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y separately published work icon The Seven Stages of Grieving single work   drama   - 23 scenes
Issue Details: First known date: 1995... 1995 The Seven Stages of Grieving
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This is a proud milestone in Australian theatre history; a contemporary Indigenous performance text from the highly acclaimed Kooemba Jdarra. Appropriating western forms whilst using traditional storytelling, it gives emotional insight into Murri life. This one-woman show follows the journey of an Aboriginal ‘Everywoman’ as she tells poignant and humorous stories of grief and reconciliation. A powerful, demanding and culturally profound text, The 7 Stages of Grieving is a celebration of Indigenous survival, an invitation to grieve publicly, a time to exorcize pain. It has a universal theme told through the personal experiences of one incredible character.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Playlab).

Exhibitions

10628823
10626492

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Year 10 (NSW Stage 5)

Themes

family, grief, History, Indigenous rights, the past

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy

Cross-curriculum Priorities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Production Details

  • First produced by Kooemba Jdarra at the Metro Arts Theatre, Brisbane, 1 September 1995. Directed by Wesley Enoch.

    New production by the Sydney Theatre Company at the Wharf Theatre from February to March 2008. Later presented at Wagga and Albury, NSW.

    Produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre, 22-29 May 2010 and then on tour in regional South Australia until June 17 2010.

    Presented by the Queensland Theatre Company. A Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe production. Performed 17-28 March 2015 at Bille Brown Studio, QTC.

    Also at QUT Gardens Theatre in May, 2017 as a part of a national tour. The productions then travels to London as a part of the 2017 Origins Festival (http://originsfestival.bordercrossings.org.uk/).

    See also the entry in the AusStage database for more production information.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Brisbane, Queensland,:Playlab , 1996 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Memories and the Paini"You came ashore, pale like spirit people", Cec Fisher , single work poetry (p. 10)
Why Do We Applaud?, Wesley Enoch , single work column (p. 13-16)
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1995
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

Deep Sense of History at Every Stage of Grieving Martin Buzacott , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 20 March 2015; (p. 15)
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama
Talkin’ Blak : Humour in Indigenous Australian Theatre, 1970−2000 Karen Austin , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Philament , February no. 20 2015; (p. 129-164) 'This paper looks at the renaissance of Indigenous Australian theatrical performance, from the early 1970s to its prominence in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It focuses on the specific ways that humour has been used by Indigenous Australian performing artists to highlight unpleasant social issues in their communities, such as poverty, alcohol abuse, and the removal/stealing of children from their families. In conjunction with witty repartee, visual comedy both in movement and mimicry is often used by Indigenous performers. Philosopher Henri Bergson, well-known for his contributions to humour studies, claims that the physical humour in inflexible, repetitive, or exaggerated movements is inherently funny. Bergson argues that rigidity of movements or “something mechanical encrusted on the living” makes comedians appear inhuman and, as a consequence, this makes people laugh. Contemporary philosopher and humour theorist Simon Critchley notes that the opposite is also true: We often find it funny when people give the impression of being all too human. For Critchley, the recognition of predictable behaviours is just as funny as any automated actions.' (129-130)
Performative Lives – Transformative Practices : Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, The 7 Stages of Grieving, and Richard Franklin, Conversations with the Dead Beate Neumaier , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Decolonizing the Landscape : Indigenous Cultures in Australia 2014; (p. 275-292)

'In the following, I would like to focus on Wesley Enoch's and Deborah Mailman's The 7 Stages of Grieving (1995) and Richard Frankland's Conversations with the Dead (2002), plays which address and simultaneously perform a transformative process involving actors and spectators, with specific ethical and political implications. While both plays engage in this transformative endeavour, The 7 Stages of Grieving explores the possibilities of connecting across boundaries towards the horizon, while Conversations with the Dead centres on its boundaries, foregrounding questions of difference.'

Source: p.280
y separately published work icon The Challenge of Humour in Contemporary Australian Indigenous Theatre : Examining the Relationship between Performer and Audience in 'The 7 Stages of Grieving', 'Stolen' and 'Namatjira' Bronwen J McNab , Adelaide : 2013 9293207 2013 single work thesis
The Evolution of Telling Stories from Their Evolutionary Roots Kyle Morrison , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 November 2013; (p. 34)
Hope Turns to Disappointment as Inconvenient Truths Revisited Murray Bramwell , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 24 May 2010; (p. 17)
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama

Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre, 22-29 May 2010 and then on tour in regional South Australia until June 17 2010.

Review of Daniel Keene's The Share produced by five.point.one, The Bakehouse, Adelaide from 20 May to 5 June 2010
Lamentations Murray Bramwell , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , June no. 165 1997; (p. 23)
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama
Untitled Helen Thomson , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 30 May 1996;
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama
Untitled Kate Herbert , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Herald Sun , 31 May 1996;
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama
Untitled Carrie Kablean , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Telegraph , 10 March 1996;
— Review of The Seven Stages of Grieving Wesley Enoch , Deborah Mailman , Hilary Beaton , 1995 single work drama
Aboriginal Encounters : Cross-Cultural Perspectives on First Nation Drama Marc Maufort , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Transgressive Itineraries : Postcolonial Hybridizations of Dramatic Realism 2003; (p. 147-231) Section II of this chapter is entitled 'Staging Australian Aboriginality.'
Windshuttling the Right : Some Australian Literary and Historical Adaptations for the Stage Helen Thomson , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 3 no. 2004; (p. 133-142) Focusing on the disjunction between versions of national history in white and black narratives of shared history, the article provides an overview of theatrical adaptations of cultural narratives that deal with Aboriginal experience in Australia's post-contact history.
y separately published work icon A Compelling Force : Indigenous Women Playwrights Maryrose Casey , 2007 St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2007 Z1271301 2007 single work criticism
Sydney Theatre Company Madeleine Hinchy , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Lowdown , February/March vol. 30 no. 1 2008; (p. 25)
Presenting the Past : Historiography in Aboriginal Theatre of the 80s and 90s K. G. Naga Radhika , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 70 no. 3 2010; (p. 144-162)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (35)
Last amended 20 Nov 2017 11:32:22
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