Fleeced, or the Vultures of the Bush is a 1870 Australian play by Arch Murray, author of Forged.[1][2][3]
One critic of a 1870 production at the Victoria Theatre, Sydney said "It has merits, but they are of so questionable a character that doubtless Mr Murray would prefer to have them passed by, by the critic."[4]
Vultures of the Wombat Ranges
The play was rewritten in 1878 as Vultures of the Wombat Ranges to take advantage of the Ned Kelly outbreak.[5][6] Reviewing this production the Herald said it "was produced to the apparent satisfaction of a very considerable audience, Of the drama itself very little can be said in commendation. In tone and in style it is also objectionable. The acting, however, was in every respect admirable."[7]The Age said:
At the present juncture, when the horrible tragedy recently enacted at Mansfield is exercising the public mind, and when a spirit of sympathy for the murderous gang is evidently pervading a certain section of the community, the representation of any production likely to foster so highly undesirable a feeling cannot be too sternly reprobated. The impropriety of placing such a piece as Fleeced upon the stage of a respectable theatre must have occurred to the management, and it is a misfortune that they should have done.[8]
References
^"ADELAIDE". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LXI, no. 9996. New South Wales, Australia. 4 June 1870. p. 4. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". Evening News. No. 888. New South Wales, Australia. 8 June 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LXI, no. 9999. New South Wales, Australia. 8 June 1870. p. 8. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.