Context
Activity 4 – context postcards
Syllabus outcomes
A student:
H1.2 uses performance skills to interpret and perform scripted and other material
H1.3 uses knowledge and experience of dramatic and theatrical forms, styles and theories to inform and enhance individual and group-devised works
H3.1 critically applies understanding of the cultural, historical and political contexts that have influenced specific drama and theatre practitioners, styles and movements.
Drama Stage 6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2009, p 22.
Learning intention
In this activity, you will delve into the contextual background of the play Life Without Me by Daniel Keene. Your aim is to develop an understanding of the social, cultural and historical events relevant to the play, including how the liminal space of a small city hotel can be a theatrical petri dish for these events and the underlying issues and concerns.
Materials
A shared document or method of note taking.
Instructions
Life Without Me is set in suburbia in a two-star hotel with the symbolism of a storm opening the play. It was written just after the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, and Australians were reflecting on how national and global political forces can influence them on a personal level. What do you know about these events and time periods generally? Share your thoughts and any prior knowledge. Use the list below to help guide your discussion, and note the class's thoughts in a shared document. You could even do a web search as you hold discussion to quickly collate information, images and ideas.
The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008
Australian politics and policy that impacted social and cultural thinking in 2007-2010
How hotels have changed as social and cultural places in recent times
Popular culture of Australia in 2007-2010 including television, media and Australia's response to global events and trends
Form small groups of 3 to 5 and assign each group a specific aspect of the context of play. You should negotiate this with your teacher to check it's relevance to the play. Continue your web search around this specific topic related to the context of the play.
Devise a set of 5 postcards or frozen images (like a tableau vivant, pictured below) that represent key ideas or concerns about your assigned context topic. Extension: you may add a narrator to describe the images as they are presented.
Present your postcards to the class and reflect on the images and what they represent that is important about your assigned context topic.
'Tableau', otherwise known as a 'tableau vivant' or living pictures, is where people recreate one or more important moments from paintings or life through still performance. This image is a group of young actors capturing a moment of performance using movement, symbol and contrast.
Photography by Anna Warr for The Arts Unit, NSW Department of Education. 2023. Untitled image of young actors forming throne [photograph].
References
Drama Stage 6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2009.
Croes, R. 1983. Tableau vivant of The Night Watch [photograph]. Accessed 17 August 23. Licensed under CC0 1.0. Published online by the National Archives of The Netherlands.
Keene, D. 2010. Life Without Me [play script]. Currency Press.
Warr, A. 2023. Untitled image of young actors casting shadows with hands [photograph]. The Arts Unit, NSW Department of Education.