Drama Essay Essay

Drama and airfield in their content and carriage reflect the guild from which they spring To what extent is this true up of contemporaneous Australian dramatic art serve?Theatre is a direct reflection of life and society. Any account book is written, including their themes and genre, in the attempt to draw on and display our surrounding cosmos to ultimately impact hearings. Our unit of drama including mat Camerons cerise Moon and Jane Harrisons Stolen does exactly this, but to a greater extent specifically reflects on contemporary Australian culture and events. This combined with our experiential learning make for up that theatre indeed is a mirror to society.Ruby Moons depiction of suburbia and its dark underbelly that lurks beneath an idyllic, picture-perfect veneer serves as the main content of the play and a powerful comment on Australian society. Growing up in suburban Melbourne, playwright Matt Cameron reflects his childhood experiences by means of and through con temporary theatre. This involves an abandonment of genre sectionalisationification through a deliberate variety of manners, creating dramatic tension and stimulating audience. Non- reality, the fractured queen mole rat tale, absurdism, horror, gothic, crime, humour, vaudeville and surrealism all combine to create ambiguity and therefore temporary tension. In addition, Ruby Moon is typically non-realist and non- traditionalistic, and this ambiguity is evident in the unresolved ending of Rubys existence was there a child, Ray?or are we just having the same nightmare? go forth the audience with more questions than answers opts out of the traditional resolution and preferably mirrors the confronting complexities of contemporary Australian society, we are not the lucky or perfect country, rather as Cameron quotes a picture-perfect veneer, a paradox that the seemingly suburban proximity that defines Australia does not equal intimacy, fraternity, community. This is especially evident through experiential learning, the pair undertaking the final scenes tended towards Realism and believable Stanislavsky styled acting, which for audiences, conflicted against Camerons covert target of ambiguity.However, the opening scenesperformed in our class took the opposite roach out Brechtian in style, especially in the stripped back homophilener of set two chairs were the only props used, and alienation of audience through lighter and variation in pace and volume. Supporting this was the mixture of styles between heightened realism and absurdism contrasted within constituent Ray was played as the straight man, realist and serious in nature, responding and contrasting to Dulcies eccentric, loud and absurdist representation. This only heightens her unpredictability, presenting the pastiche of genre and style through character and the ambiguity beneath the suburban faade.Lighting again featured as a major theatre proficiency in my protest performance of Ruby Moon. To co nsolidate for the boisterous white lights of our theatre space, we made the choice to turn off household lights using swarthiness and a warm-yellow glow lamp. This provided a non-realist, eerie and ungratified atmosphere, with up-lighting on our faces a stereotypical horror visual to highlight the multi-facets of our characters personas and emphasis on the sinister undertones in the surrounding darkness. The frighten atmosphere heightened the intimacy of the actor-audience relationship as viewers themselves were enveloped in darkness and focus drawn to the only light source on spirit level. This as well presented Brechts alienation technique through uncertainty and discomfort instilled into the apprehension of the fear of the unknown within darkness.This certainly juxtaposes the idyllic and conventional nature of suburbia lights always on inside inviting and nothing to hide, reflecting Camerons ideals of theatre and Australian society that is the ingenious deceit of suburbia it is as a lot about the surrounding darkness as it is about the light. Stolen, whilst still in the realm of contemporary Australian theatre and non-realism, differs in its theatrical content, style and reflection of society. The theatre piece reflects a vital part in both our past and present Australian society that of the Stolen Generation, dramatising the fear, agony and ongoing aftermath even in contemporary times. The style is far more overt than Camerons world of deceit Harrison stresses the themes of identity, culture, hope and emotions of this event in a post-modern, extensive mix of performance styles and a non-linear narrative coordinate.This periodic sequence allows for a merging of past and present, and was carried through in our own experientiallearning. When witnessing the performances of Stolen, it is clear the focus both groups put on emotion, non-linear structure and effective use of props to convey style and content. For example, the use of a white sheet and spo tlight to create silhouettes for storytelling was a powerful composition and use of a theatrical prop to not only depict the non-realist and narrative style of Stolen, but to enhance the content of family and fear. Dual scenes were at the same time presented one in dialogue, and the other in silhouetted visuals that emphasised and emotionalised the horrors of our Australian past. As Harrison quotes What I emergencyed was to make an emotional connectionI want them to think that happened to people. How would I feel?The play also incorporates elements of Brechts good luck of the fourth wall and Realism in both the scripted and our class performance of the final scene. As the original scripts stage directions dictate they line up diagonallyjust like in the first scene. Then the actors break out of their roles and talk in turn about their own experiences. The original production in 1998 did just this in relation to indigenous actors and their role in the stolen generation. However, for our class performance, students emulated the directions through their experiences in workshopping, characters, researching and performing Stolen.This simple, stripped back and realist Brechtian ending was the perfect theatrical technique and choice to reflect the plays content and importance of personal connection and emotion, adding and a contemporary spin on Australian theatre. As an audience member, it was fantastically powerful hearing actors talk unscripted and bring a true sense of realism and conviction when recounting their own experience strengthen the actor-audience relationship through understanding and empathy. One can only imagine the immense power of individuals exposed to the stolen generation and Australias dark past, and their re-telling of stories as actors on stage in Stolen. Witnessing our class performances, it was clear Harrisons intent of emotional connection with the audience and an empowered empathy towards the story and our own traditional and contempo rary society.Theatre is simply a mirror to our society a reflection of our past wrongs and future endeavours with the aim of social comment and audience engagement. Both Camerons Ruby Moon and Harrisons Stolen addresscontemporary Australian society content whether it is the warped world of suburbia or our countrys mistakes, both employ dramatic and theatrical techniques and style to reflect this and strengthen the actor-audience relationship. As Matt Cameron quotes, theatre exists in the imaging of the beholderit is not necessarily about the black hat. It is about the contrivance man in the dark room looking for it.