Geography: Oceania > Australia and New Zealand > Australia
Year: 2023
Produced by: Hayes Theatre Co
Creative Team: Book, music and lyrics by Vidya Makan; directed by Sonya Suares
Synopsis: The Lucky Country is an Australian musical that questions who is permitted to appear within the nation’s preferred story of itself. Its songs move across histories of immigration and racial exclusion, placing contemporary Asian-Australian experience beside earlier restrictions on citizenship. The production utilises an ensemble structure to reveal the recurring demands for migrants and their descendants to prove loyalty. The familiar national phrase in the title becomes unstable when viewed from people whose belonging remains conditional. Music allows the work to shift between satire and personal testimony without separating historical policy from everyday experience. The production is particularly useful for analysing post migration identity because many of its speakers are already Australian. The conflict lies in the national narratives that continue to position them as temporary outsiders.
Source: Vidya Makan, artist and production information: https://www.vidyamakan.com/ Hayes Theatre Co: https://hayestheatre.com.au/