Australian TV Plays: AP#1.5 - No Dogs on Diamond Street (16 May 1966)

Premise

Two sisters share a room, the studious Patty and the wilder, elder Jo. Late at night Patty sees her father Norm return home. Patty talks to Norm who seems agitated and uneasy.

The next day the news reports that a watchman was murdered at Norm's place of work. Norm grows increasingly tense and snaps at his wife, Esme, who he accuses of seeing other men.

Two police arrive to ask questions about the night of the murder. Patty says she saw nothing, though this makes Esme suspicious.

The police returns. Patti dobs in her father.

Cast

Ed Devereaux as Norm Hutton
Margaret Christensen as Esme Hutton
Helen Morse as Patty Hutton
Beverley Kirk as Jo Hutton
Don Reid as Detective Thorn
Roger Ward as Constable Broughton

Production

It was written by Marion Ord, who lived in a property near Parkes. In 1965 she attended at TV school at Orange held by the University of Sydney Adult Education Department, where the tutor was Phil Mann, and started writing No Dogs as an exercise for the course.

It was made by three of the same team who had made a TV version of My Brother Jack including star Ed Devereaux, designer Jack Montgomery and producer Storry Walton.

Helen Morse had just graduated from NIDA.

Crew

Technical producer - Fred Haynes. Designer - Jack Montgomery. Producer, director - Storry Walton.

Reception

The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald called it "flimsy and amateurishly constructed at times but balanced by exceptionally fine acting performances from Ed (My Brother Jack) Devereux, Margaret Christensen and Helen Morse. "

The Sydney Morning Herald praised Helen Morse and said "the other actors were all full capable of making the characters live, but the ragged effect of both dialogue and events in the story were against them."

The Age said it "showed a more than expert craftsmanship than was to be found in the last two episodes of the series. The acting was good and the setting was adequate."

The Canberra Times said "why is it that Australian playwrights seem to connect drama with crime, and that plays about suburbia are made to work with a stiff lacing of larceny, murder or prowlers? Now that these themes have been more than sufficiently covered in four of the five Monday night plays, we must keep our fingers crossed that a reasonable part of the remainder; will deal with problems and complications that the rest of the population are facing from day to day... The play... will do nothing for the reputations of Ed Devereaux or the others in the cast."