Introduction: Performing Cosmopolitics Chapter 1 (Anti-)Cosmopolitan

Notes Introduction: performing cosmopolitics 1 Unattributed feature article, Australian, 16 September 2000, p. 6. 2 Although the riots resulted directly from a series of locally staged tensions revolving around beach territoriality and male youth culture, the anti-Arab sentiments expressed by demonstrators and circulated by the media tapped into a much wider context of racism provoked by Australia’s participation in the US-led anti-terrorism alliance, the bombings of Australian tourists in Bali by Islamic militants, and a high-profile case of the rape of Caucasian girls by a gang of Lebanese youths in 2002. 3 Federal Government of Australia. (1994) Creative Nation: Common- wealth Cultural Policy. <http://www.nla.gov.au/creative.nation/intro.html> (accessed 19 July 2005). 4 The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was the cornerstone of the ‘White Australia Policy’ aimed at excluding all non-European migration. The Act was enforced through the use of a dictation test, similar to the one used in South Africa, which enabled authorities to deny entry to any person who was not able to transcribe a passage dictated in a designated European language. The Act remained in force until 1958. 5 Many Australians who voted ‘no’ in fact supported the idea of a republic but did not agree with the only model offered by the ballot. For detailed analysis of the referendum’s results, see Australian Journal of Political Science, 36:2 (2001). 6 See Veronica Kelly (1998a: 9–10) for a succinct overview of significant studies in contemporary Australian theatre to 1997. More recent additions to this list include Kelly’s edited collection assessing the field’s state of play in the late 1990s (1998b); Helen Gilbert’s study of race, gender and the nation (1998a); Peta Tait’s edited book on physical theatre (2000); Alan Filewod and DavidWatt’sanalysisofworkers’theatreinAustralia,CanadaandBritain(2001); Maryrose Casey’s chronicle of Aboriginal theatre (2004); Geoffrey Milne’s account of industry and funding structures (2004); and Rachel Fensham and Denise Varney’s study of women writers and directors (2005). 7 By contrast, the indigenizing processes analysed are not closely connected with multiculturalism, which has been dominated by the discourse of immigration in ways that effectively sideline the key indigenous issues of land rights and sovereignty. Moreover, cultural policies concerning Aboriginals are typic- ally conceived and administered as separate from designated multicultural programmes. Chapter 1 (Anti-)cosmopolitan encounters 1 Untitled review of Chinese opera at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Melbourne, Argus, 2 November 1860, p. 5. 2 Untitled review of Foiled by W. C. Cooper, Table Talk, 10 January 1896, p. 6. 213 214 Notes 3 In this play, the heroine also makes the claim (unusual for its time) that she would prefer to marry an Aboriginal than her unwelcome suitor and have ‘a man for a husband’ rather than ‘be chained for life to some senseless noodle’ (quoted in Margaret Williams, 1983: 202). 4 A review of The Mikado’s 1885 Australian premiere praises the ‘gorgeous’ costumes and general look of the production, relating it to a growing interest in Japanese cultural artefacts. ‘The Mikado; or the Town of Titipu’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 1885, p. 7. 5 Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales five times between 1872 and 1891, famously declared in 1890 that a federated Australian nation would be united by the ‘crimson thread of kinship’. The phrase soon became the buzzword for the federation movement (McGrath, 2003: 37). 6 Untitled review of White Australia, or the Empty North by Randolph Bedford, Bulletin, 1 July 1909, pp. 8–9. Chapter 2 Indigenizing Australian theatre 1 Although citizenship and voting rights had already been granted to indigenous groups, what was significant about these amendments is that an over- whelming proportion of the population voted in a referendum to approve them, thus symbolically casting aside notions that Aboriginals simply did not count. 2 On the same day in the erstwhile imperial centre, Koori elder Burnum Burnum planted an Aboriginal flag at Dover to symbolically claim Britain for his people. 3 See Gilbert (1998a: 51–95 passim) for a detailed discussion of the ways in which the three plays – The Dreamers (1982), No Sugar (1985) and Barungin (1988) – and Davis’s earlier work, Kullark (1979), engage with the effects of European colonization in Australia. 4 Sidetrack was similarly in the minority of ‘multicultural’ companies to tackle the subject of Aboriginality in ways that complicated the general black–white framework for discussing race-relations between indigenous and non-indigenous communities. Its experimental performance piece, Whispers in the Heart, a self-reflexive take on constructions of black Australians in historical and anthropological discourses, was developed specifically as a bicenten- nial ‘intervention’ by the company’s multiethnic ensemble (see Burvill, 1998). 5 This inquiry was initiated in 1987 to investigate why a disproportionate number of Aboriginals had been dying in police custody and in prisons. Despite some evidence of systematic harassment and abuse by law enforce- ment personnel, no charges were ever laid. The Commission’s final report made numerous recommendations, some of which were implemented, but mortality rates have not significantly improved to date. 6 The Native Title Act did not actually grant land rights, but rather set up mechanisms for dealing with Aboriginal demands for ownership over tradi- tional land and sea resources. In 1998, the Act was subjected to a series of amendments, including a sunset clause, to restrict such claims. 7 Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. (2000) ‘The Council – Charting the Way’, Reconciliation: Australia’s Challenge. <http://138.25.65.50/au/other/ IndigLRes/car/2000/16/text02.htm> (accessed 24 March 2006). Notes 215 8 These include The Sunshine Club (1999), Wesley Enoch and John Rodgers’s musical about mixed-race dance clubs in the 1950s; and Magpie (2005), Richard Frankland and Melissa Reeves’s exploration of black–white contact in urban Australia. 9 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. (1997) Bringing Them Home. <http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/ hreoc/stolen/> (accessed 28 January 2006). 10 Examples include Dallas Winmar’s Aliwa (2000), Tammy Anderson’s I Don’t Wanna Play House (2001) and King Hit by Geoffrey Narkle and David Milroy (1997). 11 The other Olympic festivals were as follows: A Sea Change (1998), a celeb- ration of Australia’s migration cultures, comprising events across the nation over a nine-month period; Reaching the World, which showcased Australian culture on a global scale in five continents throughout 1999; and Harbour of Life, the official cultural programme for the 2000 Games, focused in Sydney and including the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Aboriginal arts/cultural events were included in all of these festivals to some degree. 12 Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. (2001) Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad. <http://www.gamesinfo.com.au/postgames/ en/pg000679.htm> (accessed 28 February 2006). 13 Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001), Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad. <http://www.gamesinfo.com.au/postgames/ en/pg000680.htm> (accessed 28 February 2006). 14 The Bridge Walk (and others like it across the country) symbolized crossing the gulf between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and was delib- erately scheduled to lead into Corroboree 2000, held the next day, when the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation would present its recommendations (many of which had already been rejected by the government) to the nation. 15 Australian Performing Arts Market 2002: <http://www.performingartsmarket.com.au/2002.htm> path: briefing session transcripts; indigenous arts (accessed 1 February 2006). 16 We wish to acknowledge Robert Clarke’s contribution to this discussion of Olympism. 17 This information is synthesized from Page’s 2003 lecture (pp. 124–5) and comments included on Bangarra Dance Theatre’s web page: <http://www.bangarra.com.au/diary/oaf.html> (accessed 1 February 2006). 18 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Annual Report 2003–04: <http: //www.dfat.gov.au/dept/annual_reports/03_04/performance/3/3.1.2.html> (accessed 3 February 2006). 19 Toni Janke’s comments, quoted here, along with several other speeches can be found at <http://www.performingartsmarket.com.au/2002.htm> path: briefing session transcripts; indigenous arts (accessed 23 November 2005). 20 Australian Performing Arts Market 2006: <http://www.performingartsmarket.com.au/2006/apam06.htm> path: spot light and pitch sessions; Nerrpu Dhawu Rrurrambuwuy (accessed 12 March 2006). 21 Australian Performing Arts Market 2006: <http://www.performingartsmarket.com.au/2006/apam06.htm> (accessed 23 November 2005). 216 Notes 22 Perth International Arts Festival 2003: <http://www.perthfestival.com.au/ 2003_archive/IndigenousArtsShowcase2.html> (accessed 21 January 2006). 23 Interestingly, reviews of the HeadsUp plays admitted no culpability on Britain’s part for the historical disenfranchisement of Aboriginal Australians; nor did they acknowledge colonial ties between the two countries. Chapter 3 Asianizing Australian theatre 1 Federal Government of Australia. (1994) Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy. <http://www.nla.gov.au/creative.nation/internat.html> (accessed 19 July 2005). 2 Playbox was renamed the Malthouse Theatre in 2005 under the leadership of its

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