The First Gentleman (radio play) explained
| The First Gentleman |
| Format: | play drama |
| Runtime: | 75 mins |
| Start Time: | 8pm |
| End Time: | 9.15pm |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Syndicates: | ABC |
| Director: | John Cairns[1] |
| First Aired: | 31 May 1945 |
The First Gentleman is a 1945 Australian radio play by Betty Roland about Benjamin Boyd.[2] [3] It was one of Roland's most notable works.[4]
The original cast included Hal Lashwood and Patricia Kennedy. The production was well received and the ABC produced it again in 1946, 1949, 1952 1955 and 1959.
Premise
According to ABC Weekly it was "a lively chronicle play of early N.S.W., the story of Ben Boyd, mercurial, energetic and handsome, and of all that happened to his great schemes. She [Roland] has also taken the liberty of inventing a love story to leaven the rigid facts of history."
Cast of 1955 production
- Toby Harris as Ben Boyd
- Betty Ross as Madelon Hennessey
- Bernard Barry as Oswald Biierly and Tana
- Beryl Felgate as Mrs. Radclifte
- Enid Elliott as Mrs. Morris
- Hector Lawrence as Major Radcliffe
- John Bowen as Grogan and First Soldier
- David Read as Dixon and Second Soldier
- Don Sanderson as Sir George Gipps, Ellis Chesney Watts, Harry Cotter, William Wentworth
Notes and References
- News: RADIO HIGHLIGHTS . . 8557 . New South Wales, Australia . 31 May 1945 . 1 February 2024 . 12 . National Library of Australia.
- News: BROADCASTING . . 30,812 . Victoria, Australia . 31 May 1945 . 21 December 2023 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
- News: RADIO HIGHLIGHTS . . 8557 . New South Wales, Australia . 31 May 1945 . 21 December 2023 . 12 . National Library of Australia.
- Book: Rees, Leslie. Towards An Australian Drama. 1953. 115, 167.
