North Star and Southern Cross: Shakespeare's Comedies in Australia, 1903–1904

Abstract

Michael Gow's celebrated play Away (1986) commences with a tatty school version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Set in the era of anti-Vietnam War protests, Away ironically salutes the iconic performance traditions of the ‘romantic’ Dream. At the Prince's Theatre, Manchester, in 1901–02, actor-manager Robert Courtneidge directed elaborate productions of this play and As You Like It, and under the management of George Musgrove toured them to Australia, where Twelfth Night was added. These productions' ensemble casting was central to Courtneidge's and Musgrove's ambitions for addressing the ‘distinctive geographies’ of regional taste. Veronica Kelly is an Honorary Research Advisor at the University of Queensland. Her book The Empire Actors: Stars of Australasian Costume Drama 1890s–1920s is published by Currency House (2010).