The Torrents

The Torrents
Written byOriel Gray
Date premiered1957
Original languageEnglish
Genrecomedy

The Torrents is a 1955 Australian play by Oriel Gray, set in the late 19th century, about the arrival of a female journalist in an all-male newspaper office, and an attempt to develop irrigation-based agriculture in a former gold mining town.

In 1955 it was voted best play that year by the Playwrights' Advisory Board, alongside Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll,[1][2][3][4] winning a prize of £100 for its author.[5] This has been called "one of the great “compare and contrast” moments in the history of female Australian playwriting."[6]

Theme

The play is set in the second half of the 19th century,[2][5][7][8] in the newspaper office of a country town[2][3][5] built around gold-mining.[2][7][8][9] The gold is running out,[2][8][9] and a young engineer suggests developing agriculture, supported by irrigation, as an alternative.[2][7][8][9] A new recruit to the newspaper, one J.G. Milthorpe, arrives – and turns out to be a woman named Jenny.[8][9] The play explores tensions between the all-male workforce of the newspaper and the new female reporter; between those who want to see mining continue and those who support agriculture; and the different stances of the newspaper editor and his son.[2][8][9]

Stage performances

The Torrents had its stage premiere in 1957 at the New Theatre, Stow Hall, Adelaide,[7][10] produced by Mary Miller, one of the founders of that theatre.[8] It was performed in Melbourne the following year, at the New Theatre,[2][11] and in Sydney in 1962 at Norman McVicker's Pocket Playhouse in Sydenham.[12][13] The cast included John Cooper, Beverley Harte and Lionel Mann, and it was produced by Robert Findlay.[13]

Its next stage productions were not until 1995 and 1996. A reading of the play was performed at the Victorian Arts Centre in March 1995.[2][14] In 1996, the State Theatre Company of South Australia dedicated its program at The Playhouse theatre to works by Australian authors, including some which had been neglected.[2][15] Its production of The Torrents was directed by Marion Potts, with set design by Mary Moore.[11][16] Paula Arundell played Jenny, and John Adam played the son.[11][16]

Adaptations

1956 radio adaptation

It was adapted into a one-hour radio play by Joy Hollyer[17] for the ABC in 1956.[3][4][18] Three performances were broadcast, one in March 1956, with Beverley Dunn as J.G. Milford,[17] another in November 1956, with Margo Lee as J.G. Milford, Kevin Brennan as the editor, Ben Gabriel as the son, and Keith Buckley as the young engineer.[19] and the third in December 1956, in which Gwen Clarke played Jenny Milford, and Donald McTaggart played the son; also in the cast was Rodney Hall.[20]

Another production aired in 1966, with Nonie Stewart and John Nash in major roles.[21]

1969 TV adaptation

The play was adapted for Australian TV in 1969.[9] Filmink said this adaptation "seemed forgotten in newspaper reports about the recent STC/Black Swan revival of that play."[6]

Musical adaptation

It was also adapted into the musical A Bit o' Petticoat.[22]

Publication

The Torrents was not published until 1988,[23] when Penguin released it as part of their Australian playhouse series, and it was also included in Dale Spender's The Penguin Anthology of Australian Women's Writing.[2][24] It was then re-issued by Currency Press in 1996 and 2016.

References

  1. ^ David Fiorovanti, "Oriel Gray, 'playwright of ideas', dies aged 83", The Age, 3 July 2003, accessed 24 January 2013
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Arrow, Michelle (9 December 1995). "The play that time forgot". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. pp. 275, 277–278. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Maginnis, Molly (24 March 1956). "Women in the Theatre: Playwright". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. p. 7. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Housewife's Prize Play On The Air". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. 8 March 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Australian Play Competition". The A.B.C. Weekly. 17 (37): 4. 17 September 1955.
  6. ^ a b Vagg, Stephen (15 November 2020). "The Flawed Landmark: Burst of Summer". Filmink.
  7. ^ a b c d "Australian play for Adelaide". Tribune. No. 1009. New South Wales, Australia. 31 July 1957. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g E.J. (18 September 1957). "Adelaide NTL presents Prize-Winning Play". Tribune. No. 1016. New South Wales, Australia. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Kelly, Frances (11 December 1969). "Television. A play at last!". The Canberra Times. Canberra, ACT, Australia. p. 33. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  10. ^ Lyons, Jill (6 November 1957). "The Doll and the Umbrella". The Bulletin. 78 (4056): 26, 49. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "The Torrents". AusStage – The Australian Live Performance Database. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Ensemble Theatre Plans New Career". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 7 March 1962. p. 13. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  13. ^ a b R.C. (10 August 1962). ""Torrents" At The Pocket Playhouse". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. p. 9. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. ^ Mangan, John (3 March 1995). "Torrents of feeling from stage left resonate anew". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p. 18. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  15. ^ "National playhouse plan announced". The Canberra Times. Vol. 71, no. 22, 116. 5 November 1995. p. 20. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ a b Bramwell, Murray (1 September 1996). "Pressing Issues". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  17. ^ a b "A.B.C. Radio Plays. The Torrents". The A.B.C. Weekly. 18 (10): 20. 10 March 1956. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Worth Reporting". The Australian Women's Weekly. 22 February 1956. p. 31. Retrieved 24 January 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "A.B.C. Radio Plays. The Torrents". The A.B.C. Weekly. 18 (44): 20. 3 November 1956. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  20. ^ "A.B.C. Radio Plays. The Torrents". The A.B.C. Weekly. 18 (52): 20. 29 December 1956. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Drama on radio". The Age TV-Radio Guide. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 7 July 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  22. ^ "A Bit o' Petticoat" at Australianmusicals.com accessed 24 January 2013
  23. ^ Farfalla, Valerie Colyer (25 November 1987). "Making a living out of 200 years of neglect". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. p. 27. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  24. ^ Pierce, Peter (24 September 1988). "Women's battle for literary credentials". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. p. 79. Retrieved 13 August 2019.