It made you feel what? Using structure to convey theme Playscript and Exegesis Adam Grossetti Bachelor of Arts (Drama) Work submitted to The Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Creative Industries Faculty for the Master of Arts degree, 2007. Keywords: Playwriting, structure, theme, Caryl Churchill, political theatre Abstract: The exegesis and accompanying playscript 3606202 is concerned with how the structural framework of a play might be manipulated to help deliver a writer’s response to global events. The exegesis looks at examples of writers who have responded to global events over the last several decades and examines as a case study the structure of Caryl Churchill’s play Far Away. The writer then applies a similar structural blueprint to the writing of his play 3606202 and reflects on the outcomes such a structure achieved. As part of this reflection, the exegesis explores how the writer’s desire to respond to global events led him to consider the impacts of structure on the sub-textual articulation of themes within a playscript. The exegesis concludes by detailing the findings of an experiment conducted at the reading of his play and its professional presentation within the Wharf2Loud season at the Sydney Theatre Company. ii Table of Contents: Keywords:.............................................................................................................................ii Abstract: ...............................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents:................................................................................................................iii Statement of Original Authorship:........................................................................................ iv 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 5 2. “3606202” – a play............................................................................................................ 8 3. Background to the play.................................................................................................... 35 3.1 Capra’s Story............................................................................................................. 37 3.2 The development of the play...................................................................................... 42 3.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 44 4. Literature Review............................................................................................................ 46 4.1 New communication technologies and the evolving political nature of theatre........... 47 4.2 Aesthetic challenges of contemporary political theatre............................................... 50 4.3 Contemporary playwright’s responses to this challenge ............................................. 53 4.4 Structure as technique................................................................................................ 57 5. Case studies .................................................................................................................... 62 5.1 Caryl Churchill - her play - Far Away, and its influence in the writing of 3606202.... 62 5.2 Case Study - 3606202................................................................................................ 67 6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 83 Works Consulted:................................................................................................................ 84 iii Statement of Original Authorship: The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signed: Dated: iv 1. Introduction “Once one denies the common dignity of one’s fellow human beings, it is but a short path down the slippery slope to practices like torture.” (Cole 2003, 15). Some time ago I overheard a playwright who had been working professionally for a number of decades state something close to the following: ‘that as playwrights and their writing evolve, they eventually come around to writing works of a political nature’. The above suggestion initially struck me as odd. I did not at that stage feel as though my work would eventually head toward the political. Indeed I found most plays that set out to be ‘political’ risked a tone of self-righteousness. Colloquially put, as an audience member it was sometimes like watching a dead horse being flogged. Over time, however, I have found myself persuaded to the realisation that the above statement might not only be true, but also an imperative necessity. Certainly it is true that the playscript 3606202 appearing in this thesis is a political piece of theatre. It is a response by this writer to particular global events in our recent history. However, beyond 3606202 being simply a piece of political theatre, I sought to challenge myself and the work by disregarding the template of how to write a ‘well made play’ and instead allow the greater themes of the work, to architecturally impose themselves onto the shape of the work. This led to examining how structure, the often-silent partner in the mechanics of a play, could effectively and ambiently promote the theme a creative work pursues. I looked specifically at the structure in British playwright Caryl Churchill’s work Far Away, the themes of which I felt were similar to those I sought to explore in 3606202. 5 I found myself being creatively stretched by experimenting with the effect a plays structure might then have upon an audience. This was in complete opposition to how I might ordinarily go about writing a play. Instead of being inspired by an idea and exploring it through writing, I was now inspired by structure and explored a response to ideas as a result. I was forced then to ask myself the following question, “If playwrights respond to global events by writing political theatre, can a play's structure be used to convey theme?” The two components of my thesis, namely the playscript and the accompanying exegesis, have a relationship to one another, in that they both serve to answer this research question , albeit in two different forms of symbolic language. I believe that my play should be able to exist as a creative work on its own merits, whereas the exegetical cannot exist without the play. For this reason I have structured the thesis by inserting the play after the brief positioning statement you are now reading. I wanted you to read it first before encountering my own reflections on it. The remainder of this thesis is structured as follows: Following the playscript I will provide some background notes to the work and further introduce my research question. I will then go on to detail the methodology I used in examining this research question. 6 I will then provide a brief survey of relevant literature, look at notions of political theatre and structure. As part of the Literature Survey I will refer to some well-known political plays of the last few decades. I will then present a detailed reflective case study of my own journey in writing 3606202, illustrating the thesis of this work by recording, analysing and posting the results of an experiment I conducted whereby audience responses to a recent production of the play 3606202 at the Sydney Theatre Company in September of 2006 were recorded. Finally, this exegesis will conclude by stating my findings. It will be my assertion that the structure of a work, the actual framework of the play such as the length, number, and placement of scenes in the work itself, can be harnessed to serve the greater political theme of the work and (just as succinctly as the text of the play or the journey of the characters might) can help deliver this thematic underpinning of the play. 7 3. Background to the play To help you better understand the play you have just read and to position my research, I’d like to present you with some background information about what informed and inspired the play before I move on to detail my research question. 3606202 is the second work in a trilogy about migrant Italians living in Far North Queensland during the middle part of last century. The first part of the trilogy, a play titled Mano Nera (produced by Queensland Theatre Company in 2005, and published by PlayLab Press in 2005) dealt with the tense racial relations between Italians and Australians living in the cane farming township of Ingham, Far North Queensland, during the 1930s. The relationship was further soured due to the decade long operations of a gang of Italian extortionists named 'Mano Nera' (Black Hand) who used violent methods to extort money from the more wealthy members of their own Italian community. Mano Nera concludes toward the end of the 1930s in the lead up to the period of Italian internment during World War II. Thus, the first scene of 3606202 is set in 1942 and begins a few years after the first play Mano Nera concludes. This scene consists of an interview between an Italian born, 35 naturalised Australian man, and a representative of the Australian Government. It is heavily informed by research documents acquired from the Australian