Playlab's Vic Syllabus Suggestions 2021
Unit 2: Australian Identity
The following list of plays has been curated by Playlab staff in order to provide an extended list of plays suitable for study in Unit 2: Australian Identity. The following plays are all strong examples of how Australia’s identity has been interpreted and presented on stage. This list contains plays from Australian playwright’s of all backgrounds and each views Australian culture, politics and society through a unique lens.
Black Diggers
by Tom Wright
THEMES: Belonging, War, Identity, Race, Indigenous Themes
CHARACTER AGES: 17+
LENGTH: 2 Hours
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Still Point Turning: The Catherine McGregor Story
by Priscilla Jackman
THEMES: LGBTQIA, Identity and Love
LENGTH: 2 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
The Longest Minute
by Robert Kronk and Nadine McDonald-Dowd
THEMES: Family, Identity, Sport
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CHARACTER AGES: 18–55
CAST SIZE: 5-6
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Bastard Territory
by Stephen Carleton
THEMES: Family, Identity
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH: 2.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Chasing the Lollyman
by Mark Sheppard
THEMES: Indigenous Themes, Identity, Story-telling
Length: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1-2
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

April’s Fool
by David Burton
THEMES: Drug Culture, Drug Overdose, Death
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 9+
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CHARACTER AGES: 15-50

Australian Drama
by David Megarrity
THEMES: Australian Theatre, Drama as a Subject
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
CHARACTER AGES: 18-35
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Behind the Cane
by Michael and Margery Forde
THEMES: Blackbirding, White Australia Policy, Australian South-Sea Islander History and Culture
CHARACTER AGES: 10+
LENGTH: 2 Hours
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

Beyond The Neck
by Tom Holloway
THEMES: Port Arthur Massacre, Australian History, Grief
CHARACTER AGES:7 – 75
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Bukal
by Andrea James with Henrietta Marrie
THEMES: Contemporary Indigenous Theatre
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
The Campaign
by Campion Decent
THEMES: LGBTQIA Rights, Australian Politics
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
CAST SIZE: 5-6
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Chinese Take Away
by Anna Yen
LANGUAGE: English and Cantonese
THEMES: History, Family, Poverty, Chinese Culture, Traditionalism
CHARACTER AGES: 30
LENGTH: 45 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Composing Venus
by Elaine Acworth
NEW VINTAGE NEW RELEASE
THEMES: History, Family
LENGTH: 2 Hours
CAST SIZE: 8 Cast Members / 13-14 Cast Members without doubling
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
The Dark Room
by Angela Betzien
THEMES: Violence, Sex, Police, Isolation
CHARACTER AGES: 14 – 40
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek
by Kathryn Marquet
THEMES: Environmentalism, Ideology, Compromise
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Embers
by Campion Decent
THEMES: Bushfire; Victoria and Gippsland 2003 bushfires
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 7-8
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle Years and Senior Years
CHARACTER AGES: 20 – 60
Fly-In Fly-Out
by Robert Kronk with Howard Cassidy
THEMES: Growing up, Family, Relationships, Regional Australia, Community, Social Change
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CHARACTER AGES: 12 – Adult
Gallipoli Bill
by Arthur Adams
New Vintage
THEMES: War, Class, Cultural Difference
LENGTH: 2 Hours
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
CAST SIZE: 9+
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Gaybies
by Dean Bryant
THEMES: Family, Equality, Love
CHARACTER AGES: Mixed
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
In a Heart Beat
by Jo Turner
THEMES: Loss, Growing Up, Small towns
CHARACTER AGES: 15 – 30, 30+
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 9 + Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle Years & Senior Years
Kryptonite
by Sue Smith
THEMES: Multiculturalism, Politics, Love, National Identity
CHARACTER AGES: 23 – 48
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
The Matilda Women
by Sue Rider
THEMES: Women, Australia, migration, Colonisation, Settlement
CHARACTER AGES: 16+
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
Melek Mo Hani
by Steve Mayer-Miller
THEMES: Cultural Identity, South Sea Islander Themes, Immigration, Deportation
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle Years
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Men Without Wives
by Henrietta Drake-Brockman
THEMES: Australia, Femininity, Masculinity, Personal Identity
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 2 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
On Our Selection
by Steele Rudd
THEMES: Australia, Triumph Over Adversity, Revenge, Family, Home
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 2.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
Oodgeroo
by Sam Watson
THEMES: Aboriginality, Land Ownership, Political Activism, Family
CHARACTER AGES: 20 – 50
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
The Pineapple War
by Lachlan Philpott
THEMES: Oppression, Revolution, Influence
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 23
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

Prize Fighter
by Future D. Fidel
THEMES: War, Loss, Refugees, Trauma
CHARACTER AGES: 10 – 60
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
Proppa Solid
by Steven Oliver
THEMES: Aboriginal Themes, Indentity, Family
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
Rice
by Michele Lee
THEMES: Globalisation, Power, Politics and Migration
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH:1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
The 7 Stages Of Grieving
by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman (25th Anniversary)
THEMES: Grieving, Death, Indigenous People, Aboriginality
CHARACTER AGES: Any age
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle Years
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
DISCLAIMER: This new edition is a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of this iconic work. The script remains unchanged in this 25... Read more
Snapshots From Home
by Margery Forde
THEMES: WWII, Family, Survival
CHARACTER AGES: 14 – 50
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
The Sublime
by Brendan Cowell
THEMES: Masculinity, Sport, Sex, Power
CHARACTER AGES: Young Adult
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
The Village
by Multiple Playwrights
THEMES: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Immigration
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Sugarland
by Rachael Coopes and Wayne Blair
THEMES: Indigenous Themes, Regional Australia, Displacement, Growing up
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 18, Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
Today We’re Alive
by Linden Wilkinson
THEMES: Reconciliation, Remembrance, Indigenous Themes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult