Guide to the Papers of Peter O'Shaughnessy, 1812-c. 2011

Summary

Collection number:

MS 2272; MS Acc03.282; MS Acc09.038; .MS Acc11.099; MS Acc11.150

Creator:

O'Shaughnessy, Peter

Extent:

12.18 metres and (30 boxes + 20 cartons + 1 A3 carton + 3 folio boxes + 1 folder + 172 sound/av carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Peter O'Shaugnessy, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises correspondence, diaries, notebooks, literary drafts and notes, research material, newspaper clippings, sound recordings and photographs.

The correspondence documents O'Shaughnessy's associations with numerous theatrical and literary figures. The major correspondents include Phillip Adams, Samuel Beckett, Margaret Beveridge, Dorothy Bradley (Collopy), Sylvia Buzzard (Lock), Louis Cullen, Germaine Greer, Barry Humphries, Claude Marks, Barry Oakley, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Desmond O'Shaughnessy, Nora O'Shaughnessy, Wynn Roberts and Ian Rose. The Humphries letters form a significant part of the collection, and reveal the influence that O'Shaughnessy had on Humphries' early career.

The literary drafts represent a small proportion of O'Shaughnessy's theatrical works and writings. There is draft material for various plays, musicals, novels, memoirs, lectures and other writings, including works that have not yet been published or produced. The bulk of the draft and research material relates to Joseph Holt, a United Irish military leader involved in the 1798 rebellion in County Wicklow (Ireland).

The collection includes little original material relating to O'Shaughnessy's 1967 libel suit against Mirror Newspapers, although O'Shaughnessy gives an account of the matter in his unpublished memoirs, 'How I beat Rupert Murdoch, and how I brought down the Whitlam Government, with some other yarns'.

Biographical / Historical:

As an actor, director and producer for the stage, Peter O'Shaughnessy presented the work of playwrights ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov to modern dramatists, such as Ionesco, Pinter and Samuel Beckett. He was a pioneer in the production of the plays of Beckett, and directed the Irish premieres of Not I and Footfalls (1978), Rockaby and Theatre I (1984); the Australian premieres of Waiting for Godot (1957) and Krapp's last tape (1959); and the English and world premieres of Theatre I and Theatre II, at Cambridge (1977). As a writer, editor and lecturer, he promoted early Australian history and folklore. In January 2013 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the performing arts. Resident in Britain since the 1970s, O'Shaughnessy died at Winchester in July 2013.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Drafts of The restless years (1968) were donated to the National Library in 1969. Extracts from a transcript of a 1986 interview with O'Shaughnessy were added to the collection in 1986. The bulk of the collection was purchased from O'Shaughnessy in five instalments between November 2000 and May 2001, with a further donation of material in June 2001.

Arrangement:

The papers were received from O'Shaughnessy in relatively good order. Wherever possible, the Library has tried to retain this arrangement.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2788067).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Peter O'Shaugnessy, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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