7 More Noteworthy Aboriginal Plays

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In this editorial, we continue the recognition of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day (August 4th) and International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (August 9th) by highlighting seven more noteworthy plays by Aboriginal playwrights or created in collaboration with Aboriginal people. These plays not only showcase the immense talent of Indigenous playwrights but also address important themes such as colonisation, struggle for decent housing and education, community acceptance, familial bonds, death, and identity.

1. ‘Rainbow’s End’ by Jane Harrison

Set in the 1950s on the fringe of a country town, ‘Rainbow’s End’ is a thought-provoking and emotionally powerful snapshot of a Koori family that dramatizes their struggle for decent housing, meaningful education, jobs, and community acceptance.

2. ‘The Dreamers’ by Jack Davis

Jack Davis gives a painful insight into the process of colonization and the transformation of his people in ‘The Dreamers’. It is the story of a country-town family and old Uncle Worru, who in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit in him, which has survived ‘civilization’.

3. ‘Dogged’ by Andrea James and Catherine Ryan

‘Dogged’ is a story of familial bonds unfolding on the lands of alpine Victoria, on Gunaikurnai country. It portrays the struggle of a farmer’s daughter facing the foreclosure of her family’s property and a mother dingo searching desperately for her lost pups. It is a work of sheer Australian Gothic.

Source: ABC iView

4. ‘Brothers Wreck’ by Jada Alberts

‘Brothers Wreck’ is about a family holding itself together amidst constant tragedy. It begins with a death and explores how the family deals with it while bringing one of its members back from the edge. It questions how many other people does it take for each of us to live.

5. ‘At What Cost?’ by Nathan Maynard

‘At What Cost?’ addresses a very contemporary Australian issue, questioning the legitimacy of people claiming to be palawa and the responsibilities towards Land and People. It takes everyone back into the island’s knotty past to move forward together.

6. ‘Jacky’ by Declan Furber Gillick

‘Jacky’ portrays the challenges faced by a young blackfella in the big city, negotiating the gig economy and managing different aspects of his life when his unemployable little brother comes to town. It is a debut by Declan Furber Gillick with the Melbourne Theatre Company.

7. ‘Cursed!’ by Kodie Bedford

In ‘Cursed!’, Kodie Bedford provides a loving and hilarious ode to growing up in a family affected by mental illness. Set on the windswept edge of Western Australia, it is an outrageously witty deathbed reunion scene of epic proportions. Bernadette wonders if she will be the only one left with the capacity to hold this disparate family together. Or the madness to try. Winner of Best Stage Play and the Major AWGIE at the 2021 Australian Writers’ Guild Awards.

For more contemporary Indigenous Australian plays, visit CurrencyPress or to find out more about this special day visit Aboriginal Children’s Day.