Despite a growing presence in Australian theatre, an exploration of the Blak Gothic movement playing out on stage is yet to be conducted. This exegesis explores the emerging presence of a Blak Gothic Theatre and identifies five defining elements for these works, presented as intrinsically interconnected features: Country as Character, Blak Temporality, Tropes as Truthtelling, Unsettled Endings, and Communal Conjuring. Considering the writing, development, and production of a new play – an adaptation of Barbara Baynton’s classic Gothic short-story, ‘The Chosen Vessel’ – this exegesis will also explore the way in which Gothic\ features amplify First Nations themes and support meaningful constructions of Blakness on stage. This adaptation is to be considered alongside the exegesis as a manifestation of – and testing ground for - these findings. Defining a Blak Gothic theatrical movement presents an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers to name what is already occurring in their work, and a pathway to leveraging the potential of a reflexively haunted genre.
‘Unsettled’ ghosts: Towards a Blak Gothic Theatre
Van Den Berg, D. (Author). 2026
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis