Contemporary Australian Playwriting

Contemporary Australian Playwriting provides a thorough and accessible overview of the diverse and exciting new directions that Australian Playwriting is taking in the twenty-first century. In 2007, the most produced playwright on the Australian mainstage was William Shakespeare. In 2019, the most produced playwright on the Australian mainstage was Nakkiah Lui, a Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman. This book explores what has happened both on stage and off to generate this remarkable change. As writers of colour, queer writers, and gender diverse writers are produced on the mainstage in larger numbers, they bring new critical directions to the twenty-first century Australian stage. At a politically turbulent time when national identity is fractured, this book examines the ways in which Australia’s leading playwrights have interrogated, problematised, and tried to make sense of the nation. Tracing contemporary trends, the book takes a thematic approach to the re-evaluation of the nation that is dramatized in key Australian plays. Each chapter is accompanied by a duologue between two of the playwrights whose work has been analysed, to provide a dual perspective of theory and practice.

John McCallum's new history explores the relationship between 20th century Australian drama and a developing concept of nation. The book focuses on the creative tension sparked by dueling impulses between nationalism and cosmopolitanism; and between artistic seriousness and larrikin populism. It explores issues such as the domineering influence of European high culture, the ongoing popularity of representational realism, the influence of popular theatrical forms, the ambivalence (between affection and aggression) of much Australian humour and satire, and the interaction between the personal and the political in drama. The strength of "Belonging" is its comprehensiveness, anyone studying an Australian play will find an account of it here in the context of the other works by its author or the time and place in which it was written. As well as a rundown of the major writers and their works, and an account of how the minor writers fitted in, the book also investigates the more obscure plays and writers about whom little has been written. This authoritative study of Australian drama gives an account of the relationship between our theatre and our sense of self while taking into account a broad range of influences that helped to shape both.

Historical perspectives - Critical perspectives.

In the late 1960s, new theatre companies who had a passion for Australianess, were created in opposition to stuffy, mostly imported theatre of no relevance to themselves. This work gives insights on how the new drama explored Australian themes and issues, in a theatre where the playwright had pride of place.

The prominence and vehemence of public debate about Hannie Rayson's Two Brothers has renewed the public interest in the power of contemporary Australian theatre. Not since the 1970s has there been such mainstream media attention on the work and role of Australian playwrights. "Power Plays" capitalises on this moment of renewed and heightened interest by investigating the why and the how of eight contemporary Australian playwrights: Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Reg Cribb, Ben Ellis, Wesley Enoch, Hannie Rayson, Stephen Sewell and Katherine Thomson. These writers are passionate about the theatre as a forum for public discussion and they interrogate current issues in their work. Their plays reflect the passing show of cultural, political and economic life in Australia, telling audiences something critical about what is going on: this is the state of play, this is what we are. The author has conducted extensive interviews with these writers and offers an extended analysis of some of their recent plays.

Analyses major playwrights of this century studying theme, structure and style - Aboriginal drama - Vance Palmer - Sumner Locke Elliott - Douglas Stewart - Patrick White - Thomas Keneally - David Williamson - Michael Gow.