'The opening image of this Special Issue of the Australasian Drama Studies journal comes from The Vultures, a contemporary Indigenous satire written and directed by Tawata Productions’ Mīria George (Te Arawa; Ngati Awa; Rarotonga and Atiu, Cook Islands), and staged at Wellington’s BATS theatre as part of the Kia Mau Festival in 2017. The Vultures plays around with the politics of place; of native ecologies versus the National Economy; of the negotiation of Indigenous identities between town and country; of the rejection of the passive ‘Ecological Indigene’ trope; and of the literal ways we trace our whakapapa (lineage) to the landscapes of our ancestors. It envisions an Indigenous Aristocracy, dominated by an internally conflicted whānau (family) of exceptional Māori wāhine (women), engaged in power struggles for wealth and control of a new Empire. The central conflict in this narrative conflates the whakataukī (proverb) about the causes of war: He wāhine, he whenua, ka ngaro te tangata – often translated as ‘For women and land, men perish’ – where the battle over a contested territory is fought by resistant Indigenous women, on their own behalf. This image speaks to an intrinsic premise behind this long-awaited Special Issue: that Indigenous voices are diverse, rich and complex. There is no such thing as a typical Indigenous play.' (Hyland, Nicola; Syron, Liza-Mare and Casey, Maryrose. 'Turangawaewae': A place to stand in contemporary indigenous performance in Australasia and beyond 1-16)
Contents indexed selectively.
'For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theatre-makers, modern theatrical methods offer a valuable tool to educate members of our community about the prevalent health issues that we currently face. My involvement in one such project, Viral: Are You the Cure?, produced by the Melbourne-based Ilbijerri Theatre Company, allowed me to explore more deeply this type of theatre-making. Through participant observation using Shawn Wilson’s Indigenous research paradigm, examining the work with regards to Schechner and Turner’s considerations around ritual, and exploring several historical parallels, I argue that such forms of educational health theatre represent a contemporary manifestation of healing ritual and ceremony.' (Publication abstract)
'A major consideration in touring a First Nations performing arts production is how to engage with local indigenous communities on whose country someone else’s story is being told. Engagement strategies have often failed due to a systemic lack of direct consultation with and participation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the development of community engagement programmes and activities.
'Through a case study of the Indigenous Community Engagement initiative implemented by Performing Lines, an Australian producing and touring organisation, the concept of community engagement for touring on country is reimagined as one based on a responsive rather than a prescriptive approach, and on self-determined and Indigenous-led frameworks. The case study highlights the cultural responsibilities and challenges of presenting First Nations performance on country, the key considerations around connecting and engaging with local Indigenous communities, and the need to build awareness, protocols and culturally safe spaces with performing arts centres.
'The only one of its kind in the performing arts in Australia, this initiative showcases the potential to revolutionise the way in which engagement with Indigenous communities is delivered across the performing arts sector as a whole.' (Publication abstract)
'This article considers an international model of cultural arts exchange developed by Aboriginal, Māori and First Nations theatre-makers, and examines the process of negotiation, articulation and translation of cultural differences in the process of rehearsing new Aboriginal work. I would like to thank all the theatre-makers who are involved in this ground-breaking initiative and I credit all in the body of the article.' (Publication abstract)
'This article explores the performative configuration and staging of a Western Aranda ‘place to stand’ in the inter-culturally produced biographical play Namatjira (2010–13; written by Scott Rankin with and for the Namatjira Family). The author leverages her comprehensive insight into the play’s devising and production processes, garnered from extended co-locations and touring with the producing company Big hART. She explores how both verbal and visual expression combine in the play to articulate a culturally coded Western Aranda worldview, ontology (theory of being-in-the-world) and identity. The critical elucidation of the postmodern frameworks that dominate the written script is juxtaposed with an analysis of the visual aesthetics of the play, which convey a distinctly Western Aranda perspective on Country, place-making and holding. The performative influence of these aesthetics is then illustrated in a comparison of three different stagings of Namatjira: a ‘default’ metropolitan staging; a full-scale open-air production for community on Country in the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct in 2012; and a staged play-reading at Parramatta Riverside Theatres in 2018 that aptly confirmed the significant bearing of visuality on the overall assertion of an Indigenous ‘place to stand’ in Namatjira.' (Publication abstract)
'This article presents the process in creating an arts-based Knowledge Translation piece in an ethical and Culturally appropriate way and identifies a framework that values and supports the transference of Cultural knowledge in the creation of a live performance piece. Titled WOER WAYEPA – The Water Is Rising, this live performance piece encompassed a Torres Strait Island approach to Knowledge Translation where research knowledge complemented Cultural knowledge, and within that, a Saibaian approach to Cultural knowledge transference. This dual approach to Knowledge Translation can assist in communicating and mobilising invaluable research knowledge to Torres Strait Islanders and support the maintenance of Cultural practice.' (Publication abstract)
'In the context of Australian settler colonialism, as Aileen Moreton-Robinson has eloquently argued, possessive claims in relation to Indigenous people are central to the colonial project. Supporting these claims and benefiting from them are notions of belonging in the land. Who is the stranger and who the resident and therefore who has the right to claim the physical space? Across the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Aboriginal performance practices for entertainment were used by both Aboriginal people and white settlers as a way of asserting claims of belonging to the land in the present moment.' (Publication abstract)
'Mid-twentieth-century concert dances by non-Indigenous Australian choreographers frequently appropriated Aboriginal Australians’ image and cultural practices in an imbalanced cultural exchange, and yet dance scholarship construes non-Indigenous Australian-authored ‘Aboriginality’ as respectful veneration of Aboriginal Australia. Through a historiographical review of dance scholarship on Terra Australis (1946) by Edouard Borovansky and Corroboree (1954) by Beth Dean, this article challenges speculation about the non-Indigenous Australian choreographers’ good intentions and the positive outcomes of their pursuit of ‘national identity’ (by way of ‘Aboriginality’). Moreover, the article seeks to unsettle dance scholars’ nationalistic, teleological view of dance history in Australia, which discursively and narratively links non-Indigenous Australian concert dance on Aboriginal Australia to the ‘emergence’ of Indigenous Australian concert dance – from ‘blackface’ to Bangarra Dance Theatre – and lays claim to Indigenous Australian dance practices. The author argues that uncritical dance scholarly discourse on cultural appropriation and racialised representation has a negative impact on Indigenous Australian dancers and choreographers today, because the very concepts of ‘Aboriginality’ and ‘Indigenous Australian concert dance’ are used to further marginalise Indigenous Australians.' (Publication abstract)
