Between Pride and Shame: A dialogic consideration of Honour Bound and Reconciliation! What’s the Story? in the pursuit of the Australian National Identity

The turn of the century represents a period in which Australia generally has been preoccupied with the pursuit of a singular defining national identity narrative. Since September 11, Australia’s engagement in the war on terror has led to a visceral fragmentation of national identity. This has come in many forms, yet at its most basic appears as a questions about the balance between the pursuit of our national security and the sanctity of our human rights. Public narrative through theatre and performance enables us as a culture to be reflective and reflexive in a kind of civic dialogue. In this essay I set out to examine the faces of the contemporary national identity in Australia in the early 21st century through the dialogue surrounding two distinctly different theatre events: Honour Bound (2006) and Reconciliation! What’s the Story! (2002).