Manuwald, Gesine;
(2011)
Plautus in Twenty-First-Century Australia: Does the Roman
Playwright Still Influence People’s Identity?
Helios
, 38
(2)
pp. 207-220.
10.1353/hel.2011.0012.
Preview |
Text
Manuwald_112216_i-ii_001-116_r1nj_amended.pdf Download (316kB) | Preview |
Abstract
The Australian dramatist David Williamson (b. 1942) is regarded today as one of Australia’s most successful and influential living playwrights and screenwriters.1 Over the course of his long and varied career, this reputation has been based not in the least on the fact that he became known for dramatizing contemporary subjects and discussing topics that are central to Australian society,2 the most obvious example being his play about an Australian election in 1969, written immediately afterwards (Don’s Party; performed 1971, published 1973). This choice of topics agrees with his general aim to create an independent and creative Australian theatre.3 Accordingly Williamson stated in an interview in 1988: I have never seen myself as writing for a world market. From the very earliest days I was writing Australian plays for Australian people. Australian playwrights before me, who were consciously writing for a world market, would not put any local references in, would not put any place names in. They would either locate their plays in hypothetical lands that didn’t have place names or in other countries. We’ve had a tradition of that sort of writing, but I’ve always seen myself as an observer of the life around me and reflecting that life. If the writing is good enough and does travel to other cultures I am delighted, but the writing is not predicated with that ambition. Someone said, of all the art forms, drama is the most parochial. It really is rooted in its particular tribe. The very best of that tribal writing transcends the boundaries of that tribe.” (Quoted from Willbanks 1988, 105)4
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Plautus in Twenty-First-Century Australia: Does the Roman Playwright Still Influence People’s Identity? |
| Location: | US |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1353/hel.2011.0012 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1353/hel.2011.0012 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Greek and Latin UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10155724 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
