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George Landen Dann (1 January 1904 – 6 June 1977) was an Australian playwright, writer, and draftsman. He is best known for a number of award-winning and critically acclaimed plays such as ''In Beauty It Is Finished'', ''Fountains Beyond'', ''Caroline Chisholm'' and ''The Orange Grove''. Dann wrote dozens of published and unpublished plays over the course of his lifetime. Originally writing plays for the amateur dramatic society at Sandgate, Queensland, Dann was a particularly shy and reclusive person, and even though he wrote part-time, his more popular plays were widely performed by amateur theatre companies around Australia. George Landen Dann's writing has been appreciated for its social realism, with a number of his plays delving into issues involving Indigenous Australians and their central characters reflecting individuals that Dann had met during his time in outback Australia. The George Landen Dann Award was established in 1992. It was awarded to promising young Australian playwrights until 2007. ==Biography and Theatrical career== Born in Sandgate, Queensland on 1 January 1904,〔George Landen Dann 'Birth Certificate' George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 3, 65/G1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library〕 George Landen Dann was the son of George William Dann and Mildred Challis Dann (née Pearman). He had an older sister, Isabel Challis (born 23 December 1901) and two younger sisters, Dorothy Rose (born 1905), and Mildred Matilda (born 1908). Mildred died the same year she was born.〔George Landen Dann, 'Certificate of Extraction', George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 3, 65/G1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library〕 Dann was educated at Brisbane Grammar School, and in 1920 at the age of 16 he entered the survey office of the Queensland Lands Department where he undertook training as a draftsman. It is believed that it was at the time he was undergoing his draftsman training that he began writing plays. Dann indicated in a number of letters and articles that he originally aspired to be a pastor in the Anglican Church so that he could make a difference and improve the lives of the Indigenous Australian people. This early ambition was reflected in the moral seriousness of his plays which, in some cases, addressed the discrimination and disadvantage of Aboriginal people in Australia.〔Richard Fotheringham, 'Dann, George Landen (1904–1977)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dann-george-landen-9900/text17527〕 In 1924 he joined the Brisbane City Council as a draftsman in the water supply department. For the first few years of his theatrical career, Dann wrote and had performed plays in and around the Sandgate area. In 1924 he performed and wrote a play for the Sandgate Queen Carnival Musical and Dramatic Concert at Town Hall. He also performed in a farcical comedy sketch called ''A Pair of Lunatics'' with Miss Gwen Taylor, and then in a comedy play ''Odds'' (which is credited to him) with his sister Isobel Dann in the cast. More significant recognition would not come until 1931 when Dann wrote ''In Beauty It Is Finished'', first staged on 16 July at His Majesty's Theatre and directed by Barbara Sisley. Proving to be his most well known play, ''In Beauty It Is Finished'' won the top award in the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society's national competition against 94 other entries. Despite the acclaim the play received, there was significant media outrage surrounding its theme of addressing race relations in Australia, including the play's depiction of a relationship between a white woman and a 'half-caste' Aboriginal man. The controversy, however, meant the play was well attended, and most found the play was not as unseemly as they had been led to believe. In 1932, during a trip to Hamilton Island, Dann experienced a personal life crisis. At this time he wrote letters to a friend referred to as 'Jim H' and conveyed his dissatisfaction with his life, knowing full well that he will never achieve the fame or recognition he deserved. In the end, he expresses his realization that his name or his works might never be famous and he is ready to accept life as an ordinary citizen.〔George Landen Dann 'Diary 7 April – 14 May 1932' George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 1, 65/B2, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library〕 That same year he entered ''Oh! The Brave Music'' for the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society's play competition, but it was not selected. His sister Isobel Dann died in 1932, age 30.〔Henry George Lamond, 'Letter to George Landen Dann 24 October 1932' George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 1, 65/A24, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library〕 For the next few years Dann would continue to write a number of award winning plays. In 1933 he won first prize at the Queensland Eisteddfod for ''The Day of Roses'', and his 1937 play ''No Incense Rising'' won awards from the Dramatist's Club of Australia, the Sydney Independent Theatre and Australian Dramatists Club, as well as being placed on the Playwright's Advisory Board's list of recommended Australian plays. It is believed that Dann then traveled to Sydney to conduct research for his next play ''Caroline Chrisholm'', which was produced in 1939, first staged in 1940 and eventually published in 1943. It proved to be one of his most popular works. Dann returned to writing on the issue of race relations with his play ''Fountains Beyond'', arguably his most critically acclaimed play, staged and broadcast in 1942. It was awarded second place next to Douglas Stewart's ''Ned Kelly'' in the Australian Broadcasting Commission's radio-drama competition. It was performed throughout Australia, and in London and Wales in 1950. Dann enlisted in the Australian military in April 1942 where he was part of the Mobile Concert Party Unit, which was involved in entertaining men in hospitals and convalescent units. He later would say that he enlisted as a means to 'escape', not out of patriotism. He was discharged from the armed forces in 1945. After the war, Dann returned his focus to writing plays and radio plays. ''Ha Ha Among the Trumpets'' shared in the Playwright's Advisory Board Competition prize in 1946, though was rejected for staging due to the play's length and difficulty with the large cast. Dann's father George William Dann died in 1948, where upon Dann sold the family home in Sandgate and built his new house in Coolum, Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. He would later retire from his Council position as a draftsman in 1954,〔George Landen Dann, 'City Council Card of Resignation' George Landen Dann Collection, UQFL, Box 3, 65/G1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library〕 residing in Coolum Beach, Queensland for the rest of his life. Following his retirement from the Brisbane City Council, Dann continued to write material for the stage, including ''How Far Returning'' (1955), ''Resurrection at Matthew Town'' (1958), ''Rings Out Wild Bells'' (1959), and ''Rainbows Die at Sunset'' (1975). This last work was based on a riot at the town of Nambucca Heads, New South Wales in New South Wales in 1958 when white residents refused sales of houses to Aboriginal Australians. His most popular work after his retirement was ''The Orange Grove'', a radio play whose main female character 'Carrie' was based on a real woman who lived in the Shire of Maroochy region of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Later, Dann also submitted ''The Fortress'', a stage adaptation of ''The Orange Grove''. In 1976, University of Queensland Arts student Deborah Rasmussen wrote her Honours Thesis on George Landen Dann and his works. Dann assisted her.〔Rasmussen, Deborah. "The plays of George Landen Dann" Honours Thesis. School of English, Media Studies and Art History, University of Queensland, 1976. UQ eSpace〕 George Landen Dann died at a friend's place at the nearby town of Eumundi, Queensland on 6 June 1977 after falling ill while prospecting. He was cremated with Anglican rites and his ashes were scattered off the cliffs of Coolum.〔Davis, Susan. "George Landen Dann Timeline | Neo Memoria Technica" Neo Memoria Technica. Wordpress.com. 29 July 2012. Accessed 27 August 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Landen Dann」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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