Drama: Ruby Moon
How has Cameron Malcher used dramatic forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions to communicate strong social and personal issues in his production of Ruby Moon?
Contemporary Australian theatre mainly focuses on the reflection of the ‘real’ Australia and communicating to the audience real and modern issues/ideas that respond to the social climate and community. As well as that, CAT tries to give marginalized voices a voice that is heard. Cameron Malcher has used dramatic forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions such as symbolism, a setting that is everlasting, transformational acting and more. The use of these techniques explores the social and personal issues of suburban paranoia, identity and grief/loss. Although the play itself is not very much realistic, Malcher explores the issues in a way that can be performed so that the audience can understand these particular issues and view them in a serious and somber way.
These issues that “Ruby Moon” is faced with are suburban paranoia, identity, the fear of child abduction and grief/loss. The context of suburban Australia and 2000 and onwards has been faced with ‘western’ issues of personal identity, national identity and body image. With society and technology constantly changing, Australia is a country that has gone from a rural farming, close-knit community to a multicultural, diverse society. With a new ‘Australian Dream”, the success of the home security market has shown that people aren’t trusting their own neighbor’s or just don’t feel safe in the suburb. The fear of child abduction also that relates to the feeling of distrust from neighbor’s, is one idea that has always been in the back of Australia’s communal mind fueled by the media.
The ways in which the director, Cameron Malcher looks further into these issues is the way Ray and Sylvie lose their child Ruby. The grief that the characters express flows throughout the play and connects each scene where the each scene displays
Contemporary Australian theatre mainly focuses on the reflection of the ‘real’ Australia and communicating to the audience real and modern issues/ideas that respond to the social climate and community. As well as that, CAT tries to give marginalized voices a voice that is heard. Cameron Malcher has used dramatic forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions such as symbolism, a setting that is everlasting, transformational acting and more. The use of these techniques explores the social and personal issues of suburban paranoia, identity and grief/loss. Although the play itself is not very much realistic, Malcher explores the issues in a way that can be performed so that the audience can understand these particular issues and view them in a serious and somber way.
These issues that “Ruby Moon” is faced with are suburban paranoia, identity, the fear of child abduction and grief/loss. The context of suburban Australia and 2000 and onwards has been faced with ‘western’ issues of personal identity, national identity and body image. With society and technology constantly changing, Australia is a country that has gone from a rural farming, close-knit community to a multicultural, diverse society. With a new ‘Australian Dream”, the success of the home security market has shown that people aren’t trusting their own neighbor’s or just don’t feel safe in the suburb. The fear of child abduction also that relates to the feeling of distrust from neighbor’s, is one idea that has always been in the back of Australia’s communal mind fueled by the media.
The ways in which the director, Cameron Malcher looks further into these issues is the way Ray and Sylvie lose their child Ruby. The grief that the characters express flows throughout the play and connects each scene where the each scene displays