AustLit
Issue Details:
First known date:
2013...
vol.
56
no.
1
Spring
2013
of
Modern Drama
est. 1958
Modern Drama
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
Contents
* Contents derived from the 2013 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
-
To Witness Mimesis : The Politics Ethics and Aesthetics of Testimonial Theatre in Through the Wire,
single work
criticism
'This paper examines an Australian 'verbatim play' about asylum seekers, Through the Wire, in order to consider the relationship between realism and witnessing in the theatre. It argues that verbatim or testimonial theatre is better understood as a form of realism than as a form of documentary theatre, as is usually the case. Current scholarship in both theatre and trauma studies criticizes realist approaches principally on ethical grounds, without necessarily accounting for a play's political effects. Through an analysis of Through the Wire's production and reception, I suggest that, while testimonial theatre may be ethically problematic, it can also be politically efficacious, precisely because of its realist aesthetics.' (Author's abstract)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 11 Jun 2013 14:19:53