REGIONAL ARTS VICTORIA

War Crimes

Set in a regional coastal town, War Crimes tells a powerful story of five disenfranchised young women who are fighting for respect, railing against authority and struggling to form an identity in a small town with limited opportunities. The relocation of an Iraqi refugee family to the town provokes a climate of hostility and tension that threatens to violently explode. 

War Crimes continues Real TV’s trademark technique of using real events as pretexts for the creation of relevant and provocative contemporary Australian drama. In 2007 a series of attacks on War Memorials incited a frenzy on talk back radio and raised provocative questions about young Australians attitudes to war, to tradition, to national identity and to the notion of the sacred. 

War Crimes features the beach as its central motif and references landmark historical events such as the Cronulla riots and the ANZAC story to interrogate race and gender relations in contemporary Australia. The work draws correlations between the local and the global, between violence against women and our culture of masculinity and mateship. How does powerlessness breed a hatred of “the other” and what role do government and the media play in perpetuating xenophobia and misogyny in our community?

Co-commissioned by the Sydney Opera House Education and Regional Arts Victoria, arts2GO.

War Crimes has been selected for inclusion on the 2011 VCE Drama & Theatre Studies Playlist, which relates to the successful completion of Unit 4, Outcome 3.

Please note: War Crimes is recommended for students in years 9 to 12 and contains moderate impact coarse language and strong themes.

Director: Leticia Caceres
Writer: Angela Betzien
Composer: Pete Goodwin
Designer: Tanja Beer

Artform: Drama

Key Themes: Racism, Isolation, Adolescence, Rebellion

Specific VELS:

Personal Learning - Managing Personal Learning

Civics and Citizenship - Civic Knowledge and Understanding

The Arts - Exploring and Responding

English - Speaking and Listening

LOTE - Intercultural Knowledge and Understanding

Humanities - Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Communication - Listening, Viewing and Responding

Thinking - ALL

VCE Links:

Drama - Unit 2 and 3 - Australian Drama, non-Naturalism, Stagecraft

Theatre Studies - Unit 2, 3 and 4 - non-Naturalism, Stagecraft, Character Creation

English Language - Unit 4 - Spoken English Texts

Philosophy - Unit 1 and 2 - Contemporary debate, Ethical Problems

History - Unit 1 and 4 - Community Heritage, Crisis and Conflict, Changing Attitudes in Australian reactions

Texts and Traditions - Unit 2 - Justice, Racism and Gender Roles