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Indigenous Theatre and Performance in Australia

Module description

Kevin Gilbert’s ‘The Cherry Pickers’ is widely regarded as the first Aboriginal play. Written in 1968 but first performed in 1993, Gilbert was incarcerated when he wrote the play and did not licence it for performance until he was sure that it would be performed by an Indigenous cast. By studying this breakthrough play alongside a range of other performances, you will come to appreciate diverse Indigenous cultures and languages, and how indigenous-led organisations have emerged to wrest creative control within the field of Australian theatre. You will be encouraged to think critically and act ethically to co-create artistic work that furthers the conditions for cultural justice.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims:

• to deepen your knowledge and understanding of First Nations theatre and performance in Australia after 1968
• to introduce you to key First Nations playwrights, plays, organisations and performances
• to support you to situate key plays and productions in historical, social and political context
• to enable you to critique Indigenous plays and performances using appropriate theoretical frameworks
• to enable you to use scholarly writing to interpret dramatic text and theatrical performances
• to prepare you to work in creative/cultural industries with an ethical and just approach to Indigenous self-representation.

If you are interested in working in theatre or related creative fields, this module offers a case study that may enable you to think critically and act ethically when working with First Nations peoples to co-create the conditions for cultural justice. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an informed understanding of Indigenous theatre and performance in Australia after 1968 and be able to place this within wider historical and theoretical contexts
• 2. Evaluate how playwrights/performers respond to governmental policy in/through creative practice.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Engage effectively with a range of dramatic texts, performances, and critical writings
• 4. Apply critical frameworks to analyse theatre production processes, performance and reception.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Conduct independent research and construct coherent arguments using industry case studies.
• 6. Demonstrate group cooperation skills, including the ability to give and receive constructive critical feedback and to improve communication skills and analytic abilities in discussions

Syllabus plan

The module will begin with analysis of the first (published) play written by an Indigenous playwright in 1968. It will examine a range of Indigenous plays written and staged between 1968 and the present.

Plays and performances will be studied in broad socio-political context framed by historical Australian government policy affecting Indigenous peoples: protectionism, assimilation, multi-culturalism and reconciliation.

The module will address the emergence of key Indigenous theatre organisations in the 1990s and their assertion of creative control over the production of Indigenous Australian theatre and performance.

The module will examine the ways in which Indigenous theatre and performance has represented the post-colonial nation internationally, such as The Festival of the Dreaming in advance of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Finally, students will explore practices and politics of cultural inter-mediation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous theatre/performance makers as living cultures drive social change and cultural justice.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Casey, M. (2004) Creating frames?: contemporary indigenous theatre 1967-1990. St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press.
• Gilbert, H. (ed.) (2001) Postcolonial Plays?: An Anthology. London: Routledge.
• Gilbert, H. (1999) (Post)colonial stages?: critical & creative views on drama, theatre & performance. Hebden Bridge, Yorks: Dangaroo Press.
• Gilbert, H. (1998) Sightlines?: race, gender, and nation in contemporary Australian theatre. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Gilbert, H. and Tompkins, J. (1996) Post-colonial drama theory, practice, politics. London: Routledge.
• Schaefer, K. (2022) Communities, performance and practice?: enacting communities. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
• Thurow, S.J. (2020) ‘Contemporary Indigenous Australian theatre’, in Performing Indigenous Identities on the Contemporary Australian Stage. 1st edn. Routledge, pp. 40–86. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429281488-3.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
• Gilbert, H. and Lo, J. (2009) Performance and cosmopolitics?: cross-cultural transactions in Australasia. 1st ed. 2009. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230273924.