Cornerstone
Written byGwen Meredith
Directed byDoris Fitton
Date premiered19 April 1956
Place premieredIndependent Theatre, Sydney
Original languageEnglish
Subjectmarriage
Genredrama

Cornerstone is a 1956 Australian play by Gwen Meredith.[1]

It was highly commended in a 1955 competition from the Playwrights' Advisory Board (the one won by The Torrents and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll).[2]

Production History

The play was produced at Sydney's Independent Theatre in a production sponsored by the Elizabethan Theatre Trust. It was then produced in Brisbane. This was rare for an Australian play in the 1950s.[3]

Reception

SMH 18 Apri 1956

The Bulletin called it "an efficient, almost photographic account of the everyday tragedy of the daughter who has sacrificed her chances of marriage in order to look after her mother... The characters are recognisable types, the dialogue fluent, and all the surface-values of the situation are presented in a simple and straightforward manner, so that the final impression is that of a sad story ably told."[4]

Adaptation

The play was adapted for radio in 1956.[5]

Premise

Catherine, a single woman in her forties, looks after her widowed mother. Her ex-boyfriend Bryce comes back into her life, a widower, and he proposes. Catherine accepts but the rest of her family refuses to take their mother. Bryce must leave for overseas without her.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "NEW GWEN MEREDITH PLAY", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 18 No. 16 (21 April 1956)), nla.obj-1427902614, retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Trove
  2. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (17 September 1955), "AUSTRALIAN PLAY COMPETITION", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, 17 (37), nla.obj-1540599251, retrieved 26 July 2023 – via Trove
  3. ↑ "SUNDRY SHOWS: Stage and Music", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 77 (3990): 19, 1 Aug 1956, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-694417853, retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Trove
  4. ↑ "SUNDRY SHOWS: Stage and Music", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 77 (3977): 19, 2 May 1956, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-694352343, retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Trove
  5. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A. B. C. COMMERCIAL", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 18 No. 33 (18 August 1956)), nla.obj-1317664675, retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Trove
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