Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes

Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes
Written by	Bob Ellis Dick Hall
Directed by	Arne Neame
Music by	Terence Clarke
Characters	Henry Parks Henry O'Farrell
Date premiered	August 25, 1971 (1971-08-25)[1]
Place premiered	Nimrod Theatre, Sydney
Original language	English
Subject	Australian history
Genre	historical drama

Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes is a 1971 Australian play written by Bob Ellis and Dick Hall. It followed Ellis' successful The Legend of King O'Malley.[2]

Background

In 1970 Bob Ellis went to a party given by Gough Whitlam's secretary Dick Hall thinking he was going to be asked to write speeches for Whitlam. Instead Hall proposed they collaborate on a musical about the attempted assassination of Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868. They wrote the play over weekends. They based the script on Parkes' poetry and an interview between Parkes and Henry O'Farrell while the latter was waiting to be executed. Ellis felt the events of the assassination "was the beginning of the great Australian inferiority complex."[3]

Productions

It premiered at the Nimrod Theatre in 1971 directed by Aarne Neame.[4] A cast of six played a variety of parts.

Reviewing the 1971 production the Sydney Morning Herald critic felt the criticism of Parkes "sometimes came across as a smear" but believed the second half was better than the first.[5]

The reviewer from The Bulletin said:

Slabs o factual research and transcription covering trials, commissions andinterviews (fascinating in content, no doubt, but deadly dull as theatre) are interspersed with stretches of music-hall song-and dance routines in a desperately contrived effort to sugar the pill. But the pill sticks firmlyin the throat. The authors are concerned with politics, not Parkes. They have produced a play without characters, a documentary dolled up as a theatrical event and a somewhat confusing documentary at that.[6]

The play was also produced in Melbourne in 1972.[7]

References

1. Original production listing at Ausstage
2. "SENDING UP FATHER". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 September 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 24 June 2020 – via Trove.
3. Nicklin, Lenore (25 August 1971). "Henry Parkes will tread the boards tonight". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 7.
4. Production page at Ausstage
5. Kippax, H.G. (30 August 1971). "Sir Henry was the villain". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8.
6. Hoad, Brian (4 September 1971). "Bullet in the buttock". The Bulletin. p. 37.
7. Play listing at Ausstage