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The Man from Mukinupin
The Man from Mukinupin
Written by	Dorothy Hewett
Characters	Jack Tuesday/Harry Tuesday; Polly Perkins/Lily Perkins; Eek Perkins/Zeke Perkins; Edie Perkins; Clarry Hummer/The Widow Tuesday; Clemmy Hummer; Cecil Brunner/Max Montebello/The Flasher; Mercy Montebello;
Date premiered	1979
Genre	Musical romantic comedy
Setting	Wheatbelt town

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The Man from Mukinupin is a musical play by Dorothy Hewett. It was commissioned in 1978 to mark Western Australia's sesquicentenary, and is her most popular and successful play. It is a romantic comedy in two acts covering the periods 1912 to 1914 and 1918 to 1920. The play involves the principles of celebration and reconciliation, providing a "rich theatrical experience with song, dance, humour, and powerful incident."^[1]

Setting

Mukinupin is a mythical Western Australia wheat belt town. Downstage left is Perkins' General Store with a counter and stools. Centre stage is a pillared facade of the Mukinupin Town Hall. In the second act, the portico is inscribed "Lest we Forget".

Characters

The play centres around three pairs of doubled (dual role) identical twins, and the Hummer sisters. Each pair divides between Light and Dark. The Light characters are the seemingly respectable and conventional daytime society of Mukinupin, while the Dark characters roam the nighttime netherworld.

Eek Perkins owns the town's General Store, lends money and is a lay preacher. His twin brother Zeek is a water diviner and star gazer. Eek's wife Edie Perkins is a deaf old lady who recites snatches of Victorian poetry. Their daughter Polly Perkins is a Pollyanna type who is courted both by the youthful store assistant Jack Tuesday and the middle-aged travelling salesman Cecil Brunner.

Polly's half-sister Lily Perkins (Touch of the Tar) is the last surviving member of the town's Indigenous community. Lily is the "town slut", but is in love with Jack's brother Harry Tuesday, who has been jailed for stealing a sheep.

Clarry Hummer is an ex-wardrobe mistress for J.C. Williamsons, and is now the town dressmaker. Her sister Clemmy Hummer, an ex-tightrope walker from Wirth's Circus, is Master of Ceremonies for the Night People.

Max Montebello, an Italian actor/manager, and his wife Mercy Montebello, an ageing Shakespearean actress, are two more Light characters. The paired grotesque Dark characters are The Flasher, town flasher and madman, who talks to Marconi on his radio, and The Widow Tuesday, mother of Jack and Harry. Cecil, Max and the Flasher are doubled, as are Clarry Hummer and the Widow Tuesday.

Synopsis

The action takes place between 1912 and 1920. The Day scenes are set in the town, while the dreamlike Night scenes take place in the nearby gully and creekbed.

Act I (1912–14) begins with an eerie Night scene, as all the Dark characters do a rustic Morris clog dance. Polly is courted by both Jack and Cecil, with Cecil preferred by her parents. The Great War begins. The travelling vaudeville couple, the Montebellos, arrive in town to deliver the "Strangling of Desdemona". Jack is excited during the performance, leaps onto stage to rescue Desdemona, and then delivers a rousing music hall song, which impresses all present. Jack enlists.

A bereft Polly wanders into the dark and is haunted by the Night people. Jack is also there drunk. He is approached by 'Touch of Tar' and goes to the creek bed with her. The town's dark secret is revealed by Clarry, Clemmy and Zeek. Years ago, Eek led a massacre of Aborigines camped in the creek bed, urged on by the Mukinupin wives, jealous of the men's frequent visits to the women.^[1] Harry Tuesday also goes to war, singing "The New Holland Song" about the rape of the country.

Act II begins as the Armistice is declared. The troop train pulls into Mukinupin and the townsfolk enact a hero's welcome for Jack. In fact Harry is the hero and has won the Victoria Cross, but he is shell shocked. Their mother Widow Tuesday is dead, and Jack wants to go shearing. Mercy, now also a widow, needs an acting partner and arrives to convince Jack to join her touring. Jack asks Polly to come with them, but an argument ensues. Cecil moves in on Polly. Lily tries to get Jack to sleep with her again, so he dresses her up in respectable clothing and Jack, Mercy and Lily depart for a theatrical tour.

Polly and Cecil dance and their marriage is agreed. Lily returns bedraggled after only a week, declaring she loves Harry. She decides to drown herself in the creek, but Harry and Zeek rescue her. Harry and Lily declare their love and Zeek marries them before the Night people, to words from "The Tempest". Zeek seeks the water of life to revive the desert. Harry and Lily head out over the salt lakes.

Polly is dressed for a sad wedding to Cecil, but Jack arrives and intervenes. He has found a vaudeville job with J.C. Williamsons, and Polly's parents reconsider his suit. Mercy moves on Cecil, and Eek celebrates a double wedding. Mercy and Cecil open a fish and chip shop. The finale, "The Mukinupin Carousel", is reconciliatory in mood.^[2]

Themes

Although seemingly a light story of romance between two related couples, The Man From Mukinupin incorporates darker themes: the treatment and marginalisation of Aboriginal people; the impact of the Great War on Australian country towns, and the problems of a barely habitable environment degraded by salination due to over-farming.

The characters are evenly split between Day and Night. None of the Daytime characters have any rapport with the land and resent being brought to the town. Hopkins (1987) sees the play as a "profound split between culture and landscape", where the Day people are exploitative, guilt-ridden and alienated from the land into which they have imported a foreign culture, while the Night people have found ways to adapt to the landscape.^[2]

The play is loaded with literary allusions, so that "high art envelops stringent and articulate social criticism".^[3] These range from pagan fertility chants, a Lay of Ancient Rome, Tudor Epithalamiums, snippets of four Shakespeare plays, rewrites of traditional Australian folk songs, short recitations from Browning, Tennyson, Longfellow, Mary Gilmore and Henry Lawson, and excerpts from the more moralistic Victorian poets.

Eek and Zeek, names of the two brothers that epitomise the Day-Night dichotomy, were humorous nicknames for Ephraim and Ezekiel Hewett, Hewett's grandfather and his uncle. Hewett has stated, however, that the thematic struggle mostly lies within the ambit of the women characters. "They are the most aware of the predicament and are the most violently affected by it".^[4]

Performances

1979 The Playhouse, Perth. The National Theatre Company, Directed by Stephen Barry
1980 Playhouse Theatre, Adelaide. State Theatre Company of South Australia
1980 La Boite, Brisbane. Directed by Graeme Johnston
1981 Sydney Opera House. Directed by Rodney Fisher. With Noni Hazlehurst, Maggie Dence, Colin Friels and John Gaden
1981 Melbourne Theatre Company Russell St. Directed by Judith Alexander
1981 Old Vic Theatre, London UK
1982 Rep, Theatre 3, Canberra. Directed by Ross McGregor
1982 Hunter Valley Theatere Company. Directed by Aarne Neeme
1982 Campbelltown Town Hall
1982 QUT. Directed by Doug Anderson
1982 Maryborough Players, Qld
1982 Kucom Theatre Mackay
1983 Castle Hill Players, Pavilion Theatre
1983 National Theatre, St Kilda.
1983 Darling Downs Institute. Directed by Graham Brown
1984 Theatre South, Wollongong Technical College
1986 The Q, Penrith. Directed by Terry Brady
1986 Instant Theatre, the Open Stage.
1987 Grant St Theatre, VCA, Directed by Paul Hampton
1988 The Playhouse, Perth. Directed by Kingston Anderson
1988 Drama Studio, Bondi Pavilion. Directed by Sarah de Jong
1988 Arts Theatre Cronulla. Directed by Joy Baker
1989 Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane. Directed by Aubrey Mellor
1990 Parade Theatre, Sydney. NIDA. Directed by Terry Clarke
1994 Grant St Theatre, VCA School of Drama. Directed by John Ellis
1996 Brisbane Arts Theatre. Directed by Jack Hollingworth
1998 Monash Drama Theatre
2004 USQ Arts Theatre, Toowoomba. Directed by Jennifer Flowers
2007 New Theatre Newtown. Directed by Mary-Anne Gifford
2009 Belvoir St Theatre Sydney and Sumner Theatre Melbourne. Directed by Wesley Enoch.
2013 Brookman St Kalgoorlie. Directed by Norma Latchford
2013 New Fortune, Perth. Directed by Aarne Neeme ^[5]
2014 Civic Playhouse, Newcastle. TAFE Regional Institute of Performing Arts.^[6]

The Man from Mukinupin has also been staged many times by amateur theatre companies. It is frequently produced by university drama schools because of its thematic issues and rowdy vitality.

Music

The original music was composed by Jim Cotter, ironically written while waiting for the birth of his own twins.^[7]

The music is in the style of the 1910s to 1920s, including old English folk and nursery songs, vaudeville and bush music. The songs are: "The Five Man’s Morris", "Polly Put the Kettle on", "Summer Bird", "Willow", "An ‘Am an Egg and an Onion", "Have Another Acid Drop", "Your Country Needs You in the Trenches", "Harry Tuesday’s Song", "New Holland Song", "Polly’s Sad Song", "Touch of the Tar’s Song", "Polly’s Sad Wedding Song", "Mercy and Jack’s Duet", "The Wedding Dance", and "The Mukinupin Carousel".

The 1981 Melbourne Theatre Company production at the Russell Street Theatre had alternative music written by Elizabeth Riddle.^[8]

Reception and criticism

The commission of Hewett to write a sesquicentennial contribution was met by public dismay in Western Australia, in part due to a campaign against her by her former husband Lloyd Davies and his wife.^[9] However, according to director Barry, the spirit of celebration in the play won over the doubters.^[10]

Hewett's work, even more than other playwrights, requires strong and sympathetic casting and direction, and this is particularly the case for The Man from Mukinupin. The Opera House production in 1981 broke box office records.^[11] The Belvoir Street production in 2009 also received excellent reviews,^[3]^[12] as did a student production in Newcastle in 2014,^[13] while the 1981 MTC production fell rather flat.^[8]

The environmental and Indigenous issues explored in the play have continued to resonate with contemporary Australian audiences.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Man from Mukinupin". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b Hopkins (1987), p. 95.
^ ^a ^b "'Man From Mukinupin' a superbly subversive play". Canberra Times. 15 February 1981. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
^ Hewett, Dorothy (1979). "Creating heroines in Australian plays". Hecate. 5 (2): 73–79.
^ "The Man from Mukinupin New Fortune". WeekendNotes. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
^ Longworth, Ken (12 November 2014). "Theatre: When day meets night". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
^ Healey, Ken (21 November 1982). "Rep, McGregor, and shaping 'The Man from Mukinupin'". Canberra Times. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b Spunner, Suzanne (1981). "One more voice to the general cheer". Issuu.
^ Brisbane, Katherine (November 1978). "WA playwright problems". Theatre Australia. p. 14. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
^ Barry, Stephen (1979). The Man from Mukinupin. pp. ix–x.
^ Hewett, Dorothy (December 1982). "The garden and the city". Westerly. 27 (4): 99–104.
^ McCallum, John (3 April 2009). "Hewett revival a pure delight". The Australian. p. 8. ProQuest 356730387. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
^ Longworth, Ken (2014). "When day meets night". Newcastle Herald. p. 6. ProQuest 1623013755. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

Ressourcen

Oxford Reference. Man from Mukinupin

Lekkie Hopkins (1987) Language, Culture and Landscape in "The Man From Mukinupin Australasian Drama Studies 10.

Rebecca Clode (2014). Critical Celebrations. Chapter 1: The Man from Mukinupin. PhD Thesis, ANU.

[:0-1] "Man from Mukinupin". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

[:2-2] Hopkins (1987), p. 95.

[:1-3] "'Man From Mukinupin' a superbly subversive play". Canberra Times. 15 February 1981. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

[4] Hewett, Dorothy (1979). "Creating heroines in Australian plays". Hecate. 5 (2): 73–79.

[5] "The Man from Mukinupin New Fortune". WeekendNotes. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2023.

[6] Longworth, Ken (12 November 2014). "Theatre: When day meets night". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2022.

[7] Healey, Ken (21 November 1982). "Rep, McGregor, and shaping 'The Man from Mukinupin'". Canberra Times. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

[:3-8] Spunner, Suzanne (1981). "One more voice to the general cheer". Issuu.

[9] Brisbane, Katherine (November 1978). "WA playwright problems". Theatre Australia. p. 14. Retrieved 18 December 2022.

[10] Barry, Stephen (1979). The Man from Mukinupin. pp. ix–x.

[11] Hewett, Dorothy (December 1982). "The garden and the city". Westerly. 27 (4): 99–104.

[12] McCallum, John (3 April 2009). "Hewett revival a pure delight". The Australian. p. 8. ProQuest 356730387. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

[13] Longworth, Ken (2014). "When day meets night". Newcastle Herald. p. 6. ProQuest 1623013755. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

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 }}
-'''''The Man from Mukinupin''''' has been [[Dorothy Hewett]]'s most popular and successful play. It was commissioned in 1978 to mark Western Australia's sesquicentenary. It is a romantic comedy in two acts covering the periods 1912 to 1914 and 1918 to 1920. The play involves the principles of celebration and reconciliation, and is one of Australia's most performed plays, providing a "rich theatrical experience with song, dance, humour, and powerful incident."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Man from Mukinupin |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130564 |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en |doi=10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130564}}</ref>
+'''''The Man from Mukinupin''''' is a musical play by [[Dorothy Hewett]]. It was commissioned in 1978 to mark Western Australia's sesquicentenary, and is her most popular and successful play. It is a romantic comedy in two acts covering the periods 1912 to 1914 and 1918 to 1920. The play involves the principles of celebration and reconciliation, providing a "rich theatrical experience with song, dance, humour, and powerful incident."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Man from Mukinupin |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130564 |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref>
 == Setting ==
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 == Characters ==
 The play centres around three pairs of [[Dual role|doubled (dual role)]] identical twins, and the Hummer sisters. Each pair divides between Light and Dark. The Light characters are the seemingly respectable and conventional daytime society of Mukinupin, while the Dark characters roam the nighttime netherworld.
 '''Eek Perkins''' owns the town's General Store, lends money and is a lay preacher. His twin brother '''Zeek''' is a water diviner and star gazer. Eek's wife '''Edie Perkins''' is a deaf old lady who recites snatches of Victorian poetry. Their daughter '''Polly Perkins i'''s a [[Pollyanna]] type who is courted both by the youthful store assistant '''Jack Tuesday''' and the middle-aged travelling salesman '''Cecil Brunner'''.
 Polly's half-sister '''Lily Perkins (Touch of the Tar)''' is the last surviving member of the town's Indigenous community. Lily is the "town slut", but is in love with Jack's brother '''Harry Tuesday,''' who has been jailed for stealing a sheep.
 '''Clarry Hummer''' is an ex-wardrobe mistress for [[J. C. Williamson's|J.C. Williamsons]], and is now the town dressmaker. Her sister '''Clemmy Hummer''', an ex-tightrope walker from Wirth's Circus, is Master of Ceremonies for the Night People.
 '''Max Montebello''', an Italian actor/manager, and his wife '''Mercy Montebello''', an ageing Shakespearean actress, are two more Light characters. The paired grotesque Dark characters are '''The Flasher,''' town flasher and madman, who talks to Marconi on his radio, and '''The Widow Tuesday''', mother of Jack and Harry. Cecil, Max and the Flasher are [[Dual role|doubled]], as are Clarry Hummer and the Widow Tuesday.
 == Synopsis ==
 The action takes place between 1912 and 1920. The Day scenes are set in the town, while the dreamlike Night scenes take place in the nearby gully and creekbed.
-'''Act I''' (1912-14) begins with an eerie Night scene, as all the Dark characters do a rustic Morris [[Clog dance|clog dance.]] Polly is courted by both Jack and Cecil, with Cecil preferred by her parents. The [[World War I|Great War]] begins. The travelling vaudeville couple, the Montebellos, arrive in town to deliver the [[Othello|"Strangling of Desdemona]]". Jack is excited during the performance, leaps onto stage to rescue Desdemona, and then delivers a rousing music hall song, which impresses all present. Jack enlists.
+'''Act I''' (1912–14) begins with an eerie Night scene, as all the Dark characters do a rustic Morris [[clog dance]]. Polly is courted by both Jack and Cecil, with Cecil preferred by her parents. The [[World War I|Great War]] begins. The travelling vaudeville couple, the Montebellos, arrive in town to deliver the [[Othello|"Strangling of Desdemona]]". Jack is excited during the performance, leaps onto stage to rescue Desdemona, and then delivers a rousing music hall song, which impresses all present. Jack enlists.
 A bereft Polly wanders into the dark and is haunted by the Night people. Jack is also there drunk. He is approached by 'Touch of Tar' and goes to the creek bed with her. The town's dark secret is revealed by Clarry, Clemmy and Zeek. Years ago, Eek led a massacre of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aborigines]] camped in the creek bed, urged on by the Mukinupin wives, jealous of the men's frequent visits to the women.<ref name=":0" /> Harry Tuesday also goes to war, singing "The New Holland Song" about the rape of the country.
-'''Act II''' begins as the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]] is declared. The troop train pulls into Mukinupin and the townsfolk enact a hero's welcome for Jack. In fact Harry is the hero and has won the [[Victoria Cross|Victoria Cros]]<nowiki/>s, but he is [[Shell shock|shell shocked]]. Their mother Widow Tuesday is dead, and Jack wants to go shearing. Mercy, now also a widow, needs an acting partner and arrives to convince Jack to join her touring. Jack asks Polly to come with them, but an argument ensues. Cecil moves in on Polly. Lily tries to get Jack to sleep with her again, so he dresses her up in respectable clothing and Jack, Mercy and Lily depsart for a theatrical tour.
+'''Act II''' begins as the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]] is declared. The troop train pulls into Mukinupin and the townsfolk enact a hero's welcome for Jack. In fact Harry is the hero and has won the [[Victoria Cross]], but he is [[shell shock]]ed. Their mother Widow Tuesday is dead, and Jack wants to go shearing. Mercy, now also a widow, needs an acting partner and arrives to convince Jack to join her touring. Jack asks Polly to come with them, but an argument ensues. Cecil moves in on Polly. Lily tries to get Jack to sleep with her again, so he dresses her up in respectable clothing and Jack, Mercy and Lily depart for a theatrical tour.
 Polly and Cecil dance and their marriage is agreed. Lily returns bedraggled after only a week, declaring she loves Harry. She decides to drown herself in the creek, but Harry and Zeek rescue her. Harry and Lily declare their love and Zeek marries them before the Night people, to words from "[[The Tempest]]". Zeek seeks the water of life to revive the desert. Harry and Lily head out over the salt lakes.
 Polly is dressed for a sad wedding to Cecil, but Jack arrives and intervenes. He has found a vaudeville job with [[J. C. Williamson's|J.C. Williamsons]], and Polly's parents reconsider his suit. Mercy moves on Cecil, and Eek celebrates a double wedding. Mercy and Cecil open a fish and chip shop. The finale, "The Mukinupin Carousel",  is reconciliatory in mood.<ref name=":2">Hopkins (1987), p. 95.</ref>
 == Themes ==
-Although seemingly a light story of romance between two related couples, ''The Man From Mukinupin'' incorporates darker themes: the treatment and marginalisation of Aboriginal people; he impact of the Great War on Australian country towns, and a barely habitable environment degraded by [[Soil salinity|salination]] due to over-farming.
+Although seemingly a light story of romance between two related couples, ''The Man From Mukinupin'' incorporates darker themes: the treatment and marginalisation of Aboriginal people; the impact of the Great War on Australian country towns, and the problems of a barely habitable environment degraded by [[Soil salinity|salination]] due to over-farming.
 The characters are evenly split between Day and Night. None of the Daytime characters have any rapport with the land and resent being brought to the town. Hopkins (1987) sees the play as a "profound split between culture and landscape", where the Day people are exploitative, guilt-ridden and alienated from the land into which they have imported a foreign culture, while the Night people have found ways to adapt to the landscape.<ref name=":2" />
-The play is loaded with literary allusions, so that "high art envelops stringent and articulate social criticism".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1981-02-15 |title='Man From Mukinupin' a superbly subversive play |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125652741 |access-date=2022-05-19}}</ref> These range from pagan fertility chants, a [[Lays of Ancient Rome|Lay of Ancient Rome,]] Tudor [[Epithalamium|Epithalamiums,]] snippets of four Shakespeare plays'','' rewrites of traditional Australian folk songs, short recitations from [[Robert Browning|Browning]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]], [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow]], [[Mary Gilmore]] and Henry [[Henry Lawson|Lawson,]] and excerpts from the more moralistic Victorian poets.
+The play is loaded with literary allusions, so that "high art envelops stringent and articulate social criticism".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1981-02-15 |title='Man From Mukinupin' a superbly subversive play |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125652741 |access-date=2022-05-19}}</ref> These range from pagan fertility chants, a [[Lays of Ancient Rome|Lay of Ancient Rome]], Tudor [[Epithalamium]]s, snippets of four Shakespeare plays'','' rewrites of traditional Australian folk songs, short recitations from [[Robert Browning|Browning]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]], [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow]], [[Mary Gilmore]] and Henry [[Henry Lawson|Lawson]], and excerpts from the more moralistic Victorian poets.
-Eek and Zeek, names of the two brothers that epitomise the Day-Night dichotomy, were humorous nicknames for Ephraim and Ezekiel Hewett, Hewett's grandfather and his uncle.
+Eek and Zeek, names of the two brothers that epitomise the Day-Night dichotomy, were humorous nicknames for Ephraim and Ezekiel Hewett, Hewett's grandfather and his uncle. Hewett has stated, however, that the thematic struggle mostly lies within the ambit of the women characters. "They are the most aware of the predicament and are the most violently affected by it".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hewett |first=Dorothy |date=1979 |title=Creating heroines in Australian plays |journal=Hecate |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=73–79}}</ref>
+== Performances ==
-Hewett has indicated that the thematic struggle mostly lies within the range of the women. "They are the most aware of the predicament and are the most violently affected by it".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hewett |first=Dorothy |date=1979 |title=Creating heroines in Australian plays |journal=Hecate |volume=5 (2) |pages=73-79}}</ref>
-== Performances ==
 *1979 [[The Playhouse Theatre (Perth)|The Playhouse]], Perth. The National Theatre Company, Directed by [[Stephen Barry]]
 *1980 Playhouse Theatre, Adelaide. [[State Theatre Company of South Australia|State Theatre Company]] of South Australia
+*1980 [[La Boite Theatre Company|La Boite]], Brisbane. Directed by Graeme Johnston
 *1981 [[Sydney Opera House]]. Directed by Rodney Fisher. With [[Noni Hazlehurst]], [[Maggie Dence]], [[Colin Friels]] and [[John Gaden]]
 *1981 [[Melbourne Theatre Company]] Russell St. Directed by Judith Alexander
 *1981 [[The Old Vic|Old Vic Theatre]], London UK
 *1982 Rep, Theatre 3, Canberra. Directed by Ross McGregor
-*1986 The Q, Penrith Directed by Terry Brady
+*1982 Hunter Valley Theatere Company. Directed by Aarne Neeme
+*1982 Campbelltown Town Hall
-*1988 Arts Theatre Cronulla. Directed by Joy Baker.
+*1982 QUT. Directed by Doug Anderson
-*1990 [[National Institute of Dramatic Art|Parade Theatre]], Sydney. NIDA. Directed by Terry Clarke
+*1982 Maryborough Players, Qld
+*1982 Kucom Theatre Mackay
+*1983 Castle Hill Players, Pavilion Theatre
+*1983 National Theatre, St Kilda.
+*1983 Darling Downs Institute. Directed by Graham Brown
+*1984 Theatre South, Wollongong Technical College
+*1986 The Q, Penrith. Directed by Terry Brady
+*1986 Instant Theatre, the Open Stage.
+*1987 Grant St Theatre, VCA, Directed by Paul Hampton
+*1988 The Playhouse, Perth. Directed by Kingston Anderson
+*1988 Drama Studio, Bondi Pavilion. Directed by Sarah de Jong
+*1988 [[Arts Theatre Cronulla]]. Directed by Joy Baker
+*1989 Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane. Directed by Aubrey Mellor
+*1990 [[National Institute of Dramatic Art|Parade Theatre]], Sydney. NIDA. Directed by [[Terence Clarke (composer)|Terry Clarke]]
 *1994 Grant St Theatre, VCA School of Drama. Directed by John Ellis
 *1996 [[Brisbane Arts Theatre]]. Directed by Jack Hollingworth
+*1998 Monash Drama Theatre
-*2007 [[New Theatre (Newtown)|New Theatre]] Newtown, Sydney
+*2004 USQ Arts Theatre, Toowoomba. Directed by Jennifer Flowers
-*2009 [[Belvoir St Theatre]] Sydney and Sumner Theatre Melbourne. Directed by [[Wesley Enoch]]. With [[Max Gillies]], [[Amanda Muggleton]] and [[Kerry Walker]]
+*2007 [[New Theatre (Newtown)|New Theatre]] [[Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown]]. Directed by Mary-Anne Gifford
-*2014 Civic Playhouse, Newcastle. TAFE Regional Institute of Performing Arts.
+*2009 [[Belvoir St Theatre]] Sydney and Sumner Theatre Melbourne. Directed by [[Wesley Enoch]].
+*2013 Brookman St Kalgoorlie. Directed by Norma Latchford
+*2013 [[New Fortune Theatre|New Fortune]], Perth. Directed by Aarne Neeme <ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-09 |title=The Man from Mukinupin New Fortune |url=https://www.weekendnotes.com/the-man-from-mukinupin-new-fortune/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=WeekendNotes}}</ref>
+*2014 Civic Playhouse, Newcastle. TAFE Regional Institute of Performing Arts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Longworth |first=Ken |date=2014-11-12 |title=Theatre: When day meets night |url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/2692064/theatre-when-day-meets-night/ |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Newcastle Herald |language=en-AU}}</ref>
 ''The Man from Mukinupin'' has also been staged many times by amateur theatre companies. It is frequently produced by university drama schools because of its thematic issues and rowdy vitality.
 == Music ==
 The original music was composed by [[Jim Cotter (composer)|Jim Cotter]], ironically written while waiting for the birth of his own twins.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Healey |first=Ken |date=1982-11-21 |title=Rep, McGregor, and shaping 'The Man from Mukinupin' |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130830820 |access-date=2022-05-19}}</ref>
 The music is in the style of the 1910s to 1920s, including old English folk and nursery songs, vaudeville and bush music. The songs are: "The Five Man’s Morris", "Polly Put the Kettle on", "Summer Bird", "Willow", "An ‘Am an Egg and an Onion", "Have Another Acid Drop", "Your Country Needs You in the Trenches", "Harry Tuesday’s Song", "New Holland Song", "Polly’s Sad Song", "Touch of the Tar’s Song", "Polly’s Sad Wedding Song", "Mercy and Jack’s Duet", "The Wedding Dance", and "The Mukinupin Carousel".
 The 1981 [[Melbourne Theatre Company]] production at the [[Russell Street Theatre]] had alternative music written by Elizabeth Riddle.<ref name=":3" />
 == Reception and criticism ==
-According to director Barry, his invitation to Hewett to write a sesquicentennial contribution was met by public dismay. However, the spirit of celebration in the play won over the doubters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barry |first=Stephen |title=The Man from Mukinupin |year=1979 |pages=ix-x}}</ref>
+The commission of Hewett to write a sesquicentennial contribution was met by public dismay in Western Australia, in part due to a campaign against her by her former husband Lloyd Davies and his wife.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brisbane |first=Katherine |date=November 1978 |title=WA playwright problems |pages=14 |work=Theatre Australia |url=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/theatreaustralia1978nov/13 |access-date=18 December 2022}}</ref>  However, according to director Barry, the spirit of celebration in the play won over the doubters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barry |first=Stephen |title=The Man from Mukinupin |year=1979 |pages=ix-x}}</ref>
-Hewett's work, even more than other playwrights, requires strong and sympathetic casting and direction, and this is particularly the case for ''The Man from Mukinupin''. The two major Sydney productions in 1981 and 2009 received excellent reviews,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=McCallum |first=John |date=3 April 2009 |title=Hewett revival a pure delight |pages=8 |work=The Australian |url=https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/356730387/C3FEC1CB0714712PQ/4 |access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref> as did a student production in Newcastle in 2014,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Longworth |first=Ken |date=2014 |title=When day meets night |pages=6 |work=Newcastle Herald |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1623013755/C061D27B27744A18PQ/3 |access-date=19 May 2022}}</ref> while the 1981 MTC production fell rather flat.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Spunner |first=Suzanne |date=1981 |title=One more voice to the general cheer |url=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/theatreaustralia1981apr/57 |website=Issuu}}</ref>
+Hewett's work, even more than other playwrights, requires strong and sympathetic casting and direction, and this is particularly the case for ''The Man from Mukinupin''. The Opera House production in 1981 broke box office records.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hewett |first=Dorothy |date=December 1982 |title=The garden and the city |url=https://westerlymag.com.au/hewett-garden-and-the-city/ |journal=Westerly |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=99–104}}</ref> The Belvoir Street production in 2009 also received excellent reviews,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=McCallum |first=John |date=3 April 2009 |title=Hewett revival a pure delight |pages=8 |work=The Australian |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/356730387 |access-date=20 May 2022|id={{ProQuest|356730387}} }}</ref> as did a student production in Newcastle in 2014,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Longworth |first=Ken |date=2014 |title=When day meets night |pages=6 |work=Newcastle Herald |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1623013755 |access-date=19 May 2022|id={{ProQuest|1623013755}} }}</ref> while the 1981 MTC production fell rather flat.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Spunner |first=Suzanne |date=1981 |title=One more voice to the general cheer |url=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/theatreaustralia1981apr/57 |website=Issuu}}</ref>
+The environmental and Indigenous issues explored in the play have continued to resonate with contemporary Australian audiences.<ref name=":0" />
-The environmental and Indigenous issues explored in the play have continued to resonate with contemporary Australian audiences.<ref name=":0" />
 == References ==
 <references />
@@ Line 96: / Line 115: @@
 Oxford Reference. [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100130564 Man from Mukinupin]
-Lekkie Hopkins (1987) [https://www.proquest.com/docview/1300397841 Language, Culture and Landscape in "The Man From Mukinupin]
+Lekkie Hopkins (1987) [https://www.proquest.com/docview/1300397841 Language, Culture and Landscape in "The Man From Mukinupin] ''Australasian Drama Studies'' 10.
 Rebecca Clode (2014). [https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/155765 Critical Celebrations]. Chapter 1: ''The Man from Mukinupin.'' PhD Thesis, ANU.
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Man from Mukinupin, The}}
+[[Category:1979 musicals]]
-[[Category:
+[[Category:1970s Australian musicals]]
-[[Category:1977 plays]]
+[[Category:Musical comedy plays]]
-[[Category: Australian plays]]
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Man from Mukinupin,The}}
 [[Category:Plays by Dorothy Hewett]]
-[[Category:Musical comedy plays]]