1. Buzo has often said that he does not think of himself primarily as a playwright with a social message for his audience: ‘I am not a social writer in that I’m not just writing about Australia’. What bearing does this view have on your understanding of the aims and themes of
Norm and Ahmed
and
Rooted
?
2. Discuss the character of Bentley in
Rooted. How far would you agree with any of the following comments:
‘The play creates in Bentley a figure of vast compassion.’ (Martin Gottfried, Women’s
Wear Daily, New York, 14 January, 1972)
‘Alexander Buzo sheds no tears for his unheroic hero... He laughs at the man he calls
Bentley.’ (Elliot Norton, Record American, 26 January, 1972)
‘Bentley... is a cardboard silhouette of the “little man”... He is rendered weak, silly and
contemptible... He does not fight back and so fails to win sympathy.’ (Leslie Rees, A
History of Australian Drama, Vol. 2, p. 76)
3. Use the following comments as a starting point for discussion of the characters in
Norm and Ahmed:
‘What struck me... was a moving sense of alienation in both characters.’ (Katharine
Brisbane, Australian, 28 November 1970)
‘Ahmed... nicely balances courtesy and wit.’ (Charles Lewsen, The Times, January 1976)
‘Norm contains just too many contradictory elements and pretences and his racial
prejudice, though it might be real enough in particular Australians... is too southern
American for a portrait that aspires to be strongly representative of the club-going,
sports-loving older Australian working man.’ (Keith Thomas, Nation, 27 April 1968)
4. Discuss the language of Buzo’s plays. How important is language as a theme in
Norm and Ahmed and
Rooted? In what ways does Buzo identify characters by their manner of speaking? What sorts of imaginative patterns does he make out of his characters’ language, and what kinds of humour? How important is the ‘Australian’ content of the characters’ speech?
5. Identify the comic elements in the plays, as you see them. What is their purpose?
6. Is the ending of
Norm and Ahmed effective? How does the play achieve its dramatic force, as something more than a conversation piece? How important is movement and gesture in the play? How important is the setting, and the lighting?