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y separately published work icon Plays From Black Australia anthology   drama  
Alternative title: Coordah, Murras, The Dreamers, The Keepers.
Issue Details: First known date: 1989... 1989 Plays From Black Australia
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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)

Exhibitions

Notes

  • Sound recording and braille edition available.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,:Currency Press , 1989 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Plays From Black Australia : Introduction, Justine Saunders , single work criticism (p. vii-xi)
The Dreamers, Jack Davis , 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)

(p. 1-77)
Note: Includes glossary.
Murras, Eva Johnson , single work drama (p. 79-107)
Note: Includes glossary.
Coordah, Richard Walley , 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.

(p. 109-166)
Note: Includes glossary.
The Keepers, Bob Maza , 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.

(p. 167-229)
Note: Includes glossary.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Indigenous Stories Told Collectively BlackWords : Indigenous Stories Told Collectively Anita Heiss , 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 Geoffrey Milne , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meridian , May vol. 10 no. 1 1991; (p. 64-69)
Aboriginal Writing Strives for a New "Koori" Script Jack Healy , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Spring vol. 4 no. 1 1990; (p. 52-54)

— Review of Doin Wildcat : A Novel Koori Script Mudrooroo , 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 Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama
A Short History of Aboriginal Writing Mudrooroo , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , August vol. 2 no. 2 1990; (p. 36-38)
Untitled David Williams , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , November vol. 4 no. 11 1989; (p. 23)

— Review of Plays From Black Australia Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama
Untitled David Williams , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , November vol. 4 no. 11 1989; (p. 23)

— Review of Plays From Black Australia Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama
Extending the Emotional Range Peter Fitzpatrick , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Society , November 1989; (p. 48-50)

— Review of Plays From Black Australia Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama
Tragedies, and Signs of Hope Veronica Sen , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 4 November 1989; (p. B4)

— Review of Plays From Black Australia Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama ; Coordah Richard Walley , 1989 single work drama ; The Keepers Bob Maza , 1989 single work drama ; The Dreamers Jack Davis , 1982 single work drama ; Murras Eva Johnson , 1989 single work drama ; The Cherry Pickers Kevin Gilbert , 1968 single work drama
Aboriginal Writing Strives for a New "Koori" Script Jack Healy , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Spring vol. 4 no. 1 1990; (p. 52-54)

— Review of Doin Wildcat : A Novel Koori Script Mudrooroo , 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 Jack Davis , Eva Johnson , Richard Walley , Bob Maza , 1989 anthology drama
"Our Side of the Story": Plays from Black Australia Geoffrey Milne , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meridian , May vol. 10 no. 1 1991; (p. 64-69)
A Short History of Aboriginal Writing Mudrooroo , 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 Anita Heiss , 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.

Last amended 9 Oct 2015 13:02:24
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