Men Without Wives

Directed by Barbara Sisley, Men Without Wives by Australian playwright Henrietta Drake-Brockman was reviewed positively by The Courier-Mail , but The Telegraph, noting the “rather ugly theme, the cohabitation of black women with white men”, asked “why must we have plays about the unpleasant things in Australia, and not more on the brighter side of life?” (May 6, 1939).

Its central theme, the loneliness of living in a remote north Queensland cattle station, is explored through the trials and tribulations of several women characters as well as through the cohabitation issue. It would be another three years before any more Australian plays were programmed.

Writer: Christine Comans