Anthem / Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas and Irine Vela.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bovell, Andrew, author.

Cornelius, Patricia, author.

Reeves, Melissa, author.

Tsiolkas, Christos, 1965- author.

Vela, Irine, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Melbourne (Vic.)--Social conditions--Drama.

Melbourne (Vic.).

Israel.

Working class--Australia--Melbourne (Vic.)--Drama.

Working class.

Cultural intelligence--Drama.

Cultural intelligence.

Loneliness--Drama.

Loneliness.

Genre:

Drama.

Scores.

Physical Description:

xii, 109 pages, 1 score : portraits ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Strawberry Hills, NSW : Currency Press, 2023.

Summary:

"It was the 7.57 on the Upfield line. The 8.02 on the Mernda line. The 6.22 on the Craigieburn ... face to face, groin to bum, armpit to armpit. On the morning commute. A single mother struggles with her hyperactive child, a young man exerts control over his girlfriend, a cleaner is begged for help by her former boss, a convenience store worker returns for vengeance, three siblings thrash out racial and ideological battle lines, an elderly couple remember their own war of resistance. All the while busker Charity demands the passengers pay up, pay up.As the stories intersect, the characters collide with each other and tear apart, or pull towards another in yearning and loneliness. A simmering conflict keeps us on our toes, and the train moves us inexorably forwards.Two decades after their seminal work, Who's Afraid of the Working Class, Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas and Irine Vela reunite for a new take on class and the politics of marginalisation. Anthem registers the pulse of the nation in a country unable to reconcile its past and uncertain of its future. With no easy answers, it asks the urgent question of who we are now -- does Australia really sing with one voice?" -- Publisher website.

Anthem takes the pulse of the nation in a series of intersecting and sometimes brutal stories about class and race. It captures a nation in conflict and uncertain of its identity. The action is set primarily on trains where our conflicting identities compete for ascendency or simply for space and the right to be seen. Consisting of five texts – Uncensored, 7-11 and A Chemist Warehouse – A Love Story, Terror, Brothers and Sisters and Resistance what emerges is a funny and ferocious portrait of a country unable to reconcile its past, uncertain of its future and political vision. The colliding voices that make up this anthem might not always be in harmony, but they cannot be silenced.

Notes:

Anthem was first produced by Performing Lines and Arts Centre Melbourne at Arts Centre Melbourne Playhouse as part of Melbourne International Arts Festival, on 01 October 2019.

ISBN:

9781760628260

1760628263

OCLC:

1389869980

Publisher Number:

90100294287