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Better a Millstone single work   drama  
Issue Details: First known date: 1965... 1965 Better a Millstone
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Better a Millstone deals with the hanging of Derek Bentley, a British teenager who was involved in a robbery which led to the murder of a police officer. He was hanged despite the fact that he did not shoot the police officer and was judged to be mentally incompetent. After a long campaign he was posthumously granted a royal pardon in 1993 and had his sentence quashed in 1998.

Notes

  • Chinese translation of 'Better a Millstone' published in 1957 (Peking: Foreign Languages Publishing House). Source: 'Mona Brand: A Checklist, 1935-1980' Australian Literary Studies vol.10 no.1 May 1981 (pp.117-127).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Plays Mona Brand , Moscow : Progress Publishers , 1965 Z512152 1965 selected work drama Moscow : Progress Publishers , 1965 pg. [153]-[217]

Works about this Work

Australia and China at 50 : The New Wave Theatre and the Drama of Cultural Exchange Anne Pender , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 46 no. 4 2022; (p. 482-495)

'2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening up of relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China. When he became prime minister in 1972, Gough Whitlam sent the first ambassador to China (Dr Stephen Fitzgerald), and in his term of office established support for artists’ exchanges from the Australia Council. The Australian Ballet visited China in 1980, the first major ballet company to tour since the Cultural Revolution. The touring of China by Australian theatre, opera and dance companies has flourished since then, particularly over the last decade, and Australian spoken-word drama has featured in the relationship between the two countries since 1983. Since the 1980s, the work of the New Wave dramatists has captured the interest of Chinese audiences over a sustained period beyond the years of the New Wave itself. The theatre has, in some respects, provided a respite from the rigours of realpolitik and most importantly a means of genuine interaction between ordinary Australians and Chinese citizens who make up the audiences. This article documents the take-up of the New Wave drama in China, and the legacy of the relationships created in this formative period of Australian theatre in its international context.' (Publication abstract)

Reflections on Three Plays by Mona Brand Jim Crawford , 1966 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Realist , Autumn no. 22 1966; (p. 30-32)
Reflections on Three Plays by Mona Brand Jim Crawford , 1966 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Realist , Autumn no. 22 1966; (p. 30-32)
Australia and China at 50 : The New Wave Theatre and the Drama of Cultural Exchange Anne Pender , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 46 no. 4 2022; (p. 482-495)

'2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening up of relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China. When he became prime minister in 1972, Gough Whitlam sent the first ambassador to China (Dr Stephen Fitzgerald), and in his term of office established support for artists’ exchanges from the Australia Council. The Australian Ballet visited China in 1980, the first major ballet company to tour since the Cultural Revolution. The touring of China by Australian theatre, opera and dance companies has flourished since then, particularly over the last decade, and Australian spoken-word drama has featured in the relationship between the two countries since 1983. Since the 1980s, the work of the New Wave dramatists has captured the interest of Chinese audiences over a sustained period beyond the years of the New Wave itself. The theatre has, in some respects, provided a respite from the rigours of realpolitik and most importantly a means of genuine interaction between ordinary Australians and Chinese citizens who make up the audiences. This article documents the take-up of the New Wave drama in China, and the legacy of the relationships created in this formative period of Australian theatre in its international context.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 20 Nov 2011 09:39:49
Subjects:
  • c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
Settings:
  • 1950s
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