This unit explores Australian plays written since the 1960s. Students investigate how these plays have contributed to the development of a national theatre as well as a sense of national identity. In particular, the unit explores texts from the perspective of post-colonial theory in relation to ‘settler-cultures’.

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. view and discuss significant Australian plays published in the latter half of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first century with an appreciation of their potential in the theatre;
2. relate the plays studied in this unit  to the context of relevant events and issues in Australian cultural history;
3. discuss the contribution of drama to the evolution of  concepts relating to the notion of an  Australian identity; and
4. write effective critical essays which demonstrate a selective use of theoretical approaches and evaluate critical evaluations of dramatic texts.

1. A selection of post 1960’s Australian plays.
2. Exploration of the cultural and historical issues associated with the emergence of an identifiable national drama
3. Reading and analysis of the texts and of their cultural, historical and social contexts using relevant theoretical perspectives.

Lectures, seminars, dramatised readings, workshops.

The following graduate attributes will be developed in this unit:

• Ability to work in teams
• Critical appraisal skills
• Cross-cultural and international outlook