The concept for Basically Black evolved not long after Bob Maza arrived in Sydney to undertake an apprenticeship program for directors and actors with the Nimrod Theatre Company. The revue was a biting satire, continuing the response to the High Court ruling against a traditional claim to land ownership, in addition to highlighting white attitudes towards the Aborigines over the past 200 years.
Basically Black
1973
(Manuscript version)x401397
Z1180920
1973
single work
film/TV
satire
The first Aboriginal television show produced and broadcast by the ABC, Basically Black comprised a series of comic/tragic sketches based on the 1972 Nimrod Street Theatre revue. The television adaptation was heavily censored and politically 'watered-down' by the ABC, to make it less confronting and controversial
One of the characters written into the revue is Lionel Mouse who fights racism as 'Superboong,' a strange visitor from a northern tribe who comes to the city possessing powers far greater than mortal Kooris, faster than a killer boomerang. An incident of racism in a nearby hotel sees Superboong leap into action, but he unfortunately can't do anything, because Aboriginals are barred from entering hotels; he is forced to go off in search of incidents that he can fight (ctd. Casey p. 56). This ironic treatment of the superhero shows that even superheroes will be discriminated against, when he is not allowed in a hotel to change into his costume.
Other sketches include a satiric take on the boxing troupes that plied their trade as part of carnival side shows during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s; the 'Bennelong' sketch, in which Bennelong is presented at a London garden party in beautifully tailored clothes but also in a gilded cage; and a sketch played out between an aggressive white labourer and an Indigenous industrial designer, which ends with the latter being viciously beaten and then arrested for assault.
The script for 'Jack Charles Is Up and Fighting' served as a basis for Basically Black.
The black actors wore white masks ('white-face') whenever taking on white roles.
For its 1972/1973 tour the Black Theatre troupe travelled in a white bus, on the side of which was painted Black Theatre (with Basically Black underneath it). The tour was originally planned to cover all states except Tasmania, but insufficient funding saw it travel only through NSW and Queensland.
According to Bob Maza, the company was invited to present the show at the Innisfail Festival in Queensland. Trusting the assurances of funding, the company set off on tour - visits to missions and reserves considered important as there were a range of human rights issues in that state. The promised funding from the Council for the Arts did not arrive, however, which put enormous pressure on the company's shoe string budget (Message Stick, q.v., 2004).
The final Sydney performance coincided with the famous ALP / Gough Whitlam victory in the 1972 federal election.
1972: Stables Theatre, Sydney; 27 October - 3 December 1972. Producer Nimrod Theatre Company in association with the National Black Theatre Company ; Director Ken Horler.
- Cast: Aileen Corpus, Gary Foley, Rae Marlin, Bob Maza and Bindi Williams.
1972-1973: Queensland regional tour; ca. December 1972 - January 1973. Producer National Black Theatre Co. - Cast as for previous Sydney season.
'For First Nations theatre-maker Glenn Shea, the comedy series Basically Black remains as fresh and radical as when it premiered in 1973. By Kate Holden.'
Creating Frames : Contemporary Indigenous Theatre : 1967-1990
St Lucia
:
University of Queensland Press
,
2004
Z1109707
2004
single work
criticism
From publisher's blurb (back cover): Creating Frames provides the first significant social and cultural history of Indigenous theatre across Australia. As well as using archival sources and national and independent theatre company records, much of this history is drawn from interviews with individuals who have shaped contemporary Indigenous theatre in Australia - including Bob Maza, Jack Charles, Gary Foley, Justine Saunders, Weley Enoch, Ningali, and John Harding...
Creating Frames traces the history of production of texts by Indigenous Australian artists from 1967 to 1997. It includes productions in theatres of texts by Indigenous Australian artists, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, and adaptations of texts by Indigenous artists. The focus is public urban commercial productions and includes national and international premieres and tours. 'Commercial' is used here in the sense of public presentations open to any potential audience member as distinct from closed community productions. The focus does not include radio plays, millennia of traditional practices, performances devised and performed within communities, or community outreach/education theatre initiatives such as HeatWorks in the Kimberley. Even within these limits the constraints of space have affected the number of productions that can be covered in detail.
Throughout this thirty year period, particular themes recur, these themes relate to the ways in which the external framing of the work either facilitates or blocks production. These themes often relate directly or indirectly to concepts of 'authenticity' and/or 'Aboriginality' - in effect the 'acceptable' face of Aboriginality within government and social narratives at any point in time. The strength and power of these themes as frames for the work has drawn on generally accepted understandings of Australian history and the ways in which these are manipulated in the service of political agendas. These frames fall into three main categories within the thirty year period - assimilation, multiculturalism and reconciliation. This production history reveals that, rather than Euro-Australian theatre practitioners creating an environment that enabled Indigenous theatre practice, Indigenous artists have taken their own initiative. An initiative they continue to take whilst simultaneously contesting the primarily external frames that define their work and affect their production possibilities.
(Abstract courtesy the author.)
Creating Frames : Contemporary Indigenous Theatre : 1967-1990
St Lucia
:
University of Queensland Press
,
2004
Z1109707
2004
single work
criticism
From publisher's blurb (back cover): Creating Frames provides the first significant social and cultural history of Indigenous theatre across Australia. As well as using archival sources and national and independent theatre company records, much of this history is drawn from interviews with individuals who have shaped contemporary Indigenous theatre in Australia - including Bob Maza, Jack Charles, Gary Foley, Justine Saunders, Weley Enoch, Ningali, and John Harding...
Creating Frames traces the history of production of texts by Indigenous Australian artists from 1967 to 1997. It includes productions in theatres of texts by Indigenous Australian artists, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, and adaptations of texts by Indigenous artists. The focus is public urban commercial productions and includes national and international premieres and tours. 'Commercial' is used here in the sense of public presentations open to any potential audience member as distinct from closed community productions. The focus does not include radio plays, millennia of traditional practices, performances devised and performed within communities, or community outreach/education theatre initiatives such as HeatWorks in the Kimberley. Even within these limits the constraints of space have affected the number of productions that can be covered in detail.
Throughout this thirty year period, particular themes recur, these themes relate to the ways in which the external framing of the work either facilitates or blocks production. These themes often relate directly or indirectly to concepts of 'authenticity' and/or 'Aboriginality' - in effect the 'acceptable' face of Aboriginality within government and social narratives at any point in time. The strength and power of these themes as frames for the work has drawn on generally accepted understandings of Australian history and the ways in which these are manipulated in the service of political agendas. These frames fall into three main categories within the thirty year period - assimilation, multiculturalism and reconciliation. This production history reveals that, rather than Euro-Australian theatre practitioners creating an environment that enabled Indigenous theatre practice, Indigenous artists have taken their own initiative. An initiative they continue to take whilst simultaneously contesting the primarily external frames that define their work and affect their production possibilities.
(Abstract courtesy the author.)
'For First Nations theatre-maker Glenn Shea, the comedy series Basically Black remains as fresh and radical as when it premiered in 1973. By Kate Holden.'
