Louis Esson - Australia Felix: A Dialogue

Brief description

Lousi Esson's Australian Felix: A Dialogue forms part of the Campbell Howard Collection of Australian Plays in Manuscript, a resource that provides a unique body of research material concerning Australian drama of the period 1920–55.

Full description

Play Length: One Act
Synopsis: Michael Gavan is left-of-centre and is disappointed with the trend in Australian politics. He speaks his mind to the Grahams, who are holidaying in the Gippsland area. A Nationalist-Country Party colaition is in power, led by Harding, a political colleague of Gavans's in the early days. Elections are being held that day and by means of the radio the news that the Liberal Party has been returned to power comes through. The curtain falls on the lines by Gavan and Graham hoping for a better future as they toast "Australia Felix".
Setting: Gavan's semi-permanent bush camp, a lonely but picturesque spot near Mallacoota Inlet in Far Eastern Gippsland, overlooking the Southern Ocean.
Characters:
MICHAEL GAVAN, a writer and a politican, about fifty-five
STUART GRAHAM, a young painter
HELEN, his wife
DICK, a bushman, about thirty
WILLIE, Gavan's son, about twenty
Voice of HARDING

Notes

NUNE: Campbell Howard Collection. [Two versions held in the Campbell Howard Collection]. ANL holds a collection of Louis Esson papers, MS 3185, and Esson playscripts in the British Drama League (Australia) manuscript collection, MS 5579.

Details for description taken from the Campbell Howard Annotated Index of Australian Plays 1920-1955, compiled and edited by Jack Bedson and Julian Croft.