. p. 10. Retrieved 7 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "Letters to the Editor JUBILEE PLAYS", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 28 (12 July 1952)), nla.obj-1379598092, retrieved 25 October 2023 – via Trove
  6. "Playwrights' Advisory Board", The bulletin., John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald (Vol. 74 No. 3805 (14 Jan 1953)), 1880, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-532497033, retrieved 25 October 2023 – via Trove
  7. Australian Broadcasting Commission., "Radio Plays for Next Week A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 50 (13 December 1952)), nla.obj-1401514688, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
  8. Australian Broadcasting Commission., "More Long Plays", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 19 No. 7 (16 February 1957)), nla.obj-1553688007, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
  9. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 19 No. 9 (2 March 1957)), nla.obj-1553702332, retrieved 25 October 2023 – via Trove
  10. "Around the Dial". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XVII, no. 231. New South Wales, Australia. 17 December 1952. p. 16. Retrieved 7 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Radio Round-up". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 41, no. 2, 077. South Australia. 29 March 1952. p. 26. Retrieved 25 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. Rees, Leslie (1953). Towards An Australian Drama. pp. 101–102.
  13. Australian Broadcasting Commission., "Radio Plays A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 12 (22 March 1952)), nla.obj-1662271490, retrieved 7 September 2023 – via Trove
  14. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 14 No. 50 (13 December 1952)), nla.obj-1401514688, retrieved 25 October 2023 – via Trove
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