Australian Theater Ruby Moon and Stolen

Australian theatre practitioners use various performance styles, techniques and dramatic conventions to help portray their ideas to their audiences and make them feel a particular way to the ideas presented in a play. Without the use of these styles, techniques and conventions it wouldn’t be possible for the practitioners to emphasise their ideas. In the play ‘Ruby Moon’ Matt Cameron the playwright uses various techniques such as symbolism, transformational acting, cyclical and episodic dramatic structure and a fractured fairytale.

Australia is filled with many different aspects in which makes it the country it is today. I believe it is important to study texts that explore aspects of Australia by studying texts such as ‘The Club’, by David Williamson, a play written in 1977 about an Australian football club and movies such as “The Castle”, directed by Rob Stitch in 1997, about the daily life of an Australian family when their happiness is threatened when developers attempt to buy their house to expand the neighboring airport. Both these texts show us what Australian life was like in the past. By us looking at themes such as language, tradition and the mateship shown we are able to explore different aspects of Australia that make it what it is today.

“Away” is a play written in 1988 by Michael Gow. Away refers to the central ideas of Australia in 1967-68. The central ideas embrace the outsiders, family conflicts and grief and loss which affected families in the play. Gow uses three main families to convey the message of the play. The use of language and stylistic devices influence the way Gow has been able to speak to the modern Australian audience. In the play “Away” Gow is able to speak to the modern Australian audience with the use of allusion. Gow alludes to two of Shakespeare’s plays; Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Lear, two well-known actors in the 1960’s; Chips Rafferty and Laurance Olivier and the Vietnam War. The modern audience would have to do research to

‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair was the trigger that led my research into the effects of the Stolen Generation on Aboriginals in Australia. This film is about an Aboriginal singing group who want to make a name for themselves, but find it difficult because of the racism against them. This film also tells the stories of their cousin Kay, who was a half-caste and was stolen from her Aboriginal family at a young age to be taught the ways of white people, and forget her culture. This film made me realise that I am lucky to live in a country where racism of such an extent in which children are stolen from their indigenous families, isn’t part of our history, and has not affected me personally. From my research, I have found six main sources that have helped me to understand how large this problem was and continues to be. My sources: ‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair; a film about a group of Aboriginal singers who are affected by racism which is based on a real life singing group; ‘The Sorry Speech’, by Kevin Rudd who was the Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 who explains the damage and apologises for the way that the actions of past governments tore apart the lives of their indigenous people. Then there is ‘Blind Eye,’ the documentary in which people who were stolen are interviewed and tell their stories. The film, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ this tells the story of two girls who were stolen and gives us insight into how brutally that they were treated after being ripped apart from

“Blackrock” is a play written by Nick Enright that provides insight into Australian culture. Through the violent rape of a teenage girl, the audience is challenged to consider the values and attitudes still prevalent in Australia today. Enright uses authentic and raw Australian characters to reveal inherent patriarchal attitudes towards women and the problems with a society that promotes sexual double

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

In this film, it also shows how important their loved ones are to them. Like when the three girls get taken away, they used their hands to bang against the window, showing their sadness of separation, and their connection of their love and wanting to be close with their family at every time possible, because every time they were together was a moment each treasured. Their grandmother felt the pain they were feeling, of desperation, frustration and powerlessness, and that is shown to us when she hits herself with a rock on her head to make her bleed. Also the howling sounds she makes shows the pain she feels and makes us feel her pain, too.

Written during one of the most defining moments in Indigenous Australian history, Enoch and Deborah Mailman’s ‘the 7 stages of grieving’ follows a young Aboriginal woman as she retells some of the hardships and injustices her and her people have and will continue to face. With the quote above in mind, it is clear to see that ‘The 7 stages of grieving’ combines the contemporary conventions of Australian theatre, such as applying multimedia with a decidedly traditional twist. Through the use of stagecraft and symbolism,

This narrative text is based off the film The Sapphires set in Australia in the 1960s. In The Sapphires we see a flashback of Kay’s childhood and how she is part of the Stolen Generation. I will use this storyline as the starting point for my diary entries. The film gave me background knowledge on Stolen Generation and their experiences they faced. However, I need to know extra information so I will do further research about the Stolen Generation, in order to give an accurate description of their experiences. This narrative is targeted towards everyone. It is designed to inform them about the Stolen Generation and how they changed when forcibly moved to an Aborigines White Institution. This piece of text will be written in a diary entry form. I will use informal and conversational language. I will also use descriptive language when describing objects and sceneries throughout the text.

Characters in the text The Secret River by Kate Grenville represent a variation of attitudes and views towards the colonisation of Australia and the Aboriginal Australians. While many characters are indecisive about their opinion on the natives, some characters have a clear mind-set on how they are to be treated. The characters of Thomas Blackwood and Smasher Sullivan represent the two very different sides of the moral scale, and the other characters fit between these sides. Smasher is a vicious, cold-hearted man who shows no respect or humanity towards the Aboriginals. On the other hand, Blackwood’s character contrasts Smasher with his humanity and general respect to the original owners of their new home. The

The setting and imagery used in Louis Nowra’s play ‘Cosi’ explore the turbulent time that took part in Australia. The play is set in a mental institution in Melbourne, in the 1970’s. Using the ominous presence of the Vietnam War, Nowra explores the insanity of the war; and the need to condemn war and to protest against Australia’s involvement in Vietnam. The main presence of the institution and involving patients explored the inhumanity and ineffectiveness of the mental health system in the 1970’s in Australia. Nowra used the ‘play within a play’ to explore the Importance of theatre, as a way of enriching

Jane Harrison’s play Stolen and Garth Davis’ film Lion both explore the experience of being adopted under different circumstances. Stolen is set in Australia and follows the journey of characters, such as Anne, who are from the Stolen Generation and go into foster care, whereas Lion is the story of Saroo, a young Indian boy who is lost and ends up being adopted by a Tasmanian couple. Both characters, Saroo and Anne, struggle with their identities, feeling torn between their biological and adoptive families. However, they both come to accept and love their families after going on a journey to understand who they are and where they’ve come from.

The play presents complex notions about family bonds, based upon their shared cultural experiences and the way in which they reinforce their cultural Australian identity and help members of the family endure the physical hardship and social isolation. Jack Davis’ social realist drama, ‘No Sugar’ explores how the varying levels of family unity, rebellion and cultural identity depicted in different characters influences their survival. In this play, the term ‘survival’ operates on two continuums. It is conveyed as the physical sense of life and death through the play’s protagonist, Jimmy Munday, as well as the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is predominantly reflected in the parallel yet contrasted lives of Mary and Billy Kimberley as well as Gran’s deteriorating health after losing family members. Although Davis articulates the endurance of the Indigenous Australians, he incorporates figures of white authority who seek to demolish the Indigenous race and culture. Set in the time frame of 1929 to 1934, ‘No Sugar’ presents a critique of the conventional colonial British views of that era; and their effect on the preservation of Indigenous spirit and culture.

At a turbulent time in Australian history and society, the year of 1971, David Williamson produced a powerful play entitled The Removalists. Based upon numerous themes including domestic violence, sexism, abuse of power and bullying, Williamson’s play has six characters portraying Australian attitudes. By using stereotyped exaggerated characters in contrast with realistic characters and style, Williamson effectively exposes the faults of society.

As well as emphasise on the faults within the stereotype, the use of recognisable characters in a production of The Removalists allows for an effective comment on the faults within Australian society. Through the use of stereotyped characters, the play provides a deeper insight into the serious personal and societal issues within the Australian community, without the distraction of character complexity. These themes, which are explored through stereotypes, are violence, abuse of authority, and sexism and sexuality.