Catspaw is a 1974 rock musical by Australian playwright Dorothy Hewett, with music by Terence Clarke, Piers Partridge and Roy Ritchie. It was Hewett's fifth full-length play and her first rock musical. It was written for the Festival of Perth before Hewett departed permanently for Sydney in early 1974. Catspaw is an expressionist or "epic" play with an episodic plot loosely based on a quest. It is the first of Hewett's plays that deals with the conservation of Australia, both as landscape and cultural heritage, where "imagination" is a universal cultural force opposed to the destruction caused by commercial interests.[1]
The Prologue and Epilogue are set in a car wreckers yard, where Cat has sought refuge with his girlfriend Rabbit and her young daughter Kitten. They set off on his motorbike on a hippie expedition to the desert to find out the 'fantastic possibilities" of life. In Act I the bike breaks down in Opal, an isolated gem town. Cat is bitten by the opal bug, but leaves town when he shoots a mystic Chinese prospector figure. Rabbit dies in childbirth. In Act II a flying saucer lands and disgorges a cargo of old Australian show-biz characters, who are "Greenies", come to save the country. They set off on a great protest march to the Bight, but instead end up back at the car wrecker's yard, as Cat's revolution comes to nothing. However Cat makes a personal journey from arrogance to the beginnings of humility, particularly in his relations with women,[1]
The play ran at the New Fortune Theatre from 12 February to 23 February 1974. and was directed by Aarne Neeme, who had directed Hewett's 1971 play The Chapel Perilous.[2] A student production was conducted at the University of New South Wales in 1984, with a modified ending involving characters from the 1980s.[3]
The script is held in the Hangar Collection of unpublished playscripts.[4] A rehearsal recording is in the University of New England Stage and Screen collection.[5]
catspaw, rock, opera, catspaw, 1974, rock, musical, australian, playwright, dorothy, hewett, with, music, terence, clarke, piers, partridge, ritchie, hewett, fifth, full, length, play, first, rock, musical, written, festival, perth, before, hewett, departed, p. Catspaw is a 1974 rock musical by Australian playwright Dorothy Hewett with music by Terence Clarke Piers Partridge and Roy Ritchie It was Hewett s fifth full length play and her first rock musical It was written for the Festival of Perth before Hewett departed permanently for Sydney in early 1974 Catspaw is an expressionist or epic play with an episodic plot loosely based on a quest It is the first of Hewett s plays that deals with the conservation of Australia both as landscape and cultural heritage where imagination is a universal cultural force opposed to the destruction caused by commercial interests 1 CatspawWritten byDorothy HewettDirected byAarne NeemeDate premiered12 February 1974Place premieredPerth WAOriginal languageEnglishGenreRock musical The Prologue and Epilogue are set in a car wreckers yard where Cat has sought refuge with his girlfriend Rabbit and her young daughter Kitten They set off on his motorbike on a hippie expedition to the desert to find out the fantastic possibilities of life In Act I the bike breaks down in Opal an isolated gem town Cat is bitten by the opal bug but leaves town when he shoots a mystic Chinese prospector figure Rabbit dies in childbirth In Act II a flying saucer lands and disgorges a cargo of old Australian show biz characters who are Greenies come to save the country They set off on a great protest march to the Bight but instead end up back at the car wrecker s yard as Cat s revolution comes to nothing However Cat makes a personal journey from arrogance to the beginnings of humility particularly in his relations with women 1 The play ran at the New Fortune Theatre from 12 February to 23 February 1974 and was directed by Aarne Neeme who had directed Hewett s 1971 play The Chapel Perilous 2 A student production was conducted at the University of New South Wales in 1984 with a modified ending involving characters from the 1980s 3 The script is held in the Hangar Collection of unpublished playscripts 4 A rehearsal recording is in the University of New England Stage and Screen collection 5 Review editZoltan Kovacs The West Australian 14 February 1974 6 References edit a b Williams Margaret 1992 Dorothy Hewett the Feminine as Subversion Sydney Currency pp 69 80 ISBN 0 86819 320 8 AusStage www ausstage edu au Retrieved 2023 06 20 Oz drama revival Uniken 10 20 July 1984 Catspaw manuscript a musical in two acts trove nla gov au Retrieved 2023 06 20 Dorothy Hewett www doollee com Retrieved 2023 06 19 Kovacs Zoltan 14 February 1974 An explosive brew in Catspaw The West Australian nbsp This article on a play from the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Catspaw rock opera amp oldid 1196212106, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
