Review of Creating Frames: Contemporary Indigenous Theatre, by Maryrose Casey

Abstract

It is especially interesting to read about and reflect on the progress of the Indigenous theatre scene in Australia when you are involved in current developments, however peripheral. Congratulations to Maryrose Casey for a comprehensive and engaging presentation of the birth and childhood of the Australian Indigenous theatre sector. Her book sets the growth of the· sector within a cultural, social, economic and political context of the period 1967-1990. Given that Casey 'frames' her book with the government policies that determined the lives and lifestyles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, namely, assimilation, multiculturalism's version of authenticity, and reconciliation, one might argue that the recurrent theme of the contemporary Indigenous theatre scene is a struggle for self-determination.