AustLit
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Contents
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The Dreamers,
single work
drama
'With humane irony the Western Australian poet, Jack Davis gives a painful insight into the process of colonisation and the transformation of his people.'
'The Dreamers is the story of a country-town family and old Uncle Worru, who in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit which in him has survived 'civilisation'.' (Currency Press website)
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Kullark,
single work
drama
'Kullark has been described as a 'documentary on the history of Aboriginals in WA.' The action begins with a version of the first contact between Europeans and the Noongar peoples, culminating in the death of Yagan in 1833, and covers the forcible separation of families and communities, and removal to reserves, and the ongoing discrimination against Indigenous people.' (Source: cited from AusStage website)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
y
Creating Frames : Contemporary Indigenous Theatre : 1967-1990
St Lucia
:
University of Queensland Press
,
2004
Z1109707
2004
single work
criticism
From publisher's blurb (back cover): Creating Frames provides the first significant social and cultural history of Indigenous theatre across Australia. As well as using archival sources and national and independent theatre company records, much of this history is drawn from interviews with individuals who have shaped contemporary Indigenous theatre in Australia - including Bob Maza, Jack Charles, Gary Foley, Justine Saunders, Weley Enoch, Ningali, and John Harding...
Creating Frames traces the history of production of texts by Indigenous Australian artists from 1967 to 1997. It includes productions in theatres of texts by Indigenous Australian artists, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, and adaptations of texts by Indigenous artists. The focus is public urban commercial productions and includes national and international premieres and tours. 'Commercial' is used here in the sense of public presentations open to any potential audience member as distinct from closed community productions. The focus does not include radio plays, millennia of traditional practices, performances devised and performed within communities, or community outreach/education theatre initiatives such as HeatWorks in the Kimberley. Even within these limits the constraints of space have affected the number of productions that can be covered in detail.
Throughout this thirty year period, particular themes recur, these themes relate to the ways in which the external framing of the work either facilitates or blocks production. These themes often relate directly or indirectly to concepts of 'authenticity' and/or 'Aboriginality' - in effect the 'acceptable' face of Aboriginality within government and social narratives at any point in time. The strength and power of these themes as frames for the work has drawn on generally accepted understandings of Australian history and the ways in which these are manipulated in the service of political agendas. These frames fall into three main categories within the thirty year period - assimilation, multiculturalism and reconciliation. This production history reveals that, rather than Euro-Australian theatre practitioners creating an environment that enabled Indigenous theatre practice, Indigenous artists have taken their own initiative. An initiative they continue to take whilst simultaneously contesting the primarily external frames that define their work and affect their production possibilities.
(Abstract courtesy the author.)
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Backgrounds to Aboriginal Literature
1988
single work
essay
— Appears in: Black Voices , vol. 4 no. 1 1988; (p. 42-55) -
Untitled
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October vol. 2 no. 1 1983; (p. 125-126)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
Aboriginal Plays Risk Getting Lost in White Theatres
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 January 1983; (p. 32)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
The Enduring Quality of a Beleaguered Race
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 20-21 August 1983; (p. 14)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama
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On Stage and Page: Drama Reviews
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: LiNQ , vol. 11 no. 1 1983; (p. 89-100)
— Review of Inside the Island / The Precious Woman 1981 selected work drama ; Marx 1978 single work drama ; Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama ; A Night in the Arms of Raeleen 1983 single work drama ; Sandy Lee Live at Nui Dat 1983 single work musical theatre ; Signal Driver : A Morality Play for the Times 1983 single work drama ; Netherwood 1983 single work drama ; Australasian Drama Studies vol. 1 no. 1 October 1982 periodical issue ; Australasian Drama Studies vol. 1 no. 2 April 1983 periodical issue ; Hold Fast to Dreams : Fifty Years in Theatre, Radio, Television and Books 1982 single work autobiography -
The Year of Black Drama
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 50 1983; (p. 20)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
The Enduring Quality of a Beleaguered Race
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 20-21 August 1983; (p. 14)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
Aboriginal Plays Risk Getting Lost in White Theatres
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 January 1983; (p. 32)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
Untitled
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October vol. 2 no. 1 1983; (p. 125-126)
— Review of Kullark / The Dreamers 1982 selected work drama -
y
Creating Frames : Contemporary Indigenous Theatre : 1967-1990
St Lucia
:
University of Queensland Press
,
2004
Z1109707
2004
single work
criticism
From publisher's blurb (back cover): Creating Frames provides the first significant social and cultural history of Indigenous theatre across Australia. As well as using archival sources and national and independent theatre company records, much of this history is drawn from interviews with individuals who have shaped contemporary Indigenous theatre in Australia - including Bob Maza, Jack Charles, Gary Foley, Justine Saunders, Weley Enoch, Ningali, and John Harding...
Creating Frames traces the history of production of texts by Indigenous Australian artists from 1967 to 1997. It includes productions in theatres of texts by Indigenous Australian artists, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, and adaptations of texts by Indigenous artists. The focus is public urban commercial productions and includes national and international premieres and tours. 'Commercial' is used here in the sense of public presentations open to any potential audience member as distinct from closed community productions. The focus does not include radio plays, millennia of traditional practices, performances devised and performed within communities, or community outreach/education theatre initiatives such as HeatWorks in the Kimberley. Even within these limits the constraints of space have affected the number of productions that can be covered in detail.
Throughout this thirty year period, particular themes recur, these themes relate to the ways in which the external framing of the work either facilitates or blocks production. These themes often relate directly or indirectly to concepts of 'authenticity' and/or 'Aboriginality' - in effect the 'acceptable' face of Aboriginality within government and social narratives at any point in time. The strength and power of these themes as frames for the work has drawn on generally accepted understandings of Australian history and the ways in which these are manipulated in the service of political agendas. These frames fall into three main categories within the thirty year period - assimilation, multiculturalism and reconciliation. This production history reveals that, rather than Euro-Australian theatre practitioners creating an environment that enabled Indigenous theatre practice, Indigenous artists have taken their own initiative. An initiative they continue to take whilst simultaneously contesting the primarily external frames that define their work and affect their production possibilities.
(Abstract courtesy the author.)
-
Backgrounds to Aboriginal Literature
1988
single work
essay
— Appears in: Black Voices , vol. 4 no. 1 1988; (p. 42-55)