Peter Yeldham's <em> Reunion Day</em>: An Anzac Day Play on British Television

Authors

  • Susan Lever The University of Sydney

Keywords:

Peter Yeldham, Alan Seymour, Sumner Locke Elliott, Ray Lawler, naturalism, Second World War

Abstract

Though a few naturalist plays from the 1950s and 1960s are acknowledged in Australian drama history, the plays written for television by Australians who went to Britain and America have disappeared from consideration. This article discusses one of them, Peter Yeldham's Reunion Day as an example of the naturalism current in British television in the early 1960s. It discusses the play's deliberate restraint and depiction of 'ordinary' people. It also places the play in the context of other Australian plays that use Anzac Day or the veteran's reunion as subject matter. A copy of the screenplay is appended.

Author Biography

Susan Lever, The University of Sydney

Susan Lever is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney. Her books include Real Relations: The Feminist Politics of Form in Australian Fiction (ASAL/Halstead, 2000) and David Foster: The Satirist of Australia (Cambria Press, 2008).

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Published

2009-12-15

Issue

Vol. 9 (2009)

Section

Articles

License

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