Cirrus@Austlit

Examines the contemporary situation and development of the musical theatre genre in Australia, arguing that it is in crisis for the want of decent funding and serious attention, despite the recent successes of the two shows The Boy from Oz and Shout!.

Examines the successful production of the play which 'reveals the mode of feminist politics ... acceptable for high-profile theatre companies' (44). Although the play 'provides a generally well-received alternative to the phallocentric formula of the singular male protagonist within the conventional linear narrative', the author argues that perhaps Evans 'does not go far enough in critiquing patriarchal constructions' (55).

In examining two of the most significant plays in white Australian and indigenous Australian theatre history, the author argues that 'The Doll's allegorising of the nation relies upon racialised amnesia nd nostalgia that revolves around the ideal of whiteness and the possession of an imaginary homeland', whereas in Davis's play 'sugar focuses a post-colonial strategy of translation' (58).