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The Temple• The Temple is another play by Nowraportraying the greed and excess ofthe corporate world. Laurie Blake isa former truckie and slaughterhouseowner turned entrepreneur. Nowraoffers a ferocious and funny portraitof Blake, the takeover king ofAustralia. Conduct class readings ofexcerpts from the play.Inner Voices and Albert NamesEdwardInner Voices and Albert Names Edwardare plays preoccupied with isolationand power. Set in Russia, Inner Voicesnarrates the story of the son of Catherinethe Great. Hidden away sincechildhood he assumes the throneknowing nothing more than his name.In Albert Names Edward audiences cansee the beginnings of Nowra’s interestin memory and how memory makes aperson who they are.• Name the themes of these earlyplays. Use moments and statementsfrom the plays to endorse yourjudgements.• Most of Nowra’s early work is moreEuropean than Australian in context.Find evidence to support this view.VisionsVisions is set in Paraguay during thewar of the Triple Alliance, the bloodiestconflict in Latin American history.Like many of Nowra’s plays, Visionsexplores the inheritance of power andthe fall of an empire. President Lynch’signorance and Madame Lynch’s egotismbring ruin.• Does the audience actually needthe final wrapping up of loose ends?Were you satisfied by the play’s conclusion?• In Madame Lynch we see the first ofNowra’s strong female characters.Drawing on evidence from Visions,discuss Nowra’s portrayal of MadameLynch.CapricorniaXavier Herbert’s classic novel of racialconflict in the Northern Territory duringthe 1930s was expertly dramatizedby Nowra in the powerful and movingstory of Norman’s journey to the truthof his identity.Nowra was given the difficult task ofadapting a classic Australian novel toplay. Turning the novel into a playcreated a series of problems. He offershis view of the adaptation process inthe introduction to the published play.• Find out more about Xavier Herbert’sCapricornia.• Read excerpts from Herbert’s Capricornia.Compare the plot, setting,characters, themes and language ofthe excerpts with passages from theplay.Crow‘I was very interested in this never-giveinkind of mother-courage woman.’– Louis NowraCrow has been fighting the governmentfor years to win back a tin mine that isrightfully hers. Set in Darwin in 1942,Nowra reveals Crow’s determination tochallenge the racism that prevents Aboriginalsfrom owning land. Crow is setat the fall of an empire. Darwin is beingbombed. The empire of racist attitudesand outmoded laws is crumbling away.• Do you like Crow?• Do you think Crow is her own worstenemy?• Brady describes Crow as ‘a potentmixture of social injustice and a verydetermined character.’ Do you thinkthis is an apt assessment of theplay?Summer of the AliensIt is 1962, and while the world isworried about the Cuban Missile Crisis,fourteen-year-old Lewis is preoccupiedby flying saucers. Summer of theAliens is the account of the events andrelationships that shape his emergingsense of self. Told without sentimentality,Lewis’ story is one of wonder andterror as he comes to terms with theangels and aliens within us all.• ‘Without memory we are nothing.’What does The Summer of the Alienstell an audience about the relationshipbetween memory and identity?• What are the underlying messages ofSummer of the Aliens?• In Summer of the Aliens, Nowra asksthe audience to reflect on how societyconstantly changes and evolvesbut at the same time stays the same.Do you agree?• Working as a class, research the CubanMissile Crisis and how it shapedthe society of the time. Why doesNowra draw on this context?The Incorruptible‘The Incorruptible is a play about countryand land and politics.’– Dr Tess BradyIon Stafford is made Premier of Queenslandbut he makes himself Prime Ministerof Australia. He turns the tables onthose who think they can control himand starts his own crusade for ultimatepower. His single mindedness createscorruption and chaos.• The Incorruptible is Nowra’s ‘PaulineHanson’ play. Research PaulineHanson and One Nation. Why do youthink Nowra felt compelled to write a‘Pauline Hanson’ play?• ‘Another play about power and corruptionand the end of empires.’– Dr Tess BradyWhat moments and statementsin The Incorruptible show Brady’sevaluation to be true?
• Brady dislikes the conclusion of TheIncorruptible. Do you find it an effectiveend?The writing process‘I want to be thrilled.’– Louis Nowra‘I like audiences to be shockedoccasionally.’– Louis Nowra‘I do want the audience to walk out andgo “that was an interesting play”.’– Louis Nowra• Nowra acknowledges his ownwriting has been influenced by theworks of the Greek and Elizabethanplaywrights. Research the theatre ofthese periods. Create an A4 documentthat offers an engaging profileof the selected period.• What other playwrights doesNowraname as significant influences? Findout more about one of these playwrights.• Drawing on Nowra’s statements inWhat I Wrote: Louis Nowra, discusshow he creates and structures thedrama.• What is Nowra’s opinion of dramaturges?• ‘My texts are a bit more open thanthey used to be in rehearsal.’– Louis Nowra‘With a new play, the intense relationshiphas to be triangular. It has tobe writer, director and actors.’– Louis NowraWhat is Nowra’s view of the rehearsalprocess?• Were you surprised to learn thatNowra does not see a play after itspremiere?• There are a lot of fires in Nowra’splays. What other images dominateNowra’s writing? Why does Nowrarely on such images?• Nowra offers his best writing tips inWhat I Wrote: Louis Nowra. What tipdo you think you will follow?Analytic responsesThe following topics could be used forwritten text responses, debates, paneldiscussions and online forums.• ‘Louis Nowra loathes anything to dowith relevance.’ Discuss the validityof this claim by drawing on one ofNowra’s plays.• ‘Nowra’s plays are more often thannot a plea for tolerance.’ Do youagree?• Nowra’s theatre is preoccupied bythemes of invasion, adaptation,resistance and renewal. Develop adetailed discussion of one of thesethemes with reference to a Nowraplay that you know well.From script to stage• Create and present a short soloperformance from one of Nowra’splays. Submit a short written reportthat describes and analyses the processesused to create and presentthe performance.This program is available from Ronin Films.PO Box 1005 Civic Square ph: +61 2 6248 0851ACT 2608 Australia fax: +61 2 6249 1640sue.faulkner@roninfilms.com.auwww.roninfilms.com.auPrinted play scripts are available from Currency Press at .This study guide was produced by ATOM© Snodger Media editor@atom.org.auFor more information on Screen Education magazine, or to download other free study guides,visit .For hundreds of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies,visit .Notice: An educational institution may make copies of all or part of this study guide, provided that it only makes and uses copies asreasonably required for its own educational, non-commercial, classroom purposes and does not sell or lend such copies.
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