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The Season at Sarsaparilla

Playwright: White, Patrick
Year: 1962
Type: Play
Edition: Adelaide University Theatre Guild, Adelaide, 1962

Manuscript

Synopsis

Set in the 1960s, [The Season at Sarsaparilla] offers a scathing attack on the emptiness of life the Great Australian Suburb, whilst equally paying homage to those that live there.

The Season at Sarsaparilla, at its simplest, is a portrait of overlapping lives presented as a series of sub-plots. The action follows the workaday lives of three families where the cycle of life is played out repeatedly. Birth, death, love, mateship, betrayal, loss, infidelity, desire and abuse shape the entire action of the play. — Theatre Australia

Narrative Locations

Mildred Street, Sarsaparilla, Sydney region, New South Wales  

Temporal setting: 1961

Location notes:

Patrick White set many of his stories from the 1960s in the fictional town of Sarsaparilla, including Riders in the Chariot and his collection of short stories, The Burnt Ones. It is conceivable that Sarsaparilla was modelled on Castle Hill, the former residence of White. He lived on Showground Road and coordinates are given for this location.

Quotes

“Subtitled: A charade of Suburbia in 2 Acts.

Time: Summer, 1961.

Scene: The stage is set with three platforms representing the three kitchens of three homes in Mildred Street, Sarsaparilla.”

(p. Manuscript)





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