161:"I came to Mount Kembla by accident, we got lost on the mountain. It was real Bunyip country. We bought a large dilapidated weather board general store and dance hall. There was also a house and in a drawer of an old desk was a copy of the Royal Commission into the Mine Disaster of 1902. I opened the dusty cover. It pulled me into the story, and this was my departure point.... As I read and talked and walked and listened I began to realize what a privilege it was to live in a close-knit mining community where we keep alive those things we must never forget."
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261:"The reason for the remarkable popularity of her work, I believe, is her use of familiar occasions, minor crises and rituals of ordinary lives set against a background of community and national crises, even disaster. The plays celebrate the resilience, the humour in adversity and quiet courage of her 'ordinary people', especially her strong female characters."
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Richardson's skills as a dramatist have been greatly appreciated by
Theatre South, not only because of their "box office magic", but also because Wendy knows how to write for a small group of players and is particularly skilled at monologue. Des Davis writes of Richardson's plays "They are, moreover,
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The anniversary of the disaster is commemorated annually with a church service at the Mount Kembla
Soldiers and Miners Memorial Church, a parade and Mining Festival. Richardson was later to serve on the committee to organise the Mount Kembla Mining Disaster Centenary Commemoration in 2002. Songs from
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is the mine disaster which took place at Mount Kembla on 31 July 1902, in which 96 men and boys lost their lives. Every family who lived in the village lost a relative. In many families, fathers and sons died. The bodies were buried in
121:"I'm a teller of tales. I weave them out of what I hear and observe – some of them are true. I write about ordinary people who never consider themselves courageous or outstanding and who have led such extraordinary lives."
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constantly innovative in structure, style, and in the use of other theatrical and literary devices." Unfortunately
Theatre South, for whom so many of Wendy's plays were written closed in 2003.
114:. She is very active in the local community, working with disabled and disadvantaged youth, assisting those in need, teaching Sunday School and participating in historical and literary events.
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321:"I am an ordinary person who writes about ordinary people. Being a writer is not a real blessing.....There have to be those people in our life that take the risk to tell the stories."
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Richardson was nominated for a Sydney
Theatre Critics Circle Award in 1989 and was awarded an Australian Arts Council Literary Fellowship in 1990. In 2005 Richardson was awarded the
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The huge and many faceted event that was the Mount Kembla mine disaster is distilled to two hours on the stage and the human dimension of it is made accessible to an audience."
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Cemetery, Mount Kembla
Cemetery and in an unmarked communal grave near a cricket field in Windy Gully. In describing how she came to write the play, Richardson said:
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written in 1988, which toured the South
Eastern Region of New South Wales and was performed at Theatre South and at the Regional Theatre Festival in Penrith.
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191:"I was beginning to understand what the coal cost in terms of human life and I knew that those outside the mining community needed to be reminded."
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326:"Place is very important if you're going to write about it or create something; it's vital that you should walk and get to know it well."
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Richardson went on to write many more plays and monologues, all performed but many not published. Des Davis writes in the foreword to
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District, where she raised her children, working as a primary school teacher. In 1985 she commenced studying
English Literature at the
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proved very popular, going on interstate tour of mining towns in
Queensland and New South Wales and being performed at the
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Awards for her contribution to the Arts. Her plays have also been produced by the
Riverina Theatre Company and heard on
297:. John Senczuk writes of "...the overwhelming positive reception of the plays ...as positive and 'life-affirming'".
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Medal for her services to the Arts and to the
Community, and in 2006 she was honoured in the Illawarra
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the journal of the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.
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98:(born 1933) is one of Australia's most popular playwrights, best known as the author of
347:. She was made a lifetime member of Theatre South and the South Coast Writers' Centre.
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It was while studying at Wollongong University that Richardson wrote her first play,
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Miners marching past the memorial to the Mount Kembla mine disaster, July 2006
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The script for the re-enactment of the landing of the "Tom Thumb" at Towradgi
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Australian Playwright Signature Series, University of Wollongong, (1997),
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451:(1993)- for the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong.
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looks at community issues within the local fishing industry.
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are published at the Mount Kembla Mining Heritage website and
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was published in 1989 by Currency Press. Des Davis writes of
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Des Davis writes "She is more popular in the Illawarra than
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in 1989. There was a third season at Theatre South in 2000.
457:(1995)- for The Illawarra Christian Performing Arts Company
481:(2006) – for the launch of Heritage Week in the Illawarra
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Richardson describes her association with Mount Kembla:
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History and Drama- the Mount Kembla Mine Disaster, 1902
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Mount Kembla Mining Disaster Centenary Commemoration
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779:21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights
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764:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
463:(1999) – for Community Group Recreation Illawarra
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473:The soundscape for the Bulli Miner's cottage
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445:(1993) – for Sydney Festival and Carnivale
624:, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992
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475:– for the Bulli Miner's Cottage Committee
439:(1992) – for Maitland Repertory Society
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461:The Year 2000– Coming, Ready or Not
387:The Last Voyage of the Gracie Anne
279:The Last Voyage of the Gracie Anne
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704:Doollee, the Playwrights Database
16:Australian playwright (born 1933)
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117:Richardson describes herself:
479:Four Kembla Women, a monologue
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405:Alma and Ivy, Molly and Merle
694:, Retrieved 27 January 2010
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659:, Retrieved 27 January 2010
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427:are two parts of a trilogy.
64:1933 (age 90–91)
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729:South Coast Writers Centre
575:Five Islands Press, 1997,
283:... That Christmas of '75.
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622:The Mount Kembla Disaster
381:Lights Out, Nellie Martin
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411:The Season of Emily Jane
393:...That Christmas of '75
265:The backgrounds include
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30:Not to be confused with
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102:. Richardson lives in
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255:Three Illawarra Plays
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55:Wendy Richardson, OAM
25:My Parents Are Aliens
21:My Parents are Aliens
19:For the character in
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529:Mining in Australia
200:New Theatre, Sydney
571:Wendy Richardson,
534:Order of Australia
337:Order of Australia
317:Richardson says:
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375:On the Coal
369:Slacky Flat
363:Windy Gully
312:Shakespeare
275:Slacky Flat
243:Slacky Flat
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69:, Australia
743:Categories
692:Arts Award
595:Coal Faces
540:References
485:Reference
185:Wollongong
108:Wollongong
345:ABC Radio
148:Illawarra
132:Singleton
126:Biography
523:See also
419:(2001)
293:by the
287:sacking
249:Success
146:in the
134:in the
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413:(1999)
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371:(1988)
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331:Awards
23:, see
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577:ISBN
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443:Alma
423:and
399:Vida
61:Born
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