A Young Playwright

Laila Bradshaw addresses questions of identity through inspiring playwrights and their scripts, exploring and expressing their own interest in writing contemporary Australian stories for the stage. CACS102 // Module 1: Identity

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T.S. Eliot: The Cocktail Party

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Subjectivity explores the notion that individuals exist as subjects in society in response to a collection of experiences, beliefs and labels, and can be described as "the self as reflexively understood by the person" (Giddens, 1991.) It engages with the processes by which we become who we are (Barker, 2012) and, in response to world that divides individuals by race, culture, gender and other categories, explains the way modern humans see themselves as "integrated subjects." (Hall et al, 1995.) The changeable nature of one's identity is exemplified in 'The Cocktail Party' (Eliot, 1949) wherein Celia eloquently deconstructs aspects of Edward's identity to explore the ways in which it is subjective.

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Vanessa Bates: Porn.Cake

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As examined by Freud (Mansfield, 2000), an individual's identity is comprised both of their conscious - their intentional thoughts and actions - and their unconscious, which is latent inside an individual and appear in less conventional and intentional ways through jokes, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips), or certain neuroses. This dichotomy is often shown using an iceberg model (McLeod, 2015.) While unconscious ideas, beliefs and thoughts don't exist intentionally or even with an individual's awareness of them, they can be expressed subliminally through one's art practice or in characters within a piece. 'Porn.Cake' (Vanessa Bates, 2012) explores the unconscious experiences and thoughts of her characters, expressed through neurotic movements and gesture.

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William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

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Essentialism is the belief that an individual's identity is central to one's being, an immutable fact about their personhood (Barker, 2012.) It explores the ways in which identity is not a quality to be attained or changed but is possessed by the individual. Essentialism functions under the assumption that the qualities of a person are factual and unchangeable - such qualities as of being a certain gender, race, or class. While essentialism is "strongly contested in most contemporary literary thinking” (Bennett and Royle, 2016), it is explored in many theatrical works, most notably in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ within Juliet’s monologue on questions of identity and the essential and extraneous ‘parts of a man.’

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Sophocles: Oedipus Rex

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Overdetermination refers to the way we as citizens examine art by interpreting it as a subliminal projection of the artist's unconscious (Mansfield, 2000.) Rather than examining the art or the artist it takes a further step back and examines the audience and their perception of the work. It intersects not only with the unconscious of the artist, as audiences interpret subliminal unconscious beliefs, desires or ideas within work, but with the unconscious of the viewer whose own context informs their opinions about what they see – or believe they see. Overdetermination is best shown through 'Oedipus Rex' (Sophocles, 429 BC), a Greek tragedy which, when interpreted by Freud, reveals unconscious truths about man.

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Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot

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Sensory knowledge refers to the idea that one's experience of the world and therefore their identity is inextricably linked to the ways in which they interact and intentionally don't interact with the physical world (Howes, 2005.) The sense of touch communicates powerful information about the physical world, other people, and oneself in a way that other senses may not be able to; through touch, bodies communicate on a level separate from intellectual communication. Likewise one’s choices about touch can be a powerful indicator of different aspects of their identity – in 'Waiting For Godot' (Beckett, 1953), Vladimir and Estragon’s debate on whether to help Pozzo aids the audience in understanding status and power within the play.

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Authenticity is what makes art emotionally charged and relatable to its viewers – honesty and reality being shared between artist and audience. Authentic works are often identified through the discussion of taboo or uncomfortable themes, where the artist’s emotional vulnerability engages truthfully with their audience. Authenticity is exemplified in theatrical works where the artist “[speaks] the truth of their own situation” (Moore, 2002), making comments on culture or politics where the opinions presented oppose those commonly held and thusly explore the artist’s authentic creative identity. A powerful example of an authentic playwright and character is found in Williamson’s ‘The Removalist,’ which through juxtaposition explores his authentic concern with police corruption and misogyny in 1960s Australia.  

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David Williamson: The Removalists

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Creative influence examines the way an artist’s research and exploration into other works informs their personal artistic practice - “…there is no end to ‘influence’” (Bloom, 1997.) Through an audience’s examination of artistic works, many choices appear to have been informed by works that inspired or aroused curiosity in the practitioner. As a playwright, I examine a range of texts specific to my thematic concerns while also drawing inspiration from works I admire, to form a cohesive understanding of my influences as an artist. This is exemplified in my reflection on my short play 'Ain’t That Poetic’, wherein I examine my own creative influences and the ways in which they informed this work.

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An artist’s creative identity is the way their own personal identity and its many facets subsequently informs their work to produce art that is authentically, recognisably theirs. An artist’s creative identity can be formed from their essential beliefs about themselves or their subjective understanding of their place in the world, with beliefs, experiences and culture impacting their work. Indeed, art is “…an opportunity for citizens to reflect on notable moral and political issues of the day” (Sewell, 2016.) As a playwright my creative identity is trademarked by a focus on marginalised Australian stories and authentic, raw characters, exemplified through this scene from my play ‘Ain’t That Poetic,’ inspired by conversations from my life. 

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Tony Kushner: Angels in America

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The concept of a fractured identity explores the intersection of the many theories about personhood - essentialism, social identity, authenticity, and more - and the ways in which these interact and contradict one another. Hall theorises that identity is not singular but that “…the shifting and changing character of identities marks the way that we think about ourselves and others” (Barker, 2012). Fractured identity focusses on how one’s identity is comprised in many differing and contradictory ways, and how one’s identity may undergo changes in different environments or situations. This is explored in ‘Angels in America’ (Kushner, 1991) through the character of Roy Cohn, whose identity is fractured between his public image and his private life.

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Alex Buzo: Norm and Ahmed