Cirrus@Austlit

'This article seeks to ask whether the comedy Black & Tran, which ewas framed and marketed as a comedy that would raise issues about racism and representation, failed to intervene in the very debates that it proposed to address. These debates concerning issues of culture, belonging and identity are crucial both within the Australian context and more broadly at a time of such serious global instability. While the intentions of the performers/creators were to challenge the status quo and broaden the parameters of discussion, I believe that the use of particular comic strategies ... all worked to dilute the political power of Black & Tran and resulted in an evening of slapstick entertainment rather than one of biting satire.' (112)