Anthem Studies in Australian Literature and Culture

Australian Theatre, Modernism and Patrick White: Governing Culture
Denise Varney, Sandra D'Urso

The story of the rejection of two Patrick White plays by the Adelaide Festival of Arts in the early 1960s.

'This timely book emphasizes the vitality of Patrick White's plays and his contribution to current Australian theatre. Although White's 1973 Nobel Prize was for his novels, Denise Varney and Sandra D'Urso present a compelling and detailed case for the drama's enduring status. Their thoughtful exploration of the 1960s rejection of White's drama reveals a radical challenge to types of modernist governance and sovereignty including the Australian separation from British culture.' — Peta Tait FAHA, Emeritus Professor, Theatre and Drama, HUSS, La Trobe University, Australia

'Australian Theatre, Modernism and Patrick White details the rejection of two Patrick White plays — The Ham Funeral and Night on Bald Mountain.' — by the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australia in the early 1960s