The Black Horse

The Black Horse is a 1937 Australian radio play by Vance Palmer based on his 1923 short play of the same name.[1]

It was a "one act tragedy".[2]

Leslie Rees called it "one of the finest stage one acters yet written in Australia."[3] The play has been performed on stage a number of times and it was published in a collection of plays in 1925.[4]

It was produced again for radio in 1939,[5] 1949, and 1958.[6]

Premise

"Young Walter Bain is at home on school holidays. He is a pleasant, rather indolent lad, spoilt by his mother, bullied by his fearless, brutal father. He prefers a soft bed and a book to the thrill of breaking in horses or rounding up cattle, so when his father suggests that he ride the black colt, which is feared by all the cattle hands, he is not enthusiastic. Vance Palmer’s restrained treatment of his theme gives vividness to the inevitable tragedy."[7]

References

  1. ^ "THURSDAY [APRIL 22]", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, April 16, 1937, nla.obj-719972359, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  2. ^ "PLAYW RICHTS OF AUSTRALIA PLAYS, NOVELS, POEMS", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, November 23, 1940, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  3. ^ "PLAYS OF THE AIR "THE DINGO" Vance Palmer's Tale of the Queensland Coast", ABC Weekly, Sydney: ABC, 13 April 1940, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  4. ^ "Australian One-Act Plays", The Triad, 10 (4), Sydney, 2 February 1925, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  5. ^ "THURSDAY ABC NATIONAL", ABC Weekly, Sydney: ABC, 2 December 1939, nla.obj-1308998876, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  6. ^ "A.B.C. radio plays for the week", ABC Weekly, Sydney, 22 October 1958, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove
  7. ^ "WATCH FOR THESE A.B.C. PLAYS", ABC Weekly, Sydney: ABC, 23 July 1949, retrieved 19 February 2024 – via Trove