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Jack Davis

JACK DAVIS  (1917 - 2000)

 Nationality:    Australian
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Currency Press, Australia  


Jack Davis (1917-2000) was born in Perth and brought up at Yarloop and the Moore River Native Settlement. He first began to learn the language and culture of his people, the Nyoongarah of the south-west of Western Australia, while living on the Brookton aboriginal Reserve. He later worked as a stockman in the north-west which brought him into contact with tribal society. He became an activist on behalf of his people and from 1967-71 was director of the aboriginal Centre in Perth. In 1971 he became the first chairman of the aboriginal Lands Trust in Wa and from 1972-77 was managing editor of the aboriginal Publications Foundation. Davis' first full-length play Kullark, a documentary on the history of aborigines in Wa, was first produced in 1979. Other plays published by Currency include No Sugar, The Dreamers, Barungin: Smell the Wind, In Our Town and for younger audiences, Honey Spot and Moorli and the Leprechaun. For services to his people he received the British Empire Medal in 1977 and in 1985 became a member of the Order of AustraliA. He has received the Sidney Myer Performing Arts award, an Hon. D.Litt. from Murdoch University and been elected Citizen of the Year in WA. In 1989 Davis was awarded one of the first Creative Fellowships given by the Federal Government to established artists in recognition of their contribution to Australian culture.

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below is a list of Jack Davis's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 Barungin (Smell The Wind)         Bitter Bit         Dreamers, The         Honey Spot         In Our Town         Kullark (Home)         Moorli And The Leprechaun         No Sugar         Steel And The Stone, The         Wahngin County

Barungin (Smell The Wind)

Synopsis:
Issues include land rights, alcohol abuse and black deaths in custody

Notes:
3rd part of trilogy

1st Produced:
Perth    1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Paddington, N.S.W : Currency Press, 1989   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  1g 1b

Further Reference:
-

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Bitter Bit

Synopsis:
a group of Australian aborigines go to Sydney where they are conned

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Black Theatre Arts and Culture Centre, New South Wales    1975

Organisations:
National Black Theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dreamers, The

Synopsis:
an old man who is dying recedes from urban hopelessness into his imagination and the land of his ancestors.

Notes:
part of trilogy

1st Produced:
-    1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Currency Press, Sydney, 1982   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  2b 1g male dancer

Further Reference:
-

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Honey Spot

Synopsis:
Tim, a young aboriginal boy, is the new boy in school. Peggy, a white girl, the Forest Ranger's daughter, is walking home one day after a ballet lesson and meets Tim who has a tomahawk in his hand. What are Tim and his family really like? a funny, warm story of friendship between a boy and a girl whose families seem to have nothing in common until danger strikes and forces them to face their prejudices.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
adelaide, Australia    1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1987   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Childrens Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  2b 1g

Further Reference:
-

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In Our Town

Synopsis:
Problems for two young men returning home from the Second World War.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Perth    1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1992   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  with doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Kullark (Home)

Synopsis:
The first meeting between Europeans and Native Australians and their subsequent treatment

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Titan Theatre, Perth    1978

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1982   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Moorli And The Leprechaun

Synopsis:
Mythical aboriginal and Irish characters make human mischief.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1994   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Childrens Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  1b 1g

Further Reference:
-

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No Sugar

No Sugar
the spirited story of the Millimurra family's stand against government protection' policies in 1930s Australia.

Notes:
part of trilogy

1st Produced:
Maltings, North perth    1985

Organisations:
Playhouse Company in association with the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust for the Perth Festival

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1986   978-0868191461

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Drama

Parts:
Male:  13            Female:  8            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Script in the Hanger Collection, Fryer Library, University of Queensland, Australia. http://www.austlit.edu.au

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Steel And The Stone, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
This play is A one Act version of "The Dreamers"

1st Produced:
Bunbury Arts Festival, Western Australia    1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wahngin County

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Perth Festival    1992

Organisations:
Black Swan Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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