Australian Drama.
Australian playwrights use the stage as a mirror to reflect the social and personal insecurities of their time.
Discuss this statement with reference to your study and experience of two of the plays set for study.
Through my involvements in work shopping and observations in watching films, live performances and real footage of the Australian plays, ‘Ruby Moon’ by Matt Cameron and ‘A Beautiful Life’ by Michael Futcher and Helen Howard, I have recognized that Australian playwrights use the stage as a mirror to reflect the social and personal insecurities of their time. The playwrights have presented this through the use of dramatic techniques, elements, performance styles and conventions.
While performing and observing professional actors as well as my classmates perform the plays RM and ABL, I could clearly the various issues, which reflect the social and personal insecurities, which occur today in Australia, being presented in both plays. Matt Cameron wrote his play, RM due to Australia’s obsession with missing children. From my workshop experiences of RM and research of disappearances, I perceived the similarities between Ruby Moon and the missing children such as, Madeline McCann, the Beaumont Children and one in particular, Daniel Morcombe, the 13 year old boy who disappeared the same year RM was published. Due to these disappearances, which have occurred, Australians now have become more cautious towards strangers and neighbors near their children, which have lead to Suburban paranoia. The play ABL portrays the issues based on Australia’s attitude towards refugees. The debate whether Australians should accept refugees or not has been discussed for numerous years and was discussed while this play was written. A clear example of this issue is the Child Overboard Scandal, which took place in Australia in 2001. The Liberal Government caused this scandal, which then created fear among Australians all around the country towards...