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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Brutality in the workplace, rage in the streets, seething in the home. The vulnerability of political parties when they’ve forgotten why they’re there. The intellectual torpor of modern Australia. How power corrupts.
'Stephen Sewell’s play is an angry and tender depiction of an idealist who becomes so embroiled in a party power struggle that he loses sight of what’s at stake. When it premiered in 1983, The Blind Giant is Dancing felt like a sharp slap in the face. And in an age of ICAC, Union credit cards, speculative housing bubbles, a pulverised working class, vapid leadership… it’s definitely time for another look at this Australian classic.
'Artistic Director Eamon Flack begins his tenure with a company of twelve of the country’s great actors and one of the country’s great plays.'
Source: Belvoir 2016 production summary.
Notes
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Dedication: To my friends, Anna Russell, Dan O'Neill and Marian Wilkinson. In memory of Salvador Allende, killed by fascist forces while defending the Moneda Palace with his comrades, 11 September 1973
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Epigraph: 'In these dark and bitter moments, where treachery claims to impose itself, you must know that sooner or later, and very soon, large avenues will open again for men worthy of building a new society. Long Live Chile! / Long Live the People! / Long Live the Workers!' - President Allende, 11 September 1973
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Author's note: This is the text of The Blind Giant is Dancing as presented on the first day of rehearsal. It does not include any subsequent revisions by the author.
Production Details
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First produced by the Lighthouse Co., the Playhouse, Adelaide, 15 October 1983. Revived August 1995, Sydney.
Performed at Belvoir St Theatre, Upstairs Theatre, Surry Hills: 13 February - 20 March 2016.
Director: Eamon Flack.
Cast: Ivan Donato, Russell Kiefel, Geoff Morrell, Dan Spielman, and Yael Stone.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Tale of Moral Corruption a House of Cards for Stage
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 19 February 2016; (p. 18)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Sucked into Political Machinery
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 19 February 2016; (p. 16)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
A Man of Qualities
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23-24 February 2013; (p. 4-5) -
Stephen Sewell and the State of the Nation
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Radical Visions 1968-2008 : The Impact of the Sixties on Australian Drama 2011; (p. 239-266) -
Once More into the Fray for Fearless Sewell
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 30 September 2006; (p. 12-13)
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A Dramatic Call for Courage
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 22 November vol. 103 no. 5392 1983; (p. 82)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Untitled
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Left Review , no. 90 1984; (p. 41-43)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Untitled
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 22 April 1985;
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Untitled
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April vol. 3 no. 2 1985; (p. 145-148)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Let This Be a Warning Yet Again
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 29 August vol. 116 no. 5985 1995; (p. 87)
— Review of The Blind Giant Is Dancing 1983 single work drama -
Re-Reading Stephen Sewell's Traitors : Ideology and Gender in 'the Australian Play'
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Modern Drama , Spring vol. 48 no. 1 2005; (p. 108-117) -
It's Curtains for Armfield
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 1 April 2006; (p. 19) Neil Armfield will direct the play It Just Stopped by Stephen Sewell, previewed at the Malthouse Theatre from 3 April to 23 April 2006. -
Once More into the Fray for Fearless Sewell
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 30 September 2006; (p. 12-13) -
Views of the Harbour : The Empty City in Contemporary Australian Drama
1992
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Populous Places : Australian Cities and Towns 1992; (p. 48-57) -
Stephen Sewell and the State of the Nation
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Radical Visions 1968-2008 : The Impact of the Sixties on Australian Drama 2011; (p. 239-266)
Awards
- 1980s