An afternoon at the theatre
Samantha Bauer – Head of Drama
An afternoon at the theatre
With Year 11 and Year 12 Drama students
About the play: The history of Aboriginal people and Aboriginality in Tasmania is a tumultuous one. The colonisation of our history books provides little clarity on the horrors of oppression, displacement and genocide that led to the claims that Tasmania’s Aboriginal population is extinct. The narrative of “the lost tribe” combined with an assimilation policy that was in place until the 1970s made it difficult for Tasmania’s First Nations peoples, such as the Palawa people, to claim their Aboriginality.
“How might Aboriginal identity manifest itself in Palawa people, when we have been officially pronounced as extinct?”
Returning to Belvoir St Theatre with the original cast before heading on a timely national tour, Nathan Maynard’s At What Cost? is a thundering and informative exploration of Palawa’s competing histories, identity politics and the human need to be part of a collective.
