The Bushranger, or the Last Crime
The Bushranger, or the Last Crime is a 1854 Australian stage play. It debuted in Sydney in April 1854.[1] The play was about a fictitious bushranger, Charles Graves, and included "a grand series of equestrian feats, bare backed riding."[2] ReactionA writer in Empire newspaper found the play a "new piece of rather questionable tendency" adding, "The scene is laid in Australia and occupied by characters who ‘left their country for their country’s good.' We think the selection of plays of a more moral nature would ensure an audience that would better appreciate the talent of the actor."[3] According to historian Margaret Williams, "If the appearance of a bushranger on the Sydney stage is notable in itself, so is the review, for it marks the end of a decade in which local pieces of a questionable moral tendency never appeared to be reviewed at all."[4] See alsoReferences
|