Eunice Hanger

Eunice Hanger (8 March 1911 – 16 October 1972) was an Australian playwright and educator.

Eunice Hanger
Born	(1911-03-08)8 March 1911 Mount Chalmers, Queensland, Australia
Died	16 October 1972(1972-10-16) (aged 61) Toowong, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Playwright, lecturer
Alma mater	University of Queensland
Relatives	Mostyn Hanger, brother

Early life and education

Eunice Hanger was born at Mount Chalmers in Queensland on 8 March 1911 to parents Thomas Hanger and Myfanwy Granville-Jones. Her older brother, Mostyn Hanger, became Chief Justice of Queensland and was knighted.^[1] She completed her secondary education at Gympie High School^[2] and won a tertiary scholarship.^[3] She then attended the University of Queensland, graduating with a BA in 1932 and MA in 1939.^[4][5]

Career

Qualified with her BA, Hanger began her teaching career at Gympie High School, where her father was headmaster.^[2] While teaching at Roma High School, she was one of five teachers who went on a tour to study education in Japan, reporting that "suicides from despair at failure in the all-important examination are not at all uncommon".^[6]

In 1940 she was transferred to Rockhampton High School and in 1948 was promoted to Brisbane High School.^[2]

Her 1949 stage adaptation of M. Barnard Eldershaw's A House Is Built was not well received, despite having received the authors' approval.^[7] Nelson Burns, in his review for The Courier-Mail, wrote "An over-plus of trite verbiage cluttered the trend of the story".^[8] The following year, however, she had the audience "enthralled" by her play, The Summoner, which she produced and performed in.^[9]

In 1955 her play Flood was runner-up to Oriel Gray's The Torrents and Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, joint winners of the Playwrights' Advisory Board's play of the year.^[10] It was adapted for radio by Catherine Shepherd.^[11]

Hanger died on 16 October 1972 at Toowong, Queensland.^[2]

Selected works

• A House is Built, 1949
• The Summoner, 1950
• Upstage, 1950
• Foundations, 1952
• Flood, 1955
• 2D, 1958
• The Frogs, 1960

References

1. White, M. W. D., "Hanger, Sir Mostyn (1908–1980)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 8 January 2022
2. Fotheringham, Richard, "Hanger, Eunice (1911–1972)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 8 January 2022
3. Watson, Tom, "Hanger, Thomas (1874–1964)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 8 January 2022
4. "Eunice Hanger". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
5. "Masters of Arts and Sciences". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 4 May 1940. p. 7 (Second Edition). Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Says Japs Go Through "Examination Hell"", Pix, 3 (15), 15 April 1939, retrieved 8 January 2022
7. "Tourist's Impressions of Continent". Brisbane Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 29 October 1949. p. 7 (Last Race). Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Too much talk spoiled play". The Courier-Mail. No. 4044. Queensland, Australia. 11 November 1949. p. 4. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "The Little Theatre in Australia: A Seething Panorama", ABC Weekly, 12 (37), Australian Broadcasting Commission, 16 September 1950, retrieved 8 January 2022
10. "Australian Play Competition". The A.B.C. Weekly. 17 (37): 4. 17 September 1955.
11. "A.B.C. Week of Australian Plays", ABC Weekly, 18 (10), Australian Broadcasting Commission, 10 March 1956, retrieved 8 January 2022