Jack Hibberd

Dr Jack (John Charles) Hibberd (born 12 April 1940 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian playwright.

Biography

Hibberd studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and practised as a clinical immunologist in Melbourne from 1964 until 1973. He is married to the actress Evelyn Krape, and a father to Lily (1972) and James (1984) from a first marriage, and Spike and Molly. [ [http://users.vic.chariot.net.au/~bpepper/hibberd.html Black Pepper Publishing – Biography: Jack Hibberd] ]

Hibberd co-founded The Australian Performing Group (APG); he was a member of the APG for ten years and chairman for two. In 1983 he founded the Melbourne Writers Theatre. In 2005, Hibberd was appointed until April 2008 to the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Artscite web
url = http://www.ozco.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/8357/Literature_assesment_report_Sep_05.pdf
title = Assessment Meeting Report
accessdate = 2008-03-29
last = Goldsworthy
first = Peter
authorlink = Peter Goldsworthy
date = date|2005-10-18
format =PDF
publisher = Australia Council
pages = pp.3,4]

Career

His first play "White With Wire Wheels" was staged in 1967 at the University of Melbourne. Shortly afterwards, his short play "Three Old Friends" was the first production to be staged at the La Mama Theatre, opening on 29 July 1967 with a cast composed of Graeme Blundell, Bruce Knappet and David Kendall. Hibberd's most famous works are the plays "Dimboola" (1969) and "A Stretch of the Imagination" (1972). In 1973, David Williamson directed a sold-out season of "Dimboola" at the Pram Factory. In 1979, it was made into a film. "A Stretch of the Imagination" has been produced in the UK, USA, Germany and China (the Shanghai production in 1987 was the first performance of an Australian play in that country). His parody of an opera, "Sin" (1978) is inspired by Brecht/Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins".

La Mama Theatre re-mounted a forty year anniversary production of "Three Old Friends" along with "Just Before the Honeymoon" and "This Great Gap of Time", opening 18 July 2007 and directed by Matt Scholten, along with two productions of "A Stretch of the Imagination", one directed by Lawrence Strangio and another by Greg Carroll. In 2008, La Mama produced "Dimboola" again.

Jack Hibberd also regularly reviews plays and books for the media and practices medicine part-time.

elected works

Plays

*White With Wire Wheels (1967) in ISBN 0140481060
*Three Old Friends (1967)
*Brain Rot Series — short plays (among others):
**Just Before the Honeymoon (1967)
**One of Nature's Gentlemen (1967)
**O (1968)
**This Great Gap of Time (1968)
*Dimboola (1969) ISBN 9130025079
*A Stretch of the Imagination (1972) ISBN 0869370197
*Captain Midnight V.C. (1973) — with music by Lorraine Milne ISBN 0868050202
*The Les Darcy Show (1974)
*A Toast to Melba (1976)
*One of Nature's Gentlemen (1976)
*Mothballs (1981)
*Lavender Bags (1981)
*Peggy Sue, Or, The Power of Romance (1982) ISBN 0868050016
*Liquid Amber (1982)
*Squibs, (1984) — a collection of short plays (see "Brain Rot") for schools ISBN 0949780057
*Duets (1989) — includes "Glycerine Tears" and "The Old School Tie"
*Slam Dunk (1996) ISBN 0868194832

Novels

*Memoirs of an Old Bastard (1989) ISBN 0869142313
*The Life of Riley (1990) ISBN 1863300872
*Perdita (1992) ISBN 0869142399

Poetry

*Le vin des amants (1977) — after Charles Baudelaire ISBN 090813102X
*The Genius of Human Imperfection (1988) ISBN 1876044268
*Madrigals for a Misanthrope (2005) ISBN 1876044462

Musical theatre

*The Overcoat (1976) — adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's novel of that name, music by [http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/composer.asp?id=768 Martin Friedel]
*Sin, opera in 7 deadly acts & entracts (1978) — commissioned by the Victorian State Opera, music by Martin Friedel
*Smash hit! or a goggle-moggle for Kugel (1980) — a play with music by [http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/composer.asp?id=213 George Dreyfus]
*Odyssey of a Prostitute (1984) — a singspiel adaptation of a Maupassant story, music by Martin Friedel

Other

*The Barracker's Bible (1983, with Garrie Hutchinson) — a dictionary of Australian sporting slang ISBN 0869140280
*The Great Allergy Detective Book (1995) ISBN 1863951032

Over the years Hibberd has also published short stories and essays on theatre.

Awards

*State Library Of Victoria Creative Fellowships 2005 [cite web
url = http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/news/media_releases/mr_050627_1.html
title = Media Release
accessdate = 2008-03-29
date = Date|2005-06-27
publisher = State Library of Victoria]

References

*cite web
url = http://users.netconnect.com.au/~ja_picko/AboutAu.htm
title = About the Author of "Dimboola": Jack Hibberd
accessdate = 2008-03-29
date = Date|2007-08-04
publisher = Dimboola Performing Group Inc.
*cite web
url = http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23396029-15089,00.html
title = Too close to home
accessdate = 2008-03-22
last = Blundell
first = Graeme
authorlink = Graeme Blundell
date = Date|2008-03-22
publisher = The Australian

Bibliography

*cite book
last = McGillick
first = Paul
editor = Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt
title = Jack Hibberd
url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=S6HtX403kKUC
format = Google Books
accessdate = 2008-03-29
series = Australian Playwrights
year = 1988
publisher = Rodopi
isbn = 9051830033

External links

* [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsH/hibberd-jack.html More complete list of works]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms6607 Papers of Jack Hibberd at the National Library of Australia (43 boxes)]
* [http://www.hosking.net/stretch/jack.htm Biography and works]