Twentieth-century Australian drama
Peter Fitzpatrick
8 or 12 points
* 2 hours per week
* Second semester
*
Clayton
Objectives Students in this subject should develop a broad knowledge of major texts and patterns of innovation in Australian theatre, and their relation to developments in the wider culture. They should also acquire a level of understanding of theatre processes and methodologies appropriate as a basis for future research.
Synopsis The subject deals with a wide range of the work of Australian playwrights of the last one hundred years. While the seminar program will focus on critical approaches to the prescribed plays, it will also be concerned with a number of issues beyond the individual texts: the patterns of preoccupation which the plays reflect and the ideologies and conventions to which they are related; the theatrical models, both local and international, to which the plays may refer; the empowering and disabling influences of a consciousness of tradition, and the cultural assumptions on which they are based; and the ways in which the playwrights have shaped or adapted images of Australian identity. The subject aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the history of Australian theatre in the period and to the work of a number of its most prominent writers, but that properly involves attention to their audiences, and to processes of textual transmission in the theatre which are not culture-specific at all.
Assessment (8 points) Assignment/s (2500 words): 40%
* Essay (3500
words): 60%
Assessment (12 points) Long essay/research project (5000 words): 50%
* Short essay (2000 words): 25%
* Seminar paper: 25%
Prescribed texts
Bailey B On Our Selection Currency
Beynon R The Shifting Heart Angus and Robertson
Buzo A Norm and Ahmed Currency
Crawford J Rocket Range (distributed by department)
Cusack D Morning Sacrifice Currency
Darrell G The Sunny South Currency
Davis J Kullark, The Dreamers Currency
De Groen A The Rivers of China Currency
Esson L Dead Timber, The Drovers (distributed by department)
Hewett D The Man from Munkinupin Currency
Hewett D The Chapel Perilous Currency
Hibberd J A Stretch of the Imagination Currency
Lawler R The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Currency
Nowra L Inside the Island Currency
Rayson H Hotel Sorrento Currency
Roland B The Touch of Silk Currency
Romeril J The Floating World Currency
Sewell S Dreams in an Empty City Currency
Seymour A The One Day of the Year Penguin
White P The Ham Funeral Currency
White P The Season at Sarsaparilla Currency
Williamson D Don's Party Currency
Williamson D The Removalists Currency
Williamson D Dead White Males Currency
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