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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Queensland has been the scene of some remarkable, even notorious political events over the past twenty-five years or more. In that time a number of exciting theatre artists and companies have developed their philosophies and methodologies in this charged environment.
Challenging the Centre represents the first attempt to capture some of these significant artistic endeavours which have occurred over the period 1974 to 1994. This book focuses on three key political and community theatre companies and places their works in a national and international context.
The Popular Theatre Troupe had its origins in the early 1970s and was associated with a style of theatre which took political and social issues beyond the confines of traditional theatre spaces to industrial worksites, schools and to regional communities throughout Australia in a concerted attempt to offer an alternative analysis of the times.
Order By Numbers existed briefly but burned brightly with passion and indignation. Their history captured the anger and frustration of life under a repressive political regime.
Street Arts Community Theatre Company's work spans the 1980s and into the nineties and represents a radically different approach to the role of a socially relevant theatre company. Street Arts pursued a broader developmental approach to theatre in a community context and has made a significant contribution to community cultural development in Australia'
Source: Challenging the Centre (back cover)
Notes
-
The original 1995 publication of Challenging the Centre credited the author of A Few Short Wicks in Paradise to Hugh Watson. An Erratum was later inserted into page 258 identifying the author as Order by Numbers.
Contents
- Introduction, single work essay (p. 8-10)
- The Popular Theatre Troupe and Street Arts : Two Paradigms of Political Activism, single work essay (p. 13-33) Section: Part One - Populat Theatre Troupe and Street Arts
- The History of the Popular Theatre Troupe, single work criticism (p. 37-60) Section: Part Two - Popular Theatre Troupe
- A Chronology of the Popular Theatre Troupe : 1974-1983, single work criticism (p. 61-87) Section: Part Two - Popular Theatre Troupe
-
Order By Numbers, Teatro Unidad Y Liberacion and The New Actors Company,
single work
criticism
Order By Numbers was a collective of theatre workers that put on three shows during 1985 and 1986. Teatro Unidad y Liberacion was a bilingual Spanish/English performance group active in 1987. Both groups had a number of members in common, and both were also 'administered under an incorporated body called The New Actors Company.
Hugh Watson and Penny Glass provide insight into all three companies. The chapter also includes excerpts from a 1994 account of Order By Numbers and The New Actors Company written by Kerry O'Rourke.
- Street Arts : A History, single work criticism (p. 99-158) Section: Part Four - Streets Community Theatre Company
-
'All 4114 All' : Writing for Street Arts in Logan City,
single work
essay
Hugh Watson provides insight into the nature of writing for community theatre.
- From Prison to Performance : 'Out of the Blue', single work essay (p. 171-177) Section: Part Four - Street Arts Community Theatre Company
-
The White Man's Mission,
Popular Theatre Troupe
,
single work
musical theatre
'The White man's Mission was a musical entertainment using the metaphor of rousing revivalist meeting to present episodes in the history of Australia and the South Pacific. Racism, slavery and exploitation were examined in a bitterly humorous documentary about the fate of Aborigines after the arrival of the white man on the continent, and the fate of the 50,00 descendants of the South Sea Islanders still living in Australia today' (Errol O'Neill. Challenging the Centre, p.63).
- Fallout and Follow Me, single work drama (p. 213-228) Section: (Section: Part Five - Scripts )
-
It's M.A.D.,
Popular Theatre Troupe
,
single work
drama
'A 55 minute show about the history and present threat of nuclear war and the evils of militarism. Set in the metaphor of an insane asylum, the actors played a series of terrifying characters which arose out of their "MADness"...The military-industrial complex was analysed and, towards the end of the show, all pretence at satire was quite purposely dropped for a dramatic monologue based on extracts from Wilfred Burchett's post-Hiroshima journalism and from the book on Hiroshima by J. Hersey.'
Source: Errol O'Neill, 'A Chronology of the Popular Theatre Troupe : 1974-1983,' p.81.
- A Few Short Wicks in Paradise, Order By Numbers , single work drama (p. 259-283)
- Raise the Roof, Street Arts Community Theatre Company , single work musical theatre (p. 284-320)
- Out of the Blue, single work musical theatre (p. 321-368)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 30 1997; (p. 154-156)
— Review of Challenging the Centre : Two Decades of Political Theatre : The Work of the Popular Theatre Troupe, Order By Numbers and Street Arts Community Theatre 1995 selected work drama
-
Untitled
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 30 1997; (p. 154-156)
— Review of Challenging the Centre : Two Decades of Political Theatre : The Work of the Popular Theatre Troupe, Order By Numbers and Street Arts Community Theatre 1995 selected work drama