Doreen Clarke grew up with a passion for writing and a love for theatre. Doreen lived in a world that lacked cultural awareness but was rich in unspoken issues, concealed identities and unequal rights. Having left school at fourteen to join the working women of society, how is it that Doreen Clarke became one of the most successful playwrights of Australia?
The ring of the school bell signalled the start of the day. Doreen and her friends quickly fled down the corridors, ducking under classroom windows to make their way outside.
Behind the abandoned toilet block, the ritual began.
Packets of cigarettes came out from where Doreen’s peers stashed them underneath their school shirts, and the loved up couples crept away for a secret rendezvous around the corner. The games and giggles from that recurring ritual became a high school stand out for Doreen and eventually made their way into one of her plays.
Doreen constantly immersed herself in the storyworld, whether she read words on a page or wrote down her own. Her relationship with books was unconditional; she always had one on hand. Once Doreen jumped into a story, there was no escaping. Attempting to grab her attention would only get a fleeting glance of annoyance in return. She would look up, glance through you like you were invisible, then immediately dive back down into her book.
Doreen once wrote that “In every life, there are regrets. A muffled recollection of those rueful things one does, in foolishness or sinful pride.”
Doreen has no regrets.
Growing up in Manchester, UK, she left Elm Street School at fourteen, then spent her youth working in factories, cotton mills, to working at a stationery manufacturer, which in the 1930s was considered ‘posh’.
Doreen had a large family; two brothers, three sisters, her mother and a successful father. Despite a big family and good employment, misery was Doreen’s constant companion. The bruises left by her Father’s fist and the acceptance of his dismal ways contributed to Doreen’s many attempts to run away.
Doreen was “born to go somewhere else”.
Doreen married her husband Fred when she was 21. A young marriage, encouraged by pregnancy.
Doreen spent eight years convincing Fred to make the move to Australia. They eventually emigrated to Australia in 1958; she picked up her passion along with an abundance of suitcases, and off she went, pursuing her legacy of going somewhere else.
Ten pounds was all it cost. Ten pounds to move across the globe. Almost two months of Doreen’s life was spent travelling on the S.S Strathnaver, across the Atlantic and into the Pacific, destination: Melbourne.
When the destination suddenly changed, it didn’t scare her. Doreen wanted to escape; there was no doubt about that, but Adelaide wasn’t the place where she envisioned her future. However, Doreen always believed that everything happened for a reason; her move to Adelaide might have contributed to her successful career more than she thought.
So what was it that sparked Doreen’s playwriting career?
After 17 years of living in Adelaide, Doreen found she still desired to go somewhere else. Again, she picked up her suitcases and her sons and set off on a working holiday. Fred was an experienced butcher, so it was easy for him to get work; the rest of the family worked apple picking. Doreen took her family with her on her journey somewhere else; they travelled down the Great Ocean Road, past Melbourne and into Tasmania. From Tasmania, they travelled up past Sydney to Brisbane.
Upon her return just over a year later, she introduced Fred to the theatre by taking him to see a comedian perform onstage. An abundance of heads clouded much of the view, but Doreen could see it as clear as day when it was most appropriate for the view to be censored. The comedian stepped out on stage, giving the audience members a showcase of his morning glory. His stark nakedness somehow inspired Doreen to start writing plays; was it his confidence? His intention to get a loud reaction? Whatever it was, Doreen wanted to create something to inspire and entertain.
“Watching people, remembering the little things and making conclusions” is what makes a good writer.
There were many people that Doreen came across on her search for inspiration; an Indigenous lady who worked at a bar, a male comedian who dressed as a woman. It was difficult for Doreen as back in the 1970’s society wasn’t comfortable with many diverse identities. Doreen found these people fascinating, but she got rather adverse reactions when she shared her writing about them.
Eventually, she scouted the perfect candidate as the inspiration for her first widely-known play called Roses in Due Season. Across the way lived a lovely lady with an abusive alcoholic husband.
Perhaps this was Doreen’s way of trying to raise awareness or a cry for help?
‘Honesty’ that is what writing Roses in Due Season taught Doreen. She wrote it intending to inspire other writers to write honestly, but it also became the core theme of her successful plays.
It became her legacy to write plays about the aspects of society that, at the time, no one wanted to be honest about. Indigenous culture, sexuality, women’s rights were all embedded at the core of Doreen’s writing.
Doreen started her new journey of passion. She would walk into Adelaide City Centre to her work, The State Theatre Company. Once there, she strived to learn how the theatre industry worked. She didn’t write a lot, but when she did, she was constantly encouraged. This is where her play Roses in Due Season came to life, along with many more plays ranging from successful to fizzled out ideas.
Doreen’s philosophy about honesty always stayed true. Before writing her plays, Doreen researched Indigenous history, the undiscussed issues regarding women or sexuality. One of Doreen’s most famous plays to date is Farewell Brisbane Ladies, written in 1982. Farewell Brisbane Ladies portrays two retired prostitutes who reside in regional Queensland and their journey getting back on the scene.
Australians who went to school in the years following may be familiar with this play. After the State Theatre Company trialled Doreen’s play with students of Flinders University, it quickly made its way into theatre’s across South Australia. Critiques such as Brian Godfrey, working for the Adelaide Theatre Guide, highlight Doreen’s excellence in discussing the women’s debate of...
...“can we be something we are not meant to be?”
Doreen’s other plays, such as “Vinegar Too,” highlight the issues of single-parenthood and unemployment among young adults. Her last play, “Left With Charlie”, embeds discussions regarding mental disorders, alcoholism and how shameful these issues were at that time. Incorporating topics such as these in writing brings the audience into a storyworld where the problems are prevalent, raises more awareness, and hopefully results in a change.
Doreen commonly wrote about “gutsy” women, but she was one herself. She wrote about change and created it.
Doreen is now an elderly resident of Glandore, South Australia, with four grown sons and her grandchildren residing nearby. Her favourite ritual is to hop on the suburban tram, destination: Glenelg. Breathing in the ocean air, she wanders down the promenade, eyeing bookstore windows and listening to the pop music coming from the newly built Ferris wheel. Pop isn’t quite Doreen’s cup of tea. Sitting on a bench, licking her gelato and staring out to sea, Doreen realises how much the world has changed around her.
“It’s not my world,” she tells me.
Society is more accepting and diverse, openly discussing issues that were feared to be stated before. Individuals are not afraid to express themselves. Doreen spoke to me about her granddaughter; as she wears facial piercings, tries out various “crazy” hairstyles, overall, she expresses herself in a way Doreen isn’t used to.
Whether she intended to make change with her plays that discussed women, sexuality and Indigenous culture, she can safely say that society discusses these topics better now and are more accepting of the diverse cultures that have and continue to develop over time.
Licking the gelato from her lips, breathing in the salty ocean air through her nose, Doreen is able to relax.
She has lived life to the fullest, somewhere else.
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