Preface: Brief History of Australian Theatre IX
Acknowledgements XIII
List of Illustrations XIV
List of Abbreviations XVI
Note on Sources XVIII
Brief Chronology XX
Introduction 1
The Whitlam Era 1
Cultural Subsidy in Australia 6
Layout of the Book 13
Accounting for Australian Theatre: Different Approaches 16
Badiou and Truth 19
1
The Origins of Alternative Theatre 23
Alternative Theatre 23
Two Moments 29
2
The Paris Theatre 1978 38
The Sydney ‘Scene’ 38
The Paris Narrative 40
The Paris Reviewed 52
The Meaning of the End 55
3
The Hunter Valley Theatre Company 1976–1994 64
Steel City 64
The Neeme Era 73
Into the 1980s with Brent McGregor 78
The Governmentalisation of the Arts 87
Last Years of the hvtc 93
The Group of Six 97
The Meaning of the End 103
4
Australian Nouveau Theatre (Anthill) 1980–85 108
The No. 1 Tram 108
In Search of a Company 114
ant and the Event of Artaud 121
Mignon’s Return 124
ant’s Place in the World 129
5
Australian Nouveau Theatre 1986–89 136
From Triumph to Disaster 136
Chekhov and Beyond: Integrating the New Wave Legacy 142
Loss of Funding 147
The Refusing Artist Accepted 157
6
The Ghosts of Emerald Hill 169
The Company Reborn 172
The Funding Game 177
7
Australian Nouveau Theatre 1992–94 185
The Move to Gasworks Theatre 185
ant, Ruined 189
8
Australian Nouveau Theatre: The Meaning of the End 201
Internal Problems 201
External Problems 203
The Destruction of Fellowship: ant vs. Playbox 206
Creative Nation: Culture with the Art Left Out 214
Conclusion 218
The Logic of Culture: The Fate of the ‘New’ 221
The Post-Whitlam Era 225
(No) End of an Idea 230
Select Bibliography 233
Interviewees 245
Index 257