Introductory activities

An introduction to Australian cultural identity

Provide a definition of culture as: ‘the learned beliefs, values, attitudes, customs, language and knowledge shared by a particular group of people.’

  1. In a class discussion, brainstorm the cultural characteristics of Australia today. Prompt students to diversify beyond sport. What about politics? Religion? Values? Attitudes? Celebrations?
  2. Where do we get our ideas about Australian culture? How are these ideas perpetuated?
  3. What has been the impact of multiculturalism on Australian culture?
  4. What differences are there between rural, regional and urban Australian culture and/or the ways these are perceived?

Follow this preliminary discussion with a research task to explore the context of the play. In pairs or small groups, students are to research and provide a fact sheet for the class to reference regarding the views, values and context of the time period in which the play was written and is set.

Australia in the 1960s

Teachers should feel free to add to this list but the following topics/texts are suggested as central to understanding the context of the play.

  • The Female Eunuch (see also the Reading Australia teaching resource on this text.)
  • Brilliant Creatures, aired by SBS in 2014 and available on ClickView (subscribers only), is well worth obtaining and showing.

(ACELR001)

Introduction to the concepts of ritual and Rabelaisian comedy  

  1. Babakiueria to watch and discuss.
  2. Introduce the concept of comedy whereby something goes wrong and ritual breaks down into farce. Weddings and wedding receptions going wrong have been a rich seam for recent film-makers to explore, from Muriel’s Wedding (1994) to The Wedding Singer (1998), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and The Wedding Ringer (2015). Visit the Internet Movie Database to view trailers and synopses. For homework, ask students to view and compare two trailers for comedic effects. They should write an analysis discussing how the rituals around weddings make for good comedy.

(ACELR002)

Introduction to Modernism and meta-theatre: Bakhtin, Brecht & Beckett

The distinction between Modernism and Postmodernism is a fine one. For an excellent discussion of the differences between the two, teachers should read Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (MUP, 2009).

A good quote to give students from this text is: ‘Modernism is the name given to the movement that dominated the arts and culture of the first half of the twentieth century. Modernism was that earthquake in the arts that brought down much of the structure of pre-twentieth century practice in music, painting, literature and architecture.’ Barry goes on to distinguish between Modernism and Postmodernism largely through the mood of the work: where Modernism is serious and gloomy (e.g. Eliot), Postmodernist work is playful and ironic (e.g. Carey), and so on. By this definition, Hibberd fits more neatly into a Postmodernist category, but the Introduction of the Currency Press edition (2000) identifies him as Modernist, inheriting the tradition of Bakhtin, Brecht and Beckett, all Modernist theorists or playwrights.

Provide students with a synopsis of the ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin, especially his Theory of Carnivale; Brecht’s ideas about audience, “breaking the fourth wall” and non-realistic theatre.

View the trailer for Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen Waiting for Godot as a short introduction to these theatrical conventions. Discuss ways in which non-realistic dramatic conventions are evident and how this represents an “earthquake” in the traditional dramatic form.

For homework, set as reading the Introduction written by Paul McGillick to Jack Hibberd: Selected Plays with the following questions for which students should record paragraph answers:

  • In what ways can Dimboola be identified as a Modernist work?
  • What influences were at work on Hibberd when he wrote the play?
  • Why was Dimboola such a popular play to perform? Why does it still resonate with audiences?
  • What does it mean to say “Laughter is a defence”? Do you agree? Explain your answer.

(ACELR001)   (ACELR002)   (ACELR003)

 

Personal response on reading the text

Whose side are you on?

After reading the play, but before deep analysis, have students identify with one of the four groups of the play. Divide the room into four corners: each of the two families, the uninvited guests or Leonardo Radish. Alternatively, is there a gender divide? Ask students to move to the appropriate side/corner. Each group represents either a clan or a culture clash. Ask representatives from the resulting groups to explain their choices. Follow up with some journal writing – 300 words on the topic: “With whom is the student most sympathetic and why?”. An interesting counter argument might be to discuss whom they find most unsympathetic and why.
(ACELR006)

Responding to McGillick

In his Introduction, McGillick asserts that “Hibberd’s work, then as now, is simultaneously a critique and a comic celebration of Australia.” For homework, have students write in response to this, encouraging a developed piece of at least 300 words. Does Dimboola both critique and celebrate Australia? In what ways? Have students share responses either in class discussion or on a class wiki.
(ACELR004)

 

Outline of key elements of the text

Reading the play

Cast the play and use the rest of the class as the interactive audience, if possible. Reading the play aloud will clarify character and action; a short one-act play should not take more than a lesson or two to read straight through. Students should annotate their texts as they read for central concerns/themes, character and dramatic conventions. Initially, the teacher can take an active directing role, but as quickly as possible students should take the lead with directing ideas and movement. If necessary, assign a director for each reading but ideally, in a small group, the students should be able to generate such ideas.
(ACELR005)   (ACELR006)   (ACELR007)   (ACELR008)

Characters

A useful initial exercise soon after reading the play is to cast it using actors they know. Encourage students to look for Australian actors first; if they choose international actors, they must be able to justify their choice from the actor’s repertoire of roles. To extend this task, students can write thumbnail character sketches to accompany the casting choice.
(ACELR006)

 

Synthesising task

Ask students to write Director’s Notes for a key section of the play (the opening; the end; the arrival of Leonardo Radish; another passage of their choice). These should include ideas for costuming, set, music and lighting as well as actors’ tone/movement in order to bring out the central concerns of the play for an audience. How would they use dramatic conventions to engage an audience?
(ACELR011)   (ACELR012)   (ACELR013)   (ACELR014)