Australia in 50 Plays is Julian Meyrick's lively and accessible account of the remarkable relationship between our national drama and our national life, examining fifty outstanding plays of diverse content and style that have appeared in the 120 years since Federation.
Energetic, entertaining and original, Meyrick shows the key contribution drama has made to the development of modern Australia through its role in the major issues of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: the impact of two world wars, the ravages of the Great Depression, the changing role of women, the gradual acknowledgement of First Nation's culture, the social liberation of the 1970s, and the economic rationalism of the 1990s.
It argues for an expansive idea of 'nationhood' as a key driver of debate in the political, social and cultural challenges that face contemporary Australia, while exploring the surprising links between our drama, our history and our collective life.
'A brilliant study of the complex ways in which drama reflects, analyses and shapes a nation's experience and sense of itself. This is a highly original book, full of insight, generosity and understanding. It serves as a passionate tribute to the many creative artists who have made the Australian theatre what it is' —John McCallum
Watch: Julian Meyrick interviewed by Justin Macdonell — https://vimeo.com/698590214
JULIAN MEYRICK is the Strategic Professor of Creative Arts at Flinders University, and until recently Associate Director and Literary Advisor at Melbourne Theatre Company. He has directed many award-winning productions for MTC, STC, SASTC, the Griffin, MWT and his own Kickhouse Theatre. His work for MTC includes Blue Orange (nominated for three 2002 Green Room Awards), Frozen, Memory of Water (nominated for two Green Room Awards), Dinner (nominated for four Green Room Awards and a Helpmann Award), Cruel and Tender, A Single Act, The Ghost Writer, Enlightenment, Thom Pain, The Birthday Party, and Tribes. For STC, he has directed The Snow Queen, Doubt (nominated for four 2006 Green Room Awards) and The Vertical Hour. For Griffin, Julian directed October, Lady Grey and Angela’s Kitchen. Other credits include many new Australian works such as Luke Devenish’s Grace Among the Christians, St. Rose of Lima, Fun and Games with the Oresteia and Jane Bodie’s Hinterland. He directed Fever and the inaugural production of Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? for the Melbourne Workers Theatre and won the 1998 Green Room Award for Best Director on the Fringe. In 2017 he also directed The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno at Red Stitch to glowing reviews. He was responsible for expanding the Affiliate Writers Scheme at MTC and for initiating the Hard Lines new play program. He is Deputy Chair of Play Writing Australia, a member of the Federal Government’s Creative Australia Advisory Group, and an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. As a theatre historian, he has published an account of Nimrod Theatre, See How It Runs (2003), a history of MTC, The Drama Continues, a Currency House Platform Paper, Trapped by the Past, and academic articles on post-War Australian theatre, the theory-practice nexus, and contemporary dramaturgy.
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| Extent | 352 |
| Edition | First |
| Size | 230 x 150mm |
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