DRAM7102 Contemporary Australian Drama 1

2016

4.5

1 x 3-hour seminar weekly

1 Admission into HBA-Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
1a Admission into HBCACW-Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) (Creative Writing)
1b Admission into HBCADR-Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) (Drama)
1c Admission into HBCASM-Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) (Screen and Media)
1d Admission into GDPCACW-Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts (Creative Writing)
1e Admission into GDPCADR-Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts (Drama)
1f Admission into GDPCASP-Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts (Screen Production)
1g Admission into MCACW-Master of Creative Arts (Creative Writing)
1h Admission into MCADR-Master of Creative Arts (Drama)
1i Admission into MCASP-Master of Creative Arts (Screen Production)
Must Satisfy: ((1 or 1a or 1b or 1c or 1d or 1e or 1f or 1g or 1h or 1i))

DRAM7516 has been successfully completed

Drama major in the Bachelor of Arts or equivalent

This topic examines Australian writing for performance from 1990 to now. Focusing on race and reconciliation, it explores how writers and performers are dramatising stories about relations between Indigenous and white Australians. A related topic considers the changing depiction of gender positions and relations in recent Australian drama. Both topics consider the status of dramatic writing in Australia today, particularly in relation to recent trends in contemporary performance and transitions between stage and screen. They also consider current conditions for developing and producing new Australian plays.

This topic aims to:

• increase students' knowledge and appreciation of Australian dramatic writing for performance from 1990 to now

• explore the depiction of relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within the context of the performing arts

• encourage students to collaboratively explore relations between social milieu, cultural production, creative practice and critical thinking

• enhance students' understanding of the relation between recent dramatic writing and current issues in Australian society

• develop students' capacity to critically evaluate the contributions of contemporary dramatists to cultural production in Australia

On completion of this topic students will be able to:

• explain how selected dramatic works were written, developed, produced for audiences, and critically received

• understand some of the ways issues relating to inter-racial relations are addressed by writers and performers

• integrate social analysis, critical thinking and creative practice and collaborative process in rehearsing and responding to selected dramatic works

• analyse the actions, narratives, characters and situations in selected dramatic works and relate these to current issues in Australian society

• evaluate the significance of selected dramatic works as contributions to the Australian repertoire and assess their potential relevance for production