George Landen Dann
| George Landen Dann | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
1 January 1904 Sandgate, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 6 June 1977 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Citizenship | Australia |
| Occupation |
Playwright Drafstman |
| Years active | 1931–1975 |
| Notable work | |
| Awards | View Here |
Playwright
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 Dann wrote dozens of published and unpublished plays over the course of his lifetime.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.
Born in Sandgate, Queensland on 1 January 1904, 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.
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. In 1924 he joined the Brisbane City Council as a draftsman in the water supply department.
...
Wikipedia