Australian Theatre Criticism; An Editors’ Introduction

It is now ten years since Meanjin devoted a special issue to Australian theatre. In that issue editor Jack Hibberd commissioned articles from practitioners and critics who were passionate about the changes that had swept through Australian theatre and Australian society in the preceding fifteen years. Unashamedly partisan in giving space to community theatre, gay theatre, Aboriginal theatre, women’s theatre, as well as other artforms like dance and music theatre, Meanjin 1/1984 stands as a snapshot album, a record both of cultural practice and of the burning questions of the time. 

In the ten years since 1984, Australian theatre has moved from an ‘artform’ to an ‘industry’. The theatre industry employs (or, rather, underemploys) thousands of people across the country. Australian product constitutes an increasingly high proportion of output Australia-wide. In this issue Leonard Radic chronicles the continued growth and strength of the Australian play on the Australian stage.