Coming soon (to a theatre near you) : the temporality of global film distribution to Australia

This article explores the changing contexts of international film exhibition in Australia over a 20-year period (1989–2009) by examining in some empirical detail Australia’s position in the global flow of films during this time. It argues that, at the most abstract level, distributors are engaged in the management and mediation of time and space in the field of global communications. It is proposed that distributors, through the organisation of temporal differentiation, are explicitly active in the creation of both cultural and commodity value. This is particularly apparent as film distributors explore and engage new methodologies of film release, which emphasise overlapping, intersecting and contradictory temporalities in the cinema experience.

e-learning through digital theatre : breaking down the tyranny of distance and limits of location

In this article, we report on a cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural digital exchange project between Australian Drama and Education students and Dutch English Language and Culture students, and examine the impact of the place-independent, technology-mediated communications and collaboration on their learning trajectories. The intensive, intercultural collaboration between the two groups of students resulted in a 50-minute group-devised, digital theatre play entitled Quarter Acre Dreaming. This play, performed through live interactive media by both Dutch and Australian students, traced the historical development of the Australian suburb, while integrating scenes of Dutch immigration into Australia. In the creative process, the students on either side of the globe interacted through Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), and used videoconferencing and Skype for live rehearsals and discussions to advance their learning of English, their performance repertoire and cross-cultural understanding.

The digital contamination of dramatic theatre : subject technology in exception

Drawing on Derrida’s analysis of the metaphysics of presence, this paper examines the centrality of presence in much theatre commentary, arguing that such a privileging demonises projected media as a form of contamination. Through a close look at a hybrid work that integrates live performers with avatars from Second Life, I seek a way to move forward between conditions of possibility and impossibility.

Multimodal theatre experiences : Africa and 2 dimensional life of her

Australia’s theatre for young audiences (TYA) has concentrated on young people’s interest in techno-savvy narrative complexities since the early 1990s, and has done so with positive outcomes. Building from a reflective inquiry, which is based on a TYA practitioner’s viewpoint, I explore two Australian contemporary theatre productions for mixed audiences: My Darling Patricia’s Africa (2011) and Fleur Elise Noble’s 2 Dimensional Life of Her (2011), which utilize old and new technologies for differing purposes. I present the following article in two parts: The first section briefly contextualizes TYA plays in Australia using digital technologies, along with a review of the literature that introduces an ongoing dialogue about digital media in theatre. The second part showcases the creative development process and the synopsis of Africa and 2 Dimensional Life of Her before I discuss the use of old technology in Africa in the form of a techno-tele-character, and the impact of new technologies in 2 Dimensional Life of Her as a transmediated theatrical occurrence. Recommendations are made for ways that TYA practitioners might consider mixing old and new technologies with the live to compete in the cultural marketplace.

The value of guided operating theatre experience for undergradaute nurses

Not all undergraduate nurses visit the operating theatre. Does this impact on care provided pre and post-operatively? Knowledge testing revealed a 76% pass rate for guided compared to 56% for non-guided learners at graduation and a 100% pass rate for guided compared to 53% of non-guided after their Graduate Nurse Year.

The silent witness: art as a mode of representation of voices and visions of how,as a woman, I build borders and bridges in enacting my identit(ies)

Feminist theorists unveil how women negotiate their identities within complex entanglements of social constructs such as race, ethnicity, religious belief and practices, cultural tradition, and values. Feminist artists use subjective experiences that shape representation and performativity in empowering women to have a ‘voice’. In this paper, I focus on ‘breaking silences’ through series of my artworks (as part of my PhD research) that represent self-narratives as subjectivities of life experiences, contingencies, and cultural shifts through migration transitions as new ways of figuration and reflection on such issues. I look through discourses of gender differences, nomadic subjectivity, and new ways of figurations (Braidotti 2011, 10) and the affect theory (Gregg and Seigworth 2010), and the concept of giving ‘voice’ (Berlant 2011). Such discourses frame how I interrogate and represent my gendered identities.

Stereoscopic theatre: the impact of gestalt perceptual organization in the stereoscopic theatre environment

This paper argues that it is essential for live theatre that incorporates stereoscopic imagery to reconceptualise the performance space to facilitate a successful audience experience. While 3D technology greatly increases artistic possibilities, the risks of perceptual confusion exist in live theatre just as in stereoscopic cinema, indeed more so given the coexistence of live performers. This paper argues that Gestalt perceptual organization theory can be valuable in informing how best to employ stereoscopic imagery within a live theater environment, with reference to the artistic works of one of the authors.

An Overview of Current Initiatives to Improve Child Witness Interviews about Sexual Abuse

This comment provides an overview of the main barriers to eliciting quality evidence from child witnesses in sexual abuse cases and recent attempts within several Australian jurisdictions to overcome these barriers. The comment takes a constructive approach. Recommendations relate to five themes: adoption of a narrative framework, quality of training, interviewer workplace climate, prosecutor feedback, and ongoing case tracking and evaluation. While the focus is on child witnesses, the recommendations also apply to other vulnerable witnesses and adults.

Facilitating child witness interviews' understanding of evidential requirements through prosecutor instruction

Prosecutors report that the evidential usefulness of child witness statements about abuse is often limited by unnecessary interview content and excessive length. Prior research indicates that this limitation may be attributed to a mismatch between interviewers' and prosecutors' understandings of the legal requirements of an interview. The aim of this study is to examine whether differences in the evidential qualities that are perceived as important by prosecutors and interviewers can be reduced through simple instruction. Five prosecutors and 33 interviewers completed a written exercise wherein participants were required to identify what aspects of information required follow-up in five hypothetical narrative accounts of abuse. Twenty of the interviewers had (prior to completing the exercise) received prosecutor instruction on the requirements of interviews in terms of the elements and particulars of sexual offences, and the manner in which necessary information is best elicited in an interview (from a legal perspective). The responses to the exercise of interviewers who had and had not received prosecutor instruction were compared. The results indicated that interviewers who had received instruction were more consistent with prosecutors in their responses to the exercise. The importance of these findings, and directions for future research, are discussed.