opinion on australian drama

hello everyone..

i was wanting to find out everyones feelings on this question.....

"Australian society does not merely chronicle society at the time, it confronts and engages its audience with use of deliberate staging techniques." How accurate is this statement for 20th century australian theatre?

thanks alot

Student wrote:

"Australian society does not merely chronicle society at the time, it confronts and engages its audience with use of deliberate staging techniques."

Not only is the statement inaccurate it is nonsensical!

Is it supposed to read "Australian drama..." or Australian theatre..." or what!

Because it doesn't make sense the way it reads

If we follow with Paul's suggestion and Alter the first few words to read

"Australian Theatre .." Then I would say that the statement is true for all theatre in all contries. After all, isn't the statement the definition of theatre?

To chronicle society, to confront and engage audiences through staging techniques such as direction (blocking), dramatic interpretation, sound and lighting.

That is what theatre is all about. It will always be true. It is the core of theatre.

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a Student (or his teacher) wrote:

> "Australian theatre does not merely chronicle society at the time, it
> confronts and engages its audience with use of deliberate staging
> techniques." How accurate is this statement for 20th century australian
> theatre?


Jeff Watkins wrote:
>
> I would say that the statement is true for all theatre in all countries.
> After all, isn't the statement the definition of theatre?
>
> To chronicle society, to confront and engage audiences
> through staging techniques such as direction (blocking),
> dramatic interpretation, sound and lighting.
>
> That is what theatre is all about. It will always be true. It
> is the core of theatre.



Can't you have theatre which DOESN'T particularly chronicle society? And can you not engage audiences without really confronting them?


And are we also considering those efforts of theatre which unfortunately don't even engage...?


Cheers,
Craig

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god damn it mackie im sick of ur @!#$ australian theatre began when i did a mad @!#$ the other day

sorry about phrasing the question wrong but you worked it out it was Australian Theatre

But how does play like doll and the removalist prove that they are are they showing the reality of australian life ... or are they building a false mythology and giving us a identity that we really do not have??

gadday guys..
I was just sitting here looking up a simple bloody definition for what australian drama really is.
i turn to look at every university, collage, school, website.. but there is nothing that states what it is and what it consists of..
shouldn't we be proud of what we have in this beautiful country and flaunt it abit more?
So if anyone can find a place where i can see some definitions, please e-mail me on flower20032002@hotmail.com
thanks
c-ya

I think you might be having trouble defining Australian drama because there is no definition. Australia's culture in itself is less defined than other countries because we are relatively 'new'. Australia has a shorter history as a country than others, we are combined of many different cultures, and our influences come from all over the place; Asia, Europe and America.

Secondly, drama in itself can mean different things. Do you mean drama in the sense of serious plays vs. comedy? Do you mean drama as an overall concept applied to theatre? Plus, what Australian theatre is, depends on what is being shown at any given point in time (eg. the agitprop or agitated propoganda of the 60s and 70s, when people were getting arrested for swearing on stage), what the government is willing to fund, what is sellable (currently sedition is a hot topic), etc.

You must also contend with the notion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One person may love Shakespeare, another might not. Defining Australian drama will depend on your own perspective of what drama is.

I'm afraid to say that there is no 'simple' definition of drama. Especially Australian. Technically, Australian drama would be anything presented by Indigenous people. But then, is David Williamson not Australian either?

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