Indig-curious: What are the challenges for non Aboriginal theatre practitioners in accessing and interpreting Aboriginal themes? Jane Harrison Submitted to Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology Master of Arts (Research) in Playwrighting 2009 Keywords Aboriginal, Indigenous, Theatre, Performance, Cultural protocols Abstract How do non-Indigenous theatre practitioners, especially actors, access and incorporate Aboriginal themes in the plays they create or perform in? Will it ever be acceptable for a non-Aboriginal actor to play an Aboriginal role? In literature there are clear protocols for writing Aboriginal characters and themes. In the visual arts and in dance, non- Indigenous practitioners might 'reference' Aboriginal themes, but what about in theatre performance? This research embodies one cultural dilemma in a creative project and exegesis: exploring the complex issues which emerge when an Aboriginal playwright is commissioned to write an 'Aboriginal themed' play for two non-Aboriginal actors. 1. Introduction 1 2. Why this project? 7 3. Methodology 12 4. Aboriginal themes; can they be defined? 20 5. Aboriginal themes - de rigueur or cultural property? 31 6. Responsibility, anxiety and guilt; the burdens of the message maker 43 7. Identity, and can Aboriginality be learnt? 50 8. The non Aboriginal actor – no longer ‘blacking up’ 53 9. Why White Girls don’t Dreamtime … 59 Appendix A: Permissions to quote 67 Appendix B: Creative Development Can White Girls Dreamtime?/Custody 69 Appendix C: Custody script 70 References 71 Acknowledgments I would like to first acknowledge my children, Savannah and Nova, for their continued understanding and acceptance of the process we all undertook; George and Philip, who read an early draft and provided judicious feedback, not always graciously accepted at the time; and finally, the notes and feedback provided by my supervisors, first Craig Bolland then David Megarrity. Together, we ran a marathon. In developing the various versions of the play I thank Annalouise Paul and Lisa Scope, for their commission of the play, their creative input through the workshops and their leadership in seeking funding and opportunities; Rachael Maza for her insight and her straight talking; Kristina Totos for her dedicated direction of the Inscriptions showcase; and Marcus West and Inscriptions for their belief in me and support. Each day, I take another small step in my journey of reconnection to my culture and every Aboriginal person I meet contributes to that journey. I thank my Aboriginal friends, colleagues and mentors for their wisdom, leadership and beauty of spirit. ‘Perhaps some day Australian writers will use Aboriginal myths and weave literature from them, the same as other writers have done with the Roman, Greek, Norse, and Arthurian legends.’ David Unaiponi i Unaipon, David, 2001, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines, The Miegunyah Press, p4 1. Introduction David Unaipon, as an Aboriginal writer and collector of Aboriginal1 stories and myths in the 1920s, had a commitment to sharing those stories with non Aboriginal people1. But what can we make of his urging of Australian writers to ‘use’ Aboriginal myths? Did Unaipon mean that non Aboriginal writers should have the freedom to utilise Aboriginal myths and stories without qualms, without recourse, without responsibility? Or did he merely hope that Aboriginal myths would be afforded the status and respect of the equivalent mythology harking from Europe? That they would be valued as part of our country’s cultural expression? When Germaine Greer, academic, writer, commentator, expatriate and non Aboriginal Australian, declared, in her essay Whitefella Jumpup, that ‘We can dance too’2, - was she faintly echoing, eight decades later, the polymath David Unaipon’s sentiment? Did she mean that Aboriginal myths and stories and ceremonies also belong to non Aboriginal people? The non Aboriginal people could learn to integrate Aboriginality into their being, or as she expresses it: ‘For 200 years the Aboriginal peoples have been seducing the whitefellas, subtly drawing them into their web of dreams …’3 And how do these quotes relate to this exegesis, which is concerned with writing about Aboriginal themes for non Aboriginal theatre practitioners? In this exegesis, I will explore how Aboriginal themes can be used in a way that is acceptable to Aboriginal people. Neither Homer nor Shakespeare are around to shudder or praise the way their work has been reinterpreted, but Aboriginal people are alive and well and are outspoken about how they are depicted on the page, stage and on the screen, as will be demonstrated. On the page, which includes play scripts, non Aboriginal Australians are increasingly incorporating Aboriginal themes and characters into their writing and there are protocols for the writer to follow. But for the stage, what are the constraints around the non Aboriginal actor in relation to Aboriginal themes? Is it acceptable – or will it ever be - for a non Aboriginal actor to perform an Aboriginal role? Who will do 1 The word Aboriginal has been used throughout, interchangeably with Indigenous, to signify both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with an apology if that offends. the ‘accepting’ or ‘rejecting’– the white audience, or the Aboriginal audience? Do these two audiences have the same expectations of what is presented on stage? The precedents and clear protocols (see Appendix) for the non Aboriginal writer who wishes to access Aboriginal themes in literature do not always translate to performance and performers. My exegetical question is: ‘Indig-curious. What are the challenges for non Aboriginal theatre practitioners in accessing and interpreting Aboriginal themes?’ My reflection: A note on the term ‘Indig-curious’. The term ‘bi-curious’ has entered into the popular lexicon, referring to ‘someone who does not identify as bisexual or homosexual but feels or shows some curiosity in a relationship or sexual activity with someone of the same sex … The term bi-curious implies that the individual has had no sexual experience - or very little - of that sort, but may continue to self-identify as bi-curious if they do not feel they have adequately explored these feelings …’ 4. I coined the term ‘Indig-curious’ for this exegesis as I felt it was a (somewhat cheeky) phrase that evoked a similar curiosity about Aboriginal culture and people, especially when the non Aboriginal person is coming from a low knowledge base, but has a passion to understand more. So why have I chosen this theme, and how have I explored it? Firstly, the theme emerged from the play I was commissioned to write for two non Aboriginal actor/producers. I am a playwright with Aboriginal heritage (Muruwari) who writes Aboriginal themed plays, which is why I received the commissioned, the process of which I will describe in the next section, Why this project? Secondly, I explore the topic by conducting a literature review, defining my methodological approach and then identifying a number of emergent themes which I expand upon in the chapters of this exegesis. The final chapter sums up my findings. The literature review revealed an array of material concerned with issues of protocols and cultural appropriation, defined as ‘the adoption of some specific elements of one 2 culture by a different cultural group’5, usually the dominant culture. These issues are related to writing Aboriginal themes in fiction, non-fiction, film and television, and many of the concerns raised apply equally to writing for theatre. However, the literature review also exposed a gap in the literature concerned with one specific issue raised in this exegesis: how does the non Aboriginal performer access Aboriginal themes? Quite astonishingly, I was unable to find any extant literature that addressed that precise issue. This may be explained by the small body of Aboriginal plays, the relatively few Aboriginal playwrights, and the resulting smaller pool of critical thinking that relates specifically to Aboriginal theatre. Indeed, Aboriginal playwrights are a recent phenomena: Kevin Gilbert was anointed the first performed Aboriginal playwright with his play The Cherry Pickers (1968). It was not until 1978 that performing arts publisher Currency Press published The Cake Man, by Aboriginal writer Robert Merritt. Although the focus of this exegesis is writing for Aboriginal theatre, it will also draw upon exemplars from literature, film, television and art, dance and music that incorporate Aboriginal themes. I will examine works that have been created by both Aboriginal and non Aboriginal artists in Australia and internationally, particularly from colonised countries with Indigenous populations who are also grappling with issues of appropriation and cultural expression. The literature review did highlight a trend, in recent years, for non Aboriginal Australian writers to incorporate Aboriginal themes or to write Aboriginal characters into their narratives. In fiction, Alex Miller (Journey to the Stone Country, 2002), Kate Grenville (The Secret River, 2005) are award-winning examples. More specifically in theatre, as Katherine Brisbane, the founder of Currency Press, points out; there have been a number of plays with Aboriginal characters, written by non Aboriginal writers, since 1927. She lists6 some of them as: Brumby Innes Katherine Susannah Prichard (1927) Fountains Beyond George Landen Dann (1944) The Foreman Jill Shearer (1978) The Man from Mukinupin Dorothy Hewitt