An Antarctic Epic
Genredrama
Running time60 mins (9:30 pm – 10:30 pm)
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Home station2FC
Written byEdmund Barclay
Directed byEdmund Barclay[1]
Recording studioSydney
Original release29 September 1933[2]

An Antarctic Epic is a 1933 Australian radio drama by Edmund Barclay about the Scott Expedition to Antartica. It was the first radio drama script by Barclay who went on to become arguably Australia's leading radio writer (although he had written a number of radio revues prior to this).[3]

A copy of the script is available at University of Queensland's Fryer Library.[4]

Original Production

Barclay later recalled, "In those very early days, the indigenous Australian radio playwright — and you could count us on the fingers of one hand and still have some to spare - were like our colleagues overseas, struggling with an entirely new technique. Antarctic Epic was the first full-length experiment of its kind, written and produced in Australia by an Australian writer for Australian listeners."[5]

According to a contemporary account, "In writing this play, Mr. Barclay has taken advantage of the new radio technique of allowing scenes to blend into one another, for which Wagnerian music will be used, so that from the time the play commences until the end, covering in all a period of six months, there is not a single break."[6]

Reviewing the 1933 production the Wireless Weekly called it "a most competent piece of work; the transitions from the party at the base to the ex-peditionary party, the music and the effects, were all well worked... As for the material of the play, it is a demonstration of how the English gentleman of recent days reacts to a heroic environment."[7]

A 1933 newspaper article said this and Barclay's Eureka Stockade were "remarkably successful historical dramas."[8]

Later versions

Wireless Weekly 29 March 1935

The production was repeated in 1935.[9][10]

A new production was given in 1947.[11] At that time Barclay reflected, "After all these years, I can see its many faults, but I will always have a fondness for it. Not only was it my very first radio play, but, being producer as well as author, I cast myself in a small part, my first, last, and only appearance before the microphone."[5]

Premise

The story of Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition.[12]

Cast of 1933 production

References

  1. ↑ "To-Morrow's Programmes". Queensland Times. Vol. LXXIV, no. 14, 627. Queensland, Australia. 28 September 1933. p. 5 (Daily.). Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "RADIO PROGRAMMES". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1933. p. 46. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ Marion Consandine, 'Barclay, Edmund Piers (Teddy) (1898–1961)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barclay-edmund-piers-teddy-9425/text16569, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 31 August 2023.
  4. ↑ An Antartic Epic at Fryer Library
  5. 1 2 Australian Broadcasting Commission. (15 March 1947) [1939], "Playwright Replies", v. : ill. ; 29cm., ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, 9 (11), nla.obj-1377568036, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
  6. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "FRIDAY . SEPTEMBER 29", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 22 No. 13 (September 29, 1933)), nla.obj-720806195, retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Trove
  7. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (October 13, 1933), "A Sniff at Every Flask", The wireless weekly: the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, 22 (15), nla.obj-719926470, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
  8. ↑ "Honor in His Own Country". The Sun. No. 1602. New South Wales, Australia. 10 December 1933. p. 48. Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (March 29, 1935), "Programme Features", The wireless weekly: the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, 25 (13), nla.obj-732797474, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
  10. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (March 29, 1935), "Sundau March 31", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, 25 (13), nla.obj-732798073, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
  11. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (22 February 1947), "Saturday Night Drama – Antarctic Epic Attracted Many Excellent Criticisms – "Moving Piece of Writing"", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, 9 (8), nla.obj-1377471400, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
  12. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League. (September 29, 1933), "Friday September 29", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, 22 (13), nla.obj-720806195, retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Trove
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