YOUNG MO

$5.40 – $15.00

This script is part of the Nimrod 50 Collection and is a premiere publication.

Given its full title The Resuscitation of the Little Prince Who Couldn't Laugh as Performed by Young Mo at the Height of the Great Depression of 1929, Young Mo becomes synonymous with Nimrod, thanks to Martin Sharp’s iconic visual designs for this production, which became its logo. This similarly iconic show (which starred Gary McDonald at the height of his Norm Gunston fame) explores the life of the much-loved but now forgotten vaudeville performer Roy Rene born Henry van der Sluys in Adelaide in 1891, the son of a Dutch cigar maker. Rene becomes hugely well known in his lifetime for his outrageous vaudeville stage persona, especially characters like Mo. Although throughout his career he (and indeed many others) dressed in black-face and Mo himself is deeply problematic stereotype of a Yiddish vaudeville performer, this work explores the man himself at a time when the memory of concert-halls and variety shows was still present in the theatrical consciousness.

First produced by Circle Theatre Company, Adelaide, 1976.

First produced at Nimrod, 1977.

APT