Currency Press

{{Short description|Specialist performing arts publisher in Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

{{Infobox publisher

| name = Currency Press Pty Ltd

| image = Currency Press logo.jpg

| caption =

| parent =

| status =

| traded_as =

| predecessor =

| founded = 1971

| founders = Katharine Brisbane and Philip Parsons

| successor =

| country = Australia

| headquarters = Redfern, Sydney

| distribution = Regency Media

| keypeople =

| publications = Books

| topics = Performing arts

| genre = Plays and screenplays

| imprints =

| revenue =

| owner =

| numemployees =

| website = {{URL|currency.com.au}}

}}

Currency Press is a leading performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works.

History

Currency Press was founded by Katharine Brisbane, then national theatre critic for The Australian newspaper, and her husband Philip Parsons, a lecturer in Drama at the University of New South Wales.{{cite web|title=Katharine Brisbane|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A28458| website =AustLit| access-date=21 June 2013}} After Philip's death in 1993, Katharine remained at the helm of the company until she retired as Publisher in December 2001 to devote her energies to Currency House, a non-profit association dedicated to the Australian performing arts.{{cite web|last=Sharon|first=Verghis|title=Katharine Brisbane retains her great currency in theatre|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/katharine-brisbane-retains-great-currency-in-theatre/story-fn9n8gph-1226196601472|newspaper=The Australian|date=19 November 2011|access-date=21 June 2013}} Currency press is currently run by her son Nicholas Parsons

Description

Currency Press is a leading Australian specialist performing arts publisher, and its oldest independent publisher still active. It is located in the Sydney suburb of Redfern.

Awards

In 2011, Currency Press received the Dorothy Crawford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession at the AWGIE Awards.{{cite web|title=44th Annual AWGIE Awards – Winners List|url=http://www.awg.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413&Itemid=533|work=AWG website|publisher=The Australian Writers Guild|accessdate=13 June 2013}}

Selected titles

= Plays =

Seven of these plays have been included in the Australian Society of Authors' list of Australia's 200 best literary works.{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=Rebecca |date=7 November 2013 |title=Are these Australia's best 200 works of literature? |work=Courier Mail |url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/are-these-australias-best-200-works-of-literature/news-story/69180597599833a186fa4fd07813583a |access-date=22 May 2022}}

= Screenplays =

  • Blue Murder by Ian David – a powerful and frightening story about police corruption and Sydney's underworld
  • Chopper by Andrew Dominik – goes inside the mind of Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read, one of Australia's most notorious criminals
  • Muriel's Wedding by P. J. Hogan – Muriel, an unhappy young woman in dismal surroundings, sets out to overcome obstacles such as her family, her joblessness, and her obsession with 70s glam rockers ABBA
  • Rabbit Proof Fence by Christine Olsen – three Aboriginal girls are forcibly removed from their outback families in 1931 to be trained as domestic servants as part of official government policy
  • Strictly Ballroom by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce – an exuberant story about the struggle for love and creativity in a world limited by greed and regulation

References

{{Reflist}}