tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post6428477330503055252..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Australian theatre & nationalismAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-91463533430226924482010-09-25T09:33:01.587+10:002010-09-25T09:33:01.587+10:00Hi Helen - sorry for my own belated reply. I'm...Hi Helen - sorry for my own belated reply. I'm glad to hear you're doing ok over in Christchurch! I would have said Australian films <i>were</i> self consciously Australian, but yes, the best of our films are simply Australian. However, like J-Lo, I think that the rhetoric of "Australian stories" does drive a lot of the debate around Australian films.I'd resist the idea of Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25953304297245006092010-09-23T20:45:36.999+10:002010-09-23T20:45:36.999+10:00Just an errant thought - is the sriving for true b...Just an errant thought - is the sriving for true blue 'Strine more of a live problem in Oz film than theatre; kinda feels like 'sharing stories' is more stock-in-trade for the stage ...<br /><br />I bought the Overland primarily for this article [so I'll pretend I didn't see this free link now!] - I had a vague sense of the nationalism of the New Wave, but appreciated your J-Lonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-37696550794648087822010-09-23T14:49:12.678+10:002010-09-23T14:49:12.678+10:00Alison--belated reply re earthquake, but we are do...Alison--belated reply re earthquake, but we are doing ok compared to many and even with the many it's "only infrastructure" but that can be very wearing when you're dealing with it day-to-day. And some people have lost their homes, some of them quite new, in areas which proved to be literally built on sand.<br /><br />In terms of SFF not needing to be defined by national Helen Lowehttp://helenlowe.info/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-75439294744408285372010-09-19T18:29:16.279+10:002010-09-19T18:29:16.279+10:00Maybe I ought to include this link to Marcus Westb...Maybe I ought to include this link to Marcus Westbury's <a href="http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2010/09/15/where-australia-council-funding-goes-0910-version/" rel="nofollow">illuminating breakdown of where the money goes.</a>Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-18511953209028675282010-09-19T18:16:48.480+10:002010-09-19T18:16:48.480+10:00Well, Back to Back wouldn't exist without fund...Well, Back to Back wouldn't exist without funding, so let's cheer that. And your friends' idea of Australian theatre is pretty much mine too! Even so, given the sheer weight of funding towards OA compared to everyone else, you do have to wonder... I don't think it's so much about nation-worthyness as the dominance of a certain idea of culture, maybe based on a notion of socialAlison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-26373400695710924582010-09-19T14:20:50.496+10:002010-09-19T14:20:50.496+10:00Beautiful essay, Alison, and a real pleasure to re...Beautiful essay, Alison, and a real pleasure to read - especially considering where the question of 'Australianness' usually leads.<br /><br />It makes me wonder about the funding priorities in the arts. It seems that funding does privilege certain kinds of art because they are more nation-worthy (opera, local Shakespeare), while other forms and artists have to prove the merit of their Janahttp://guerrillasemiotics.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-19142243962934004732010-09-18T18:30:09.048+10:002010-09-18T18:30:09.048+10:00Hi Helen - It's absolutely fascinating how the...Hi Helen - It's absolutely fascinating how these concerns overlap. Do you think the huge number of spec fic writers in Australia and NZ is to do with SFF not having to be defined by national identity, by its very nature? I'm sure it plays into why I write it. <br /><br />Btw, I hope all is ok at home after the earthquake!Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-40943534957095440902010-09-18T15:39:42.631+10:002010-09-18T15:39:42.631+10:00Interesting essay, Alison--picking up in a theatre...Interesting essay, Alison--picking up in a theatre sense on some of those issues we talked about in Melbourne. I am one of those who feels that "it makes little sense to define art by nationality"--or as Mary Victoria commented on my blog yesterday "Stories don’t have to have passports..."Helen Lowehttp://helenlowe.info/blog/noreply@blogger.com