Editing Culture of Australia (section)

===Theatre===
{{Main|Theatre in Australia}}
European traditions came to Australia with the [[First Fleet]] in 1788, with the first production being performed in 1789 by convicts.<ref name="olioweb.me.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.olioweb.me.uk/plays/ |title=Our Country's Good: The Recruiting Officer |publisher=Olioweb.me.uk |access-date=29 January 2011}}</ref> In 1988, the year of [[Australia's bicentenary]], the circumstances of the foundations of Australian theatre were recounted in [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]]'s play ''[[Our Country's Good]]''.<ref name="olioweb.me.uk"/>

[[File:Melbourne Princess Theatre Feb 2013.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Princess Theatre, Melbourne|Princess Theatre]] in Melbourne]]
Hobart's [[Theatre Royal, Hobart|Theatre Royal]] opened in 1837 and is Australia's oldest continuously operating theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatreroyal.com.au/history.html |title=a great night out! – Hobart Tasmania |publisher=Theatre Royal |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004163331/http://www.theatreroyal.com.au/history.html |archive-date=4 October 2010 }}</ref> Inaugurated in 1839, the [[Melbourne Athenaeum]] is one of Melbourne's oldest cultural institutions, and Adelaide's [[Queen's Theatre, Adelaide|Queen's Theatre]], established in 1841, is today the oldest purpose-built theatre on the mainland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.sa.gov.au/queens/about.htm |title=Queen's Theatre |publisher=History.sa.gov.au |date=1 July 2010 |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221043342/http://history.sa.gov.au/queens/about.htm |archive-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> The mid-19th-century [[Australian gold rushes|gold rushes]] provided funds for the construction of grand theatres in the Victorian style, such as the [[Princess Theatre, Melbourne|Princess Theatre]] in Melbourne, established in 1854.

After Federation in 1901, theatre productions evidenced the new sense of national identity. ''[[On Our Selection (1912 play)|On Our Selection]]'' (1912), based on the stories of [[Steele Rudd]], portrays a pioneer farming family and became immensely popular. Sydney's grand [[Capitol Theatre, Sydney|Capitol Theatre]] opened in 1928 and after restoration remains one of the nation's finest auditoriums.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/explore.htm |title= The Capitol Theatre - Sydney|website=www.capitoltheatre.com.au |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210113100/http://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/explore.htm |archive-date=10 February 2010}}</ref>

In 1955, ''[[Summer of the Seventeenth Doll]]'' by [[Ray Lawler]] portrayed resolutely Australian characters and went on to international acclaim. That same year, young Melbourne artist [[Barry Humphries]] performed as [[Edna Everage]] for the first time at [[Melbourne University]]'s Union Theatre. His satirical stage creations, notably Dame Edna and [[Les Patterson]], became Australian cultural icons. Humphries also achieved success in the US with tours on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and has been honored in Australia and Britain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6757531.stm |title=Entertainment &#124; The man behind Dame Edna Everage |work=BBC News |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=29 January 2011}}</ref>

Founded in Sydney 1958, the [[National Institute of Dramatic Art]] boasts famous alumni including [[Cate Blanchett]], [[Mel Gibson]] and [[Hugo Weaving]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rawlings-Way |first=Charles |title=Sydney |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781741049206/page/167 167] |isbn=978-1740598392 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781741049206/page/167 }}</ref> Construction of the [[Adelaide Festival Centre|Adelaide Festival Center]] began in 1970 and South Australia's Sir [[Robert Helpmann]] became director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/afc/history.php |title=History |publisher=Adelaide Festival Centre |date=2 June 1973 |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529170931/http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/afc/history.php |archive-date=29 May 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/default.aspx?s=sir_robert_helpmann |title=Robert Helpmann |publisher=Helpmannawards.com.au |date=28 September 1986 |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217064310/http://helpmannawards.com.au/default.aspx?s=sir_robert_helpmann |archive-date=17 February 2011}}</ref> The new wave of Australian theatre debuted in the 1970s as “a new and more realistic look into [Australia's] beginnings as a nation”. It explored the confrontation in social relations, the use of vernacular language and expressions of masculine social habits in contemporary Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=new wave |url=https://resource.acu.edu.au/siryan/Academy/theatres/new%20wave.htm#:~:text=The%20New%20Wave%20was%20a,Jack%20Hibberd%20and%20John%20Romeril. |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=resource.acu.edu.au}}</ref> The [[Belvoir St Theatre]] presented works by [[Nick Enright]] and [[David Williamson]]. The [[Sydney Opera House]], inaugurated in 1973, is the home of [[Opera Australia]] and the [[Sydney Theatre Company]].

The [[Bell Shakespeare Company]] was created in 1990. A period of success for Australian musical theatre came in the 1990s with the debut of musical biographies of Australian music singers [[Peter Allen (musician)|Peter Allen]] (''[[The Boy From Oz]]'' in 1998) and [[Johnny O'Keefe]] (''[[Shout! The Legend of The Wild One]]'').

In ''The One Day of the Year'', [[Alan Seymour]] studied the paradoxical nature of the [[ANZAC Day]] commemoration by Australians of the defeat of the [[Battle of Gallipoli]]. ''Ngapartji Ngapartji'', by [[Scott Rankin]] and [[Trevor Jamieson]], recounts the story of the effects on the [[Pitjantjatjara people]] of nuclear testing in the Western Desert during the [[Cold War]]. It is an example of the contemporary fusion of traditions of drama in Australia with Pitjantjatjara actors being supported by a multicultural cast of Greek, Afghan, Japanese and New Zealand heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Review: Ngapartji Ngapartji, Belvoir Street Theatre |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/review-ngapartji-ngapartji/story-e6frev39-1111115327660 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113031144/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/review-ngapartji-ngapartji/story-e6frev39-1111115327660 |archive-date=13 January 2012 |access-date=30 August 2024 |website=dailytelegraph.com.au}}</ref>