Catching the Kellys

1879 play by Joseph Pickersgill

Catching the Kellys
Written byJoseph Pickersgill
Date premieredApril 1879
Place premieredTheatre Royal, Melbourne
Original languageEnglish
SubjectNed Kelly
Genrecomedy

Catching the Kellys is a 1879 Australian comic stage play by Joseph Pickersgill about the pursuit for Ned Kelly.[1]

Reception

The Argus said "the piece is simply "catchpenny". Its intention, however, calls for severe condemnation, as it has evidently been written for the purpose of ridiculing the police at a time when they most require the moral support of the community."[2]

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "a very funny piece, which is a skit on the police."[3]

The Evening News reported it "is most unmercifully denounced by the Press as immoral in tone, and utterly deficient of any humour or literary ability. Business is very quiet."[4]

The Sydney Mail called it "An absurd and very inappropriate extravaganza... It is not complimentary to the police, and therefore delights all their natural enemies."[5]

The Bulletin called it a "masterly farce."[6]

Premise

"A Queensland bush sergeant... is brought to Victoria with two black trackers by the Government, under the idea that he is a celebrated bushranger catcher, and he chooses some other troopers to assist in the search for the Kelly gang. Of course the party aimlessly wanders about in the Strathbogie Ranges, shoot at each other, and are at length captured by the gang in the most sheepish manner. The supposed Kellys, however, get drunk when the valiant sergeant and his men overpower them, and then it appears that their prisoners are not the Kellys at all, but only a company of amateur policemen who were having a lark! The denoument is reached by the black trackers proving Irishmen in disguise."[2]

References

  1. ^ "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 10, 232. Victoria, Australia. 3 April 1879. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b "THEATRE ROYAL". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 10, 231. Victoria, Australia. 2 April 1879. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "THE QUEEN'S THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 12, 832. New South Wales, Australia. 19 May 1879. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Victorian News". The Evening News. No. 3737. New South Wales, Australia. 2 April 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "MUSIC & DRAMA". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXVII, no. 980. New South Wales, Australia. 12 April 1879. p. 586. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "SUNDRY SHOWS", The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 25 June 1881, nla.obj-235873532, retrieved 6 April 2024 – via Trove

External links

  • Catching the Kellys at Ausstage
  • v
  • t
  • e
Ned Kelly
Related people
Kelly Gang
  • Joe Byrne
  • Steve Hart
  • Dan Kelly
Other associates
  • Kate Kelly
  • Tom Lloyd
  • Harry Power
  • Aaron Sherritt
Authorities
  • Redmond Barry
  • Michael Edward Ward
Kelly on 10 November 1880, the day before his execution
Cultural depictions
Stage
  • Catching the Kellys (1879)
  • Ostracized (1881)
  • The Kelly Gang (Rede play) (1896)
  • The Kelly Gang (1899)
  • Outlaw Kelly (1899)
  • Hands Up (1900)
  • Ned Kelly, the Bushranger (1902)
  • The Kelly Gang (Majeroni play) (1905)
  • Ned Kelly (1942)
  • Sing for St. Ned (1951)
  • Ned Kelly (1960)
  • Ned Kelly (1977)
  • Kelly (2012)
Film
Radio
  • Ned Kelly (1942)
  • The Last Outlaw (1963)
Paintings
  • First-class Marksman (1946)
  • The Trial (1947)
Television
Music
  • Ned Kelly (1970 soundtrack album)
  • Ned Kelly (1974 rock opera)
Literature
Non fiction
Eponymous items
Other related articles