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Classic-ing on the Australian mainstream stage

The place and phenomenon of classic in Australian mainstream theatre 1995-2016

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Susan McClements Wyss

    1. Biel-Bienne, Switzerland

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  • Analyses how theatre productions create their own kinds of classic status and recognition
  • Artist interviews and archival research form a unique view of Australian theatre practice
  • Explores the effects of settler postcolonial drama within the complex cultural conditions of classic drama

Part of the book series: Szene & Horizont. Theaterwissenschaftliche Studien (STHOTHST, volume 11)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction: The Concept of the Classic

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 1-14

  3. The Classic, Postcolonial Resonance and Australia

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 15-37

  4. Australian Postcolonial Classic: Shakespeare’s Role

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 39-66

  5. An Actor as Classic-er

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 67-103

  6. An Unearthed Classic: The Golden Age

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 105-136

  7. An Instant Classic: The Secret River

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 137-173

  8. Conclusion: The Practice of Classic-ing

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 175-179

  9. Afterword: Performing Classic in Australia from 1788 to 1994

    • Susan McClements Wyss
    Pages 181-199

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 201-210
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Keywords

About this book

This book evaluates classic drama as an active creation. To classic is a complex theatrical practice that animates program choice, casting and staging, audience reception and critical response. Analysis of six distinct examples of pre-determined and self-nominated classic productions on the Australian mainstage is informed by postcolonial theory, specifically the settler dilemma of Indigenous cultural authority. What happens to the political edge of postcolonial aspiration within the status of classic? Close consideration of staging and casting, theatre historical perspectives, and interviews with key artists, expands the concept of classic as a dimension of theatrical and not only of dramatic reception. This book responds to a polarised debate that focused on auteur directors and the relative value of new vs classic plays. Rather than adopting a position, the study undertakes a deeper assessment of the phenomenon and place of the dramatic classic in Australian mainstream theatre.    

Authors and Affiliations

  • Biel-Bienne, Switzerland

    Susan McClements Wyss

About the author

Susan McClements Wyss currently works in Switzerland as a writer, translator, and teacher. She completed her PhD in 2023 at the University of Cologne, Germany and Flinders University, South Australia. Susan moved to Switzerland in 2003, where she completed her MA in Theatre Studies at the University of Bern and worked in various independent arts projects. Before this move, Susan had a long career in Melbourne, Australia as an artistic director, actor, and theatre maker, in marketing and sponsorship development and in public arts funding.

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