What are some of the challenges of producing Contemporary Australian Drama?

Answer the question below with reference to the workshops on 'rhythm and transitions' and 'acting
and transformation'.

What are some of the challenges of producing contemporary Australian drama?

Refer to both of the plays, Stolen and Neighbourhood Watch.

(Write two paragraphs on Rhythm and Transitions, one on Stolen and one on Neighbourhood Watch,
Write two paragraphs on Acting and Transformation one on Stolen and one on Neighbourhood
Watch).

A significant challenge in producing Contemporary Australian Drama (CATP) is the use of a

clear and strong rhythm throughout the performance. Rhythm is the timing or pace of a
dramatic piece and it rarely stays the same throughout a performance. It is difficult to
structure a performance in which rhythm is maintained by all actors and all actors follow it
as it changes. In staging the first scene of the play Stolen by Jane Harrison, we focused
deeply on the use of rhythm in our performance. To set the rhythm and pace of the first half
of the performance we hummed the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star which added to the
eerie nature of the scene with the lights still down. The humming of this song brought the
idea of childhood and innocence into the audience’s mind and assisted the actors in
maintaining their rhythm for the next section of the performance in which the characters
delivered their line and spun at an even rhythm to a new position in a diamond shape to
deliver their line. This even rhythm of the spinning brought an even pace to the
performance as well as transported the audience between the times and places of the
characters. The rhythm was, however, broken by Shirley screaming, ‘Eh! I’m gonna be a
grandmother!’ The stage then transitioned into a hospital in which a woman was giving
birth. The rhythm was set in this performance by the breathing of the woman as the voice
speaking to her spoke at the same pace. This break and change in the pace allowed for the
audience to change settings of the characters without being lost. The use of rhythm in
performance is imperative in engaging the audience and making the performance clear. A
clear and strong rhythm in a performance extremely effective in keeping a performance
engaging, but can be a great challenge to maintain the rhythm between actors.

Another significant challenge in producing CATP is the use of clear transitions to change
between settings and time periods whilst maintaining the audience’s ability to understand
the events on stage. Due to the episodic nature of CATP plays, scenes to not necessarily
follow a linear structure or flow in order of chronology. Because of this, it is vital that actors
use clear transitions to ensure that the audience understands what is occurring on stage. In
a class workshop, I watched a performance of a section of scene sixteen in which the
audience is transported between 2007 Australia and pre-world war Hungary. The group
cleverly utilised lighting changes to signify if the individuals were in Hungary or Australia.
This slight manipulation of dramatic technology made the series of confusing transitions
very clear for the audience as they could see a distinct difference on stage in relation to
their position on the globe and time period. The colours of the lighting were also extremely
effective as the lighting in Ana’s house in 2007 Australia was blue after the trauma,
loneliness and terrible experiences she had been through, whereas the lighting in Hungary
was white representing the brightness of Ana’s world before the wars. Clear transitions to
change time periods and settings in a play are essential in producing CATP, but are
challenging in regards to ensuring the audience understands what is occurring on stage.

Additionally, transformational acting is another significant challenge in producing CATP. In

CATP actors must often play several different characters throughout the play. To clearly
distinguish between these characters, they must manipulate their bodies and voices to
create distinct characters. A significant challenge in this is being able to transition between
these characters swiftly. In class, one of my peers and I performed a section of
Neighbourhood Watch, we faced the challenge of playing 3 characters each in the one
particular scene. To distinguish our characters, we used Laban’s Eight Efforts to change how
we carried ourselves when we were each character. For example, when I played Ana, I was
sustained, direct and strong, the effort of pressing. But when I transitioned into the Chemist,
I took much faster steps, maintained being direct, but was much lighter, encompassing the
effort of dabbing. Through the use of Laban’s Eight Efforts, I was able to carefully
manipulate my body to create distinct characters that the audience could easily tell apart
from each other. I found this quite difficult at first to be able to jarringly change characters,
but through rehearsal, I found the characters much easier to move between. Thus,
transitional acting and its swift changes between characters is a significant challenge in
producing CATP, but it is essential for the audience to distinguish between two characters.