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Black and Tran single work   drama   humour   satire  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 Black and Tran
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Production Details

  • Devised for and first performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2000.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2000
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Works about this Work

Black and Tran Hung Le , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Voice , 5 June - 10 July vol. 7 no. 6 2011; (p. 5)
Ethnic Comedy in Contemporary Australia Jessica Milner Davis , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 41 no. 3 2009; (p. 20-22) 'Having a good sense of humour' is something most societies and cultures pride themselves upon. But in Australia, joking of all kinds can be targeted at all social levels and while witty is good, crude will also pass. For Australians, using (or at least tolerating) humour is not so much permitted, as compulsory. Our national identity is almost synonymous with the right to take the mickey (aka - take the piss - a cruder, older form of the expression, now acceptable again). Our culture deploys humour as a weapon to identify those who are truly 'at home', in the land and the society. Thus it's not so much the nature of the humour we use as how we use it that indicates our 'Australian-ness'.
Black and Tran : A Comedy that Laughs in the Face of Racism? Helena Grehan , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 42 2003; (p. 112-122) '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)
y separately published work icon United by the Sweep of a Tarnished Brush Yuanfang Shen , Penny Edwards , Canberra : Australian National University , 2000 Z939967 2000 single work essay

Briefly outlining white Australians' attitudes to Chinese settlers in Australia, the authors note the often close relationships between Chinese and Aboriginal people, the effect of the land rights movement in motivating people of mixed race to identify as Aborigines, and the trend to increased recognition of dual and multiple ancestries.
Black and Tran : A Comedy that Laughs in the Face of Racism? Helena Grehan , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 42 2003; (p. 112-122) '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)
Ethnic Comedy in Contemporary Australia Jessica Milner Davis , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 41 no. 3 2009; (p. 20-22) 'Having a good sense of humour' is something most societies and cultures pride themselves upon. But in Australia, joking of all kinds can be targeted at all social levels and while witty is good, crude will also pass. For Australians, using (or at least tolerating) humour is not so much permitted, as compulsory. Our national identity is almost synonymous with the right to take the mickey (aka - take the piss - a cruder, older form of the expression, now acceptable again). Our culture deploys humour as a weapon to identify those who are truly 'at home', in the land and the society. Thus it's not so much the nature of the humour we use as how we use it that indicates our 'Australian-ness'.
Black and Tran Hung Le , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Voice , 5 June - 10 July vol. 7 no. 6 2011; (p. 5)
y separately published work icon United by the Sweep of a Tarnished Brush Yuanfang Shen , Penny Edwards , Canberra : Australian National University , 2000 Z939967 2000 single work essay

Briefly outlining white Australians' attitudes to Chinese settlers in Australia, the authors note the often close relationships between Chinese and Aboriginal people, the effect of the land rights movement in motivating people of mixed race to identify as Aborigines, and the trend to increased recognition of dual and multiple ancestries.
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Last amended 21 Oct 2009 13:36:27
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