Western Australian playwright and screenwriter Alan Seymour, best known for his play The One Day of the Year, has died in Sydney at the age of 87.
One of the first prominent critiques of the jingoism of Anzac Day celebrations, The One Day of the Year premiered in Adelaide in 1960, sparking controversy for its writer who received death threats.
The play later became a staple of the Australian school curriculum.
Born in Fremantle in 1927, Seymour worked as a radio announcer in Perth after leaving school at 15. Following a brief spell as an advertising copywriter and film critic for ABC radio, he began writing drama for the ABC in Sydney.
Swamp Creatures, Seymour’s first professional play for the theatre, was a finalist in the Observer’s annual play competition in 1957 and took him to London where he had a busy career writing at the BBC. His credits there included Frost in May, House of Eliott and the much loved children’s television adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He also contributed to the Observer as a theatre critic during the 1960s and 1970s.
In Australia his screen adaptations included The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay, and the 1988 TV movie Tudawali about the life and times of Aboriginal actor Robert Tudawali.
In 1995, Seymour returned home for good, settling in Sydney where The One Day of the Year was revived in 2003 by Sydney Theatre Company. It continues to be performed by amateur and professional companies across the country.
Seymour was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2007 for his services to the arts.
