Platform Papers > Issue 03: Trapped by the Past

Trapped by the Past: Why our Theatre is Facing Paralysis

by Julian Meyrick

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Paperback. $12.95 rrp. Publication January 2005

ISBN 09581213-7-0

In a masterly assault on the present state of our performing arts, Meyrick examines the past, accuses the theatre of being stuck in the 1970s and calls for an overhaul. His closely-observed argument reveals how the theatre has become hierarchical and competitive, that the once-thriving centre has been eaten away, leaving only the major institutions and the fringe.

Meyrick proposes a more democratic structure, abandoning the funding wars and developing a genuinely national strategy. He demonstrates why the old ways are paralysing new thought and outlines the first steps towards change.

Dr Julian Meyrick is associate director and literary advisor of the Melbourne Theatre Company and a theatre director, historian and social scientist. He has written widely on performance theory and practice and is the author of See How it Runs: Nimrod and the New Wave (2002)

This issue also includes responses to Christopher Latham's essay.

Platform Papers invites considered responses to Meyrick’s argument for publication in the April edition.

Download the papers given by Lyn Wallis ( director of Company B Belvoir’s B Sharp program) and Julian Meyrick (associate director of the Melbourne Theatre Company) at the Sydney launch of Platform Paper No 3 at at the SBW Stables Theatre on 20 January 2005. Other speakers included Rob Brookman (general manager of the Sydney Theatre Company) and David Berthold (director of the Griffin Theatre Company). David Berthold's speech, "Don't let the curtain fall on the nation's next act", was published in The Australian, 27 January 2005