Contemporary Indigenous Plays (Paperback or Softback)

Five plays from around the country that illustrate the rich tradition of Indigenous storytelling as it flourishes in contemporary theatre.

'Each play is a durable, resilient stone that both builds upon Indigenous traditions but also lays the foundation for the generations that will follow.' - Professor Larissa Behrendt, from her introduction.

Bitin' Back by Vivienne Cleven is adapted from her award-winning novel of the same name. "This is a zany and uproarious black farce" - National Indigenous Times

Black Medea by Wesley Enoch is a richly poetic adaptation of Euripides' Medea that blends the cultures of Ancient Greek and indigenous storytelling to weave a bold and breathtaking commentary on contemporary experience.

King Hit by David Milroy and Geoffrey Narkle strikes at the very heart of the Stolen Generations, exploring the impact on an individual and a culture when relationships are brutally broken.

Rainbow's End by Jane Harrison is set in the 1950s on the fringe of a country town. This is a thought-provoking and emotionally powerful snapshot of a Koori family that dramatises the struggle for decent housing, meaningful education, jobs and community acceptance.

Windmill Baby by David Milroy: Set on an abandoned cattle station in the Kimberley landscape, this one-woman play combines the poetry of a campfire story with the comedy of a great yarn.

VIVIENNE CLEVEN was born in 1968 in Surat, Queensland. Her nation is Kamilaroi. She left school at the age of thirteen to work with her father as a jillaroo: building fences, mustering cattle, and working at various jobs on stations throughout Queensland and New South Wales. Her novel, Bitin' Back, won the David Unaipon Award in 2000, and was shortlisted for the Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award and the South Australian Premier's Award for Fiction in 2002. Her novel Sister's Eye, published in 2002, was chosen in the 2003 People's Choice shortlist of One Book One Brisbane. Bitin' Back is her first play.