The Cherry Pickers

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Event The Cherry Pickers
Venue The Mews Playhouse, Centennial Park, NSW
Umbrella Event No
First Date 1971
Dates Estimated No
Status Professional
World Premiere No
Description "There is some debate about whether or not there was a full production of The Cherry Pickers in 1971. Katherine Brisbane ... was in the audience for a 1971 presentation and refers to it as a performance of only the first half of the play. However, the publicity, advertising and Gilbert's description are of a full production running over a period of time." (Casey, Creating Frames, p. 19)
"I can assure you that there was only a single evening where the play was read as a play reading. Kevin was out on parole from Long Bay Gaol. Katherine Brisbane was in the audience and I was out the back operating the lights!
If there was any ‘full production’ it was not at the Mews Theatre and would have been some time later." Correspondence from Leone Lorrimer (daughter of Amy McGrath who ran Mews Playhouse) to AusStage Project Manager, 19th July 2018.
"I spoke to my father (His Honor Judge Frank McGrath) to clarify Katherine's comment about only half the play being read. His recollections are as follows: An organisation called the Robin Hood Foundation(?) worked with prisoners at Long Bay Gaol. In this case they assisted in gaining permission to allow Kevin Gilbert out on parole for the play reading. In submitting the script of the play for approval for his release Robin Hood's representative cut out certain sections. In addition Kevin's sisters were performing in the play. One of them refused to read some sections because the language use too many profanities. The ABC donated the services of the director. A bit of a row broke out when Kevin blamed this director for editing his script. For any of the above reasons it is possible that not all of the script was read that evening." Correspondence from Leone Lorrimer (daughter of Amy McGrath who ran Mews Playhouse) to AusStage Project Manager, 11th August 2018.
Description Source Article
Primary Genre Theatre - Spoken Word
Secondary Genre Reading
Subjects Family
Indigenous Australia
Indigenous Peoples
Contributors
Name Function Notes
Athol Compton Actor
Lynette Gilbert Actor
Brian Syron Collaborator
Kevin McGrath Director
Kevin Gilbert Playwright
Resources
Works
Text Nationality Australia
Production Nationality Australia
Event Status Completed
Data Source
Source Description
Book Casey, Maryrose. Creating Frames: Contemporary Indigenous Theatre 1967-1997. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press 2004
Book John McCallum, Belonging: Australian Playwriting in the 20th Century, Currency Press, Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2009
Correspondence
Event Identifier 73763
Dataset AusStage