In states unborn and accents yet unknown: Shakespeare and Australian Indigenous performance

Abstract

Shakespeare arrived in Australia with European colonisers, specifically with Captain Cook on board the Endeavour, and the relationship between English and Australian Indigenous cultures has often been considered antithetical. However, there now exists a sizeable corpus of theatrical productions in Australia that feature significant representation of Indigenous actors, culture and performance traditions, setting precedents for a more inclusive, anticolonial theatrical culture. This chapter brings together a selection of these productions, to examine the complex ways in which the tension between coloniser and colonised has been explored through Shakespeare performance in Australia.