Podcast Series
The 2020 Frank Van Straten Research Fellowship recipient, Dr Kate Rice, uncovers stories from the Australian Performing Arts Collection in a series of creative docu-drama podcasts.
Discover more about the Frank Van Straten Fellowship.
Title image credit: Cover of scrapbook of theatre newspaper cuttings, 1918-1919
Transferred from the Dennis Wolanski Library, Sydney Opera House, 1997
Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne
When the influenza pandemic swept across Australia in 1919, the performing arts industry scrambled to survive. Through restrictions, quarantines and closures, one glittering pantomime kept wowing audiences with a cast of 350, thousands of costumes, state-of-the-art theatrical effects, and world-class international acts – including American singing star May de Sousa, in what turned out to be the last performance of her career.
Written, researched and narrated by Kate Rice. Additional voice acting by Angourie Rice, Jimmy Eaton and Maddy Tyers. Produced and edited by Jimmy Eaton. ‘I’m sorry I made you cry’ by N.J. Clesi was performed by Linda O’Brien on piano and Angourie Rice on vocals and ukulele. Special thanks to Felicity Jackson, Carol Rushman and Anne Russell.
Photo credit: May de Sousa in ‘Goody Two Shoes’, Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne, 1919
Scrapbook, J.C. Williamson Ltd Collection
Gift of J.C Williamson Theatres Ltd, 1978
Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne
“1918 Pandemic Influenza Historic Timeline.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
page last reviewed Mar 2018. www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-
commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm. Accessed 30 July 2020.
“A star faded in a dingy room.” Daily Telegraph, 15 Aug 1948, p 13.
Agreement between J.C. Williamson Limited and May de Sousa, 28 Aug 1918. Australian
Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.
“All Theatres Closed: 2,200 Employees Affected.” The Argus, 29 Jan 1919, p 7.
“Anzac Day: Shanghai Observance.” News, 26 Apr 1927, p 9.
“At the Play.” Critic, 9 Apr 1919, p 11.
Bongiorno, Frank. “How Australia’s response to the Spanish flu of 1919 sounds warnings on
dealing with coronavirus.” The Conversation, 22 Mar. 2020. theconversation.com/howaustralias-
response-to-the-spanish-flu-of-1919-sounds-warnings-on-dealing-withcoronavirus-
134017. Accessed 30 July 2020.
Clesi, N. J. “I’m Sorry I Made You Cry.” Historic Sheet Music Collection, 1918.
Contract between Dorothy Hastings and JC Williamson Ltd. 30 July 1918. Australian
Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.
Curson, Peter and Kevin McCracken. “An Australian Perspective of the 1918-1919 Influenza
Pandemic.” NSW Public Health Bulletin. Vol 17, No 7-8, 2006, pp 103-07.
Cuthbertson, Debbie. “What we can learn from Victoria’s Spanish Flu outbreak of 1919.”
The Age, 22 Mar 2020. www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/what-we-can-learn-fromvictoria-
s-spanish-flu-outbreak-of-1919-20200319-p54bus.html. Accessed 30 July 2020.
“Defining Moments: Influenza Pandemic.” National Museum of Australia, updated 5 Feb.
2019. www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/influenza-pandemic. Accessed 30
July 2020.
Eblana. “Social News and Gossip.” The Catholic Press, 5 June 1919, pp 12-13.
“Goody Two Shoes.” Daily Herald, 21 Apr 1919, p 4.
“Goody Two Shoes.” Geelong Advertiser, 23 Jan 1919, p 4.
“Goody Two Shoes.” Sunday Times, 22 Dec 1918, p 2.
“Goody Two Shoes.” Sydney Morning Herald, 19 May 1919, p 6.
““Goody Two Shoes.”: A Delightful Pantomime.” Advertiser, 21 Apr 1919, p 6.
““Goody Two Shoes.”: Big Success at the Royal.” Register, 21 Apr 1919, p 6.
““Goody Two Shoes”: Spectacle of Spectacles: New Artists’ Successes.” Mail, 19 Apr 1919,
p 1.
“Her Majesty’s.” The Daily Telegraph, 26 May 1919, p 8.
“Her Majesty’s – “Goody Two Shoes.”.” The Argus, 10 Mar 1919, p 8.
“Her Majesty’s Theatre.” Table Talk, 6 Mar 1919, p 28.
“Her Majesty’s Theatre.” Table Talk, 13 Mar 1919, p 24.
“Her Majesty’s Theatre: “Goody Two Shoes.”” Table Talk, 26 Dec 1918, pp 23-24.
“Her Majesty’s Theatre – Goody Two Shoes.” The Age, 10 Mar 1919, p 9.
Her Majesty’s Theatre Program: Goody Two Shoes. 17 May 1919. Australian Performing
Arts Collection, Melbourne.
“How Sydney Took It.” The Sun, 15 May 1919, p 7.
“In the Theatre.” The Lone Hand, Vol 9 No 7, 16 July 1919, p 40.
“Influenza.” Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 1919, p 7.
“The Influenza Epidemic.” Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June 1919, p 10.
“Influenza Epidemic: Reorganisation.” The Age, 11 Apr 1919, p 8.
“Interview.” Critic, 23 Apr 1919, p 8.
Jackson, Donald. The Irish Orphan: Henry Michael O’Hara, Melbourne, 2000.
“The Ladies’ Page: Ladies’ Letter.” Advocate, 4 Jan 1919, p 28.
Letter from JC Williamson Ltd to Dorothy Hastings. 23 Apr 1919. Australian Performing
Arts Collection, Melbourne.
“May de Sousa: The Fascinating Principal Boy in “Goody Two Shoes”.” Table Talk, 16 Jan
1919, p 31.
“New Principal Boy Makes Her Debut in Politics: May de Sousa Tells How Her Stage
Ambitions Were Stirred.” Graphic of Australia, 19 Dec 1918, p 24.
“On and Off the Stage.” Table Talk, 27 Feb 1919, p 12.
“Once Famous Singer Dies in Poverty.” Argus, 12 Aug 1948, p 3.
“Only Two Deaths: To-day’s Figures.” The Sun, 15 May 1919, p 7.
“The Pantomimes.” The Age, 23 Dec 1918, p 6.
Peerybincle, John. “Peerybincle Papers.” Weekly Times, 1 Mar 1919, p 30.
“Pneumonic Influenza (Spanish Flu), 1919.” NSW Government State Archives & Records.
www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-andindexes/
stories/pneumonic-influenza-1919. Accessed 30 July, 2020.
Quince, Peter. “The Playgoer.” Punch, 26 Dec 1918, pp 8-9.
Sheehan, Mary. “Spanish flu in Melbourne.” Living Histories, 25 May 2017.
livinghistories.net.au/2017/05/25/spanish-flu-attacks-in-melbourne/. Accessed 30 July 2020.
Siddons, Jane. “Round the Shows.” Labor News, 5 July 1919, p 5.
“The Simple Life: As May de Sousa Sees It.” Sunday Times, 22 June 1919, p 16.
“Stage Lights.” Graphic of Australia, 19 Dec 1918, p 26.
“Sydney Theatres.” The Triad, Vol. 4 No. 9, 10 June 1919, pp 44-46.
“Theatres.” Sunday Times, 17 Nov 1918, p 10.
“Under the Clocks.” Herald, 22 Feb 1919, p 6.
“Weddings.” Table Talk, 26 June 1919, p 10.
“Welcome Reopening of Theatres.” The Age, 10 Mar 1919, p 9.
For The Term Of His Natural Life is a 19th century Australian novel about a man transported from England to Van Diemen’s Land for a crime he didn’t commit. Adapted for the stage many times over, it became an epic melodrama that drew huge audiences for over thirty years. Behind the stage show is another story of injustice: of a writer who lost control of his most famous work, theatre makers who exploited it, and two women who fought to get it back.
Written, researched and narrated by Kate Rice. Additional voice acting by Angourie Rice, Jason Geary, Jimmy Eaton, Laurence Boxhall and Maddy Tyers. Produced and edited by Jimmy Eaton. ‘Curious Case’ written and performed by Cody Martin. ‘Good Old Days’ written and performed by Dresden the Flamingo. ‘I’m Sorry I Made You Cry’ written by NJ Clesi and performed by Angourie Rice. ‘Kings and Queens’ written and performed by Wicked Cinema. Handel’s ‘La Rejouissance’ and Chopin’s ‘This Too Shall Pass’ in B minor performed by Joshua Speight.
Poster from the film, For The Term Of His Natural Life
The Age, 11 Oct. 1888, p 12.
The Age, 2 Aug. 1890, p 12.
The Argus, 2 May 1868, p 5.
The Argus, 23 June 1886, p 8.
Atkinson, Roslyn, and Richard Fotheringham. “Dramatic Copyright in Australia to 1912.” Australasian Drama Studies II, 1987, pp 47-63.
Bond, Catherine. “‘Curse the Law!’: unravelling the copyright complexities in Marcus Clarke’s His Natural Life.” AustLII University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Research Series. 8 Nov 2010. www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLRS/2010/50.html. Accessed 27 July 2020.
Clarke, Marian. “His Natural Life: To the Editor of the Age.” The Age, 22 July 1886, p 6.
Elliott, Brian. Marcus Clarke. Oxford University Press, 1958.
Fotheringham, Richard, editor. Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage 1834-1899. University of Queensland Press, 2006.
Irvine, Eric. Australian Melodrama: Eighty Years of Popular Theatre. Hale & Iremonger, 1981.
---. The Dictionary of Australian Theatre 1788-1914. Hale & Iremonger, 1985.
Jacques. “Entertainments.” Australasian, 7 Mar 1868, p 17.
---. “Entertainments.” Australasian, 2 May 1868, p 18.
Kelly, Veronica. “The banning of Marcus Clarke’s ‘The Happy Land’: Stage, press and parliament.’ Australasian Drama Studies, vol 2, no 1, 1983, pp 71-111.
“Marching Ahead of Progress.” Sunday Times, 6 Mar 1927, p 28.
“Marian Marcus Clarke.” Table Talk, 30 Sep 1926, p 25.
“The Playgoer.” Melbourne Punch, 11 Oct. 1888, p 17.
Rees, Leslie. An Australian History of Drama Volume 1. Revised edition, Angus & Robertson, 1978.
“San Luis Obispo is Awfully Nice.” Marian Dunn Press Notices Scrapbook. 1906-07. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.
Table Talk. 17 Sep. 1886, p 1.
““Term’s” Big Vogue.” Truth, 21 Aug 1927, p 10.
Walker, Thomas. For the Term of his Natural Life. Circa 1894. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.
Williams, Leslie and Marian Marcus Clarke. For the Term of his Natural Life: Radio Script. Circa 1932. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.
Kate Rice is the inaugural Frank Van Straten Fellow. She has used this fellowship to research a number of historical theatrical performances documented in the Australian Performing Arts Collection and produce a series of performative podcasts that bring these forgotten stories of the Australian stage to life. She has a background in playwriting, specialising in creating work based on real events and ethical creative process.
"The Performing Arts Collection is vast, and this Fellowship offers the opportunity to really bring out its drama. I’m so excited to find the real experiences and stories behind the collection, and create a podcast series that will bring them to life."
Dr Kate Rice, inaugural Frank Van Straten Fellow
