Mirra Katz's 'Neighbourhood Watch And Fearless'

As the society we live in today becomes more diverse, so has dramatic forms of theatre. Many playwrights have incorporated cultural and social issues that are consistently seen in contemporary Australian theatre. Contemporary Australian theatre provides a sequence daily concerns that captivates the audience, with a variety in calibre, this often has an emotional and confronting effect that challenges the audience. “Neighbourhood Watch” written by Lally Katz, focuses on the matters of typical suburban Australian life. “Fearless” by Mirra Todd focuses on bringing like minded individuals together that highlight particular mental health or social issues we see in regular society. Both texts look at issues that are relevant to today, they have also used diverse dramatic style techniques such as the use of humor in unexpected and inappropriate moments. A constant theme that we recognise in both texts is discrimination, this is unfortunately an on going issue that is still a part of today’s society. As individuals we often …show more content…
With the use of production, it allows the characters to tell their stories with their emotions and interactions with one another. In some scenes characters interact with the audience, this shows us a better understanding of the impact of the individual character or the collective group. Transitions are also shown in Neighbourhood Watch through lighting and sound. For example dull lighting and monotone music (music if necessary) this can be shown where the soldier comes to Ana in news of her deceased father which had a huge impact on her. Dull lighting creates a feeling of loneliness and grief for the character. Neighbourhood Watch also used a double revolving stage where the stage would turn in alternate directions moving props around depending on scenes. This is another great example of staging as this distinguishes between flashbacks and present days in the