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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
New writing from old Australians this collection presents Aboriginal playwrights using the dramatic form to tell how black and white Australians interact.'
'These are modern, urban plays, but traditional beliefs give strength and resilience to many of the characters in them. These city dwellers are joined to the land and their dreaming, with ancient bonds of common belief; the four plays provide a remarkable, often humorous insight into Aboriginal experience in Australia.' (Source: backcover)
Notes
-
Sound recording and braille edition available.
Contents
- Plays From Black Australia : Introduction, single work criticism (p. vii-xi)
-
The Dreamers,
single work
drama
'With humane irony the Western Australian poet, Jack Davis gives a painful insight into the process of colonisation and the transformation of his people.'
'The Dreamers is the story of a country-town family and old Uncle Worru, who in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit which in him has survived 'civilisation'.' (Currency Press website)
Note: Includes glossary. -
Murras,
single work
drama
(p. 79-107)
Note: Includes glossary.
-
Coordah,
single work
drama
This play examines life in a small country town during two periods, the 1940s and the 1980s, and focuses on the search for identity in the Aboriginal community of Coordah.
Note: Includes glossary. -
The Keepers,
single work
drama
The Keepers is set in South Australia during the 19th century. The story centres around the relationship between Mirnat, and Aboriginal Woman and Elisabeth Campbell, the wife of a Scottish missionary. The two women deepen their relationship through their attempts to learn each other's language. The play demonstrates the complexity of the Boandik* sign language which features quite prominently in the play's stage directions and production. (Balme, 1997)
"Documents the experience of Indigenous Australians - in particular, the Boandik of South-eastern South Australia - at the hands of white settlers and their descendants. Spans two generations and two different time frames and stresses the importance of the land: "The Land is alive. It moves. It breathes. We know because we are its keepers.""
*Bungandidj peoples of Mount Gambier region, South-eastern South Australia
Source: AusStage
Source: Balme, C. 1997. 'Reading the Signs: A Semiotic Perspective on Aboriginal Theatre', in Ar̲atjara: Aboriginal Culture and Literature in Australia. Rodopi. p.163.
Note: Includes glossary.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also e-book.
Works about this Work
-
Indigenous Stories Told Collectively
BlackWords : Indigenous Stories Told Collectively
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The BlackWords Essays 2015; (p. 5) The BlackWords Essays 2019;In this essay Heiss discusses and explains the important role of anthologies in the creation of communities of writers and in acknowledging, consolidating and launching writing careers.
-
"Our Side of the Story": Plays from Black Australia
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Meridian , May vol. 10 no. 1 1991; (p. 64-69) -
Aboriginal Writing Strives for a New "Koori" Script
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Spring vol. 4 no. 1 1990; (p. 52-54)
— Review of Doin Wildcat : A Novel Koori Script 1988 single work novel ; The Nearest the White Man Gets : Aboriginal Narratives and Poems of New South Wales 1989 anthology short story poetry prose ; Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama -
A Short History of Aboriginal Writing
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , August vol. 2 no. 2 1990; (p. 36-38) -
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , November vol. 4 no. 11 1989; (p. 23)
— Review of Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama
-
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , November vol. 4 no. 11 1989; (p. 23)
— Review of Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama -
Extending the Emotional Range
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Society , November 1989; (p. 48-50)
— Review of Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama -
Tragedies, and Signs of Hope
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 4 November 1989; (p. B4)
— Review of Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama ; Coordah 1989 single work drama ; The Keepers 1989 single work drama ; The Dreamers 1982 single work drama ; Murras 1989 single work drama ; The Cherry Pickers 1968 single work drama -
Aboriginal Writing Strives for a New "Koori" Script
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Spring vol. 4 no. 1 1990; (p. 52-54)
— Review of Doin Wildcat : A Novel Koori Script 1988 single work novel ; The Nearest the White Man Gets : Aboriginal Narratives and Poems of New South Wales 1989 anthology short story poetry prose ; Plays From Black Australia 1989 anthology drama -
"Our Side of the Story": Plays from Black Australia
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Meridian , May vol. 10 no. 1 1991; (p. 64-69) -
A Short History of Aboriginal Writing
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , August vol. 2 no. 2 1990; (p. 36-38) -
Indigenous Stories Told Collectively
BlackWords : Indigenous Stories Told Collectively
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The BlackWords Essays 2015; (p. 5) The BlackWords Essays 2019;In this essay Heiss discusses and explains the important role of anthologies in the creation of communities of writers and in acknowledging, consolidating and launching writing careers.