Theatre and Australia

How has Australia developed, culturally? What is the relationship between European theatre and Aboriginal performance? How do the concepts of memory, space, and love intersect and inform all Australian drama?
Theatre and Australia is a stark look at the signal contradictions that make up the nation’s sense of self. Exploring how race, gender, and community have influenced Australia’s cultural development, this book reveals the history of Australian theatre as a tussle with questions of identity that can neither be entirely repudiated nor fully resolved.
This concise study traverses the narrative of Australian theatre since white settlement, examining some of the main plays and performances of the last 230 years, and illuminating the relationship between European, non-Indigenous, and First Nations drama.

Julian Meyrick is Professor of Creative Arts at Griffith University. He is a theatre historian and cultural policy analyst, as well as an award-winning theatre director. Previously he was Associate Director and Literary Advisor at Melbourne Theatre Company, where he was responsible for establishing Hard Lines, a new play development program. Professor Meyrick has published widely on the Australian theatre, culture, and cultural policy, including over 90 articles for The Conversation. He was a founder member and Deputy Chair of PlayWriting Australia, and a member of the federal government’s Creative Australia Advisory Group. His book, Australia in 50 Plays, was published in 2022.