Telling Stories: Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander Performance

Description

Since the late eighteenth century, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiated performances have been an important part of cross-cultural communication in Australia. Over those years, at different points, these performances have achieved high public profile and then subsequently been erased from the social memory.

This book investigates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander historical practices for performances for entertainment; how they adapted to colonisation and how these performance practices extend contemporary theatre.

Based on interviews and detailed examinations of shows, this book sets out to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performance in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries within the context of their historical performance practices for entertainment.

2 July 2014: Telling Stories was the co-winner of the Rob Jordan Prize – the Australasian Association for the study of Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies award for the best book of drama, theatre and performance studies