Context 

Learning intention

In this activity, you will delve into the contextual background of the play Neighbourhood Watch by Lally Katz. Your aim is to develop an understanding of the social, cultural and historical events relevant to the play, including Ana's past experiences in Hungary and her experiences of World War 2 and post-war life in Australia.

Materials

A shared document or method of note taking.

Instructions

• Neighbourhood Watch is set in suburban Sydney, but Ana's past experiences in Hungary during World War 2 are pivotal. What do you know about these settings and time periods generally? Share your thoughts and any prior knowledge. The list below is intended to guide your discussion, and you could note the class's thoughts in a shared document. You could even do a web search as you discuss to quickly collate information, images and ideas.

  • • Hungary's involvement in World War 2

    • Post-war Sydney

    • Immigrant experiences to Australia after World War 2

    • Popular culture of Australia in 2007 including television, media and Australia's response to global events and trends. Note: you might need to come back and add to this as you read the play

    • The Neighbourhood Watch program started in 1984

• 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.