Ten overlooked Australian plays (and why they’re important)

The launch of a new Script Club at Griffin highlights just how many plays in the Australian canon are now almost forgotten.
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Image: Colleen Patrick

Even dedicated theatregoers often struggle to name more than a handful of classic Australian plays, according to John McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Theatre at UNSW and Theatre Critic for The Australian.

‘I get surprised sometimes when you talk to people, even regular theatregoers, who don’t realise that there is in fact a repertoire of Australian classics that goes beyond Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Don’s Party and The Removalists,’ McCallum said.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts