Australian TV Plays: General Motors Theatre Awards

Jan 1958 announced see here.

Dec 1958 winner announced. 202 entries. 1st prize Slaughter of St Teresa's Day by Peter Kenna. 2nd prize 'Anchor Nuggett' by Jon Holliday. 3rd prize - 'Fox in the Night' by Harry Pree and 'Heirs of the Dead Heart' by David Ireland. Commended plays: 'Cesare', 'Do It Yerself', 'Fifteen Yards for Eddie', 'Goodbye to No. 6'. 'Resurrection at Mathewtown', ''Shadow of a Bulldozer', 'Sing for St Ned', 'The Pub at Pelican Creek' (by Chris Gardner)

March 1959 - award presented by Gladys Moncrieff to Kenna at Theatre.

*April 1960 - announced more awards see here. Winners: Wal Cherry for A View from the Bridge, John Sumner for Moby Dick Rehearsed, and Hugh Hunt for Julius Caesar

*Feb 1961 - General Motors Holden theatre comp see here - no winner but four prizes, 'Donny Johnson' by Alan Seymour 'Zelda Trio' by Laurence Collinson, 'Hateful Face in the Mirror' by John Pinkney, 'Wish No More' by Marien Dreyer

Sept 1962 invite entries for musical play in comp see here.

*Jan 1963 - Musical Theatre award given see here - first price Lesley Patching and C Phillips, The Captain's Ladies, 2nd prize Joyce Trickett and Dulcie Holland for Jenolan Adventure, 3rd place John Chapman and Dennis Carroll for surfing musical

R Walker George Patterson at Vincent Report

General Motors ran a General Motors Theatre Award through the Elizabethan Trust in Sydney. Last year it was run in connexion with plays; this year it is run in con-nexion with a musical comedy. The awards have just recently been made. I think that of about 260 plays we received, about four or five looked possibilities for television productions, but after reading them we found that they posed too man’y production difficulties. So that out of 260 we got virtually none. We are inclined to think now that it is better to commission writers to write plays, writers of known stature, than to invite people to sub- mit plays by way of competitions.

*July 1964 - no prize for best play General Motors Holden Theatre see here

*Sept 1965 - General Motors Holden Theatre Award for Theatre design see here