Playlab's Vic Syllabus Suggestions 2022
Unit 2: Australian Identity
The following list of plays has been curated by Playlab Theatre 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.
Horizon
by Maxine Mellor
To Kill a Cassowary
by Laurie Ross Trott
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
Bogga
by Rob Pensalfini
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: Corruption, Death, Friendship
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 30s–50+
CAST SIZE: 5
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
Rob Pensalfini's Bogga is a fascinating work based on oral histories ... Read more
Faces in the Street
by Errol O’Neill
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: Union Strikes, Working Class Values, Government Repression
LENGTH: 135 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18–50s
NO. OF CHARACTERS: 38
SUITABLE FOR: Adults
Errol O'Neill's Faces in the Street is based on the events ... Read more
Black Cockatoo
by Geoffrey Atherden
THEMES: Johnny Mullagh and Australian XI, Racism, Colonial Power
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 6
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years
Inspired by the true story of legendary First Nations cricketer Jonny Mullagh and Australia's first ever international sporting team, this is not just about cricket. This is a story of ... Read more
Magpie
by Elise Greig
LANGUAGE: English and Romani
THEMES: Cultural heritage, Intergenerational trauma, Immigration
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 4
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
From Darkness
by Steven Oliver
THEMES: Spirituality, Family, Grieving
LENGTH: 70 minutes
CAST SIZE: 5
CHARACTER AGES: 16–50+
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
SYNOPSIS
It’... Read moreBastard Territory
by Stephen Carleton
THEMES: Family, Identity
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH: 150 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
Bastard Territory is a confessional human drama about a man – and a city – carving out an identity. Mixing wry humour, raw insight, a dash of Tennessee Williams and a killer 60... Read more
Black Diggers
by Tom Wright
THEMES: Belonging, War, Identity, Race, Indigenous Themes
CHARACTER AGES: 17+
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
One hundred years ago, in 1914, a bullet from an assassin’s gun in Sarajevo sparked a war that ignited the globe. Patriotic young men all over the world lined up ... Read more
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
Chasing the Lollyman
by Mark Sheppard
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

Kryptonite
by Sue Smith
THEMES: Multiculturalism, Politics, Love, National Identity
CHARACTER AGES: 20s – 40s
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 2
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Sue Smith's Kryptonite is a thrilling, thought-provoking dialogue between two people ... Read more
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
The Longest Minute by Robert Kronk and <... Read more
The Pineapple War
by Lachlan Philpott
THEMES: Oppression, Revolution, Influence
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 23
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
It’s 2022 and Queensland is now part of China to resolve a civil war. The rest of Australia has become Nation One, with a conservative government and a return to ... Read more
Rice
by Michele Lee
THEMES: Globalisation, Power, Politics and Migration
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH:1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
Still Point Turning: The Catherine McGregor Story
by Priscilla Jackman
THEMES: LGBTQIA, Identity and Love
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 6 (doubling is required)
SUITABLE FOR ADULTS: Adult
Priscilla Jackman's Still Point Turning: The Catherine McGregor Story is an ... Read more
April’s Fool
by David Burton
THEMES: Drug Culture, Drug Overdose, Death
LENGTH: 60 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 9+
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
CHARACTER AGES: 15-50

Behind the Cane
by Michael and Margery Forde
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: Blackbirding, White Australia Policy, Australian South-Sea Islander History and Culture
CHARACTER AGES: 10+
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Beyond The Neck
by Tom Holloway
THEMES: Port Arthur Massacre, Australian History, Grief
CHARACTER AGES:7 – 75
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
The old man falls into his wife’s arms. He cries. The young mother and wife sees the pile of washing she has dropped on the floor. She cannot stand ... Read more
Bukal
by Andrea James with Henrietta Marrie
THEMES: Contemporary Indigenous Theatre
LENGTH: 60 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
From the rainforest to the world arena, Bukal is a story of an amazing woman. From the heart of Cairns Yidinji people comes the inspiring story of a courageous woman ... Read more
Chinese Take Away
by Anna Yen
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
LANGUAGE: English and Cantonese
THEMES: History, Family, Poverty, Chinese Culture, Traditionalism
LENGTH: 45 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 30
CAST SIZE: 1
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

The Dark Room
by Angela Betzien
VERSION: Digital Download & Hardcopy options
THEMES: Violence, Sex, Police, Isolation
CHARACTER AGES: 14 – 40
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult
Angela Betzien's The Dark Room is a timely reflection on the ... Read more
Embers
by Campion Decent
THEMES: Bushfire; Victoria and Gippsland 2003 bushfires
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 7-8
SUITABLE FOR: Middle Years and Senior Years
CHARACTER AGES: 20 – 60
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
Fly-In Fly-Out
by Robert Kronk with Howard Cassidy
THEMES: Growing up, Family, Relationships, Regional Australia, Community, Social Change
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 12–40s
CAST SIZE: 5
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Year
Robert Kronk and Howard Cassidy's Fly-In ... Read more
Gallipoli Bill
by Arthur Adams
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: War, Class, Cultural Difference
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
NO. OF CHARACTERS: 11
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
Arthur Adams' Gallipoli Bill is the last professionally-performed stage play by ... Read more
Gaybies
by Dean Bryant
THEMES: Family, Equality, Love
CHARACTER AGES: Mixed
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
Hotly political and deeply personal, Gaybies shares the intimate real-life stories of children from same-sex parents, surrogate mums, donor dads, co-parents and guardians. A funny and moving piece of real-life ... Read more
In a Heart Beat
by Jo Turner
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
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
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 & Senior Years
Moses Susuburi has three homes — Malaita Island, Vanuatu and Beaconsfield Road, Mackay — it's a long story, so when he is caught busking without a licence, it's hard for him to ... Read more
Men Without Wives
by Henrietta Drake-Brockman
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: Australia, Femininity, Masculinity, Personal Identity
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 2 Hours
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
Northern Australia, the dirt, the heat, the loneliness, everything about it says that it's man's country. The men 'round these parts are rougher, tougher, and louder than any other men ... Read more
On Our Selection
by Steele Rudd
THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION
THEMES: Australia, Triumph Over Adversity, Revenge, Family, Home
LENGTH: 150 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 9
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Students
In this four act play, On Our Selection by Steele Rudd follows ... Read more
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
Prize Fighter
by Future D. Fidel
THEMES: War, Loss, Refugees, Trauma
CHARACTER AGES: 10 – 60
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years & 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
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 & Senior 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
The Sublime
by Brendan Cowell
THEMES: Masculinity, Sport, Sex, Power
CHARACTER AGES: Young Adult
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: 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 & Adults
Linden Wilkinson's Today We're Alive is a verbatim play about the efforts, ... Read more
The Village
by Multiple Playwrights
THEMES: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Immigration
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 7
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults
The Village is a collaboration between La Boite Theatre Company and MDA, and features stories from <... Read more