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Spartacus is a 1942 Australian radio play by Dymphna Cusack about the rebel slave Spartacus. It was the last of the ABC's Bonus Competition Plays.

Cusack wrote it in 1940. She used the historical background to comment on present day issues.

The play was directed by John Cairns.

Premise

"Tells of the great slave revolt against the tyranny of Rome in 73 B.C. It was a movement that began with the escape of a few slave-gladiators from arenas where they were forced to hack each other with swords for the benefit of a blood-lusting Roman crowd. Eventually more than 70,000 armed slaves were challenging the might of Rome. Such is history. But all through her play, Miss Cusack is keenly, almost poignantly, aware of parallels with our own momentous time. "

References

1. "AUSTRALIAN PLAY COMPETITION". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. No. 20, 606. New South Wales, Australia. 23 October 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 13 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "A.B.C. BONUS COMPETITION PLAY BROADCAST TONIGHT". Daily Mirror. No. 453. New South Wales, Australia. 23 October 1942. p. 7 (War News Edition). Retrieved 13 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "PLAYWRIGHTS OF AUSTRALIA VERSATILE DYMPHNA CUSACK", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 35 (31 (August 3, 1940)), Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-720042748, retrieved 13 March 2024 – via Trove
4. "WAVE-LENGTHS", ABC Weekly, 3 (2 (11 January 1941)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1309860120, retrieved 13 March 2024 – via Trove
5. "ABC PROGRAMMES—FRIDAY, OCT. 23", ABC Weekly, 4 (42 (17 October 1942)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1329483277, retrieved 13 March 2024 – via Trove
6. "Plays of the Air Three Biographies", ABC Weekly, 4 (42 (17 October 1942)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1329482704, retrieved 13 March 2024 – via Trove

• 1942 Australian radio dramas
• Plays by Dymphna Cusack
• Cultural depictions of Spartacus