Honoria Mary Robertson Dick
Honoria Mary Robertson Dick was born in Yorkshire, England in 1922 but lived much of her adult life in Perth, Western Australia. The wife of a seafarer, Honoria read English Literature and Classics at the University of Western Australia and wrote a series of 13 original melodramas in the 1970s-early 2000s. They were performed exclusively by an amateur cast at St Michael’s Anglican Church Mt Pleasant and St Christopher’s Anglican Church Bicton-Attadale for church fundraising purposes.
The shows had a familiar format – a first half cabaret song and dance, followed by the second half melodrama. Dinner was served throughout the evening, and the audience was strongly encouraged to join in the singing and, of course, boo, hiss and heckle during the melodrama! As a talented milliner, Honoria made sure the set was simple as befits a church hall, but the costumes, hats and accessories were the highlight.
Her English heritage had a strong influence on the setting and subjects of her melodramas. Honoria was the Director of the show, and her best friend Joan Parker was the Producer and leading lady. The musical accompaniment on the piano was given by the third part of the trio – Mr Alan Ellison. The season ran for two performances a week over 4 weeks. The performers were members of the church parish supplemented by long-time friends.
Honoria passed away in 2013, Alan in 2012, and Joan in 2020. It was Honoria’s wish that her melodramas be made available for other theatre groups to adapt and perform as required. It is HeroAndVillian.com’s great pleasure to showcase Honoria’s Melodramas and offer them to the world to enjoy (for a very reasonable royalty of course).
- 9 of Honoria's Melodramas are now available on HeroAndVillain.com
- Music for each Melodrama is listed in the scripts and can be found in a simple Google search
- All plays have been successfully performed and run between 45 - 60 minutes (one is shorter)