AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
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The Mayne Inheritance : A Play,
single work
drama
thriller
'A grisly murder, inherited madness, and a family in ruins…
'Patrick Mayne was a poor Irishman who emigrated to Australia in the first half of the twentieth century. Settling in Brisbane, he built his fortune as a butcher, landowner, and town councillor, and left an extraordinary legacy: a deathbed confession of murder that had a profound impact on the lives of his wife, his children and the colonial society he helped to build.
'Inspired by the book The Mayne Inheritance by Rosamond Siemon, Errol O’Neill has crafted a taught psychological thriller that reverberates through several generations of the Mayne family and the society they generously supported.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
- Paradise the Musical, single work musical theatre
- From the Edge : Two Plays from Northern Australia., anthology drama
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Flutter,
single work
drama
'In the height of a summer outback in Central Queensland, something weird is going on. Vic Flutter has returned from his first year in Art College for the hoildays, and he's looking even stranger than usual. He's locked himself in the shed, is creating weird sculptures out of road kill, and is seemingly behind a series of strange events unfolding for his family and their small community.' http://www.playlab.org.au/ (Sighted 13/08/04)
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Surviving Jonah Salt,
single work
drama
'Three crazy women and one angry young man get lost and found in the desert of the Northern Territory. This is a brutal but beautiful, haunting but hilarious road-trpi into the Never-Never. Ruby goes on the run from Darwin and is hitch-hiking to freedom. Trish's husband has mysteriously disappeared from their roadside store in the Daintree, so Trish takes off in the ute. Jonah has been dumped in the desert by his alcoholic mother and her lunatic boyfriend. Patricia is an aging ex-hooker, heading North on the night bus from Brisbane to Three Ways.' http://www.jute.com.au (Sighted 13/08/04)
- Toxic, single work drama
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Chutney,
single work
drama
young adult
'Explores the rivalry between a father and his daughter whilst exposing their perceptions and responses to living in a South-East Asian cultural context' (Source: 'Introduction,' p. 63).
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Gods of Spicy Things : A Divine Comedy,
single work
drama
humour
'A delightful "bollywood" travelogue where the Gods take two unsuspecting westerners and use them as pawns in their godly clash of wills. Staring Sue Hayes and Christopher Glover this magical, mystical romp through India takes our unwitting travellers on an unexpected journey. Leela, a magazine writer seeking exotic adventures and Chris a slick London advertising guru visiting his Indian homeland to scatter his mother's ashes are thrown together and only the gods Krishna and Durgha know what is in store for these mere mortals.' Source: www.jute.com.au/ (Sighted 05/12/08).
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Tiptoe,
single work
drama
mystery
Emma Lee gets a commission to construct a public art piece in Charters Towers for the Centenary celebrations. She is inspired by her great-grandmother, Annie Lee, and her daughter, great-aunt June, known as Annie Bags and Tiptoe Jen, legendary vagrants from the town's gold mining past. When Emma discovers that Tiptoe had mysteriously disappeared, she is convinced that Charters Towers' locals, Winsome and Ruby Bradley and their sister Dot Muskett, know what happened to her. Emma's quest to find the truth as she builds her Maquette, is fraught with danger, as these elderly sisters are not as they seem. The consequences for Emma are dreadful. (p.101, Playlab imprint)
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Only Gammon: Three Plays From Kooemba Jdarra,
anthology
drama
The three texts collected in this volume are strong examples of this Indigenous theatre company's work with their exploration of self-determination, reconciliation, the land.
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Yarnin' Up,
single work
drama
humour
This play tells the story of Ken, a white Christian do-gooder who, after a stint on an outback Aboriginal community, wants to do his bit by sharing his Brisbane house with what he perceives as "disadvantaged" Murris.
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Binni's Backyard,
single work
drama
children's
'Binni's Backyard is a contemporary urban story that celebrates our changing connection to the land, the trees and the animals. The production uses a combination of music, acrobatics, clowning dance, design, puppetry and percussion's and draws on both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian traditions.' (Kooemba Jdarra website sighted 05/07/2003 )
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Goin' to the Island,
single work
drama
'Thomas Jenkis was born on the Island. In and out of jail for petty crime, he eventually finds himself on the streets of the mainland. Seven years later, he returns to the Island to celebrate his 21st birthday, reacquainting himself with the people from his past. Goin’ to the Island is a contemporary tale that mixes modern life with traditional stories, new songs and old.' (Source: Playlab website)
