Young characters throughout the history of Australian theatre have traditionally been represented as tragic, transient, and dangerous; discourses which have defined and limited their construction. 'Youth' itself is a concept which has been invented and perpetuated within Western Art and Media for much of the twentieth century and beyond, creating an exclusive 'space' for young people: a space between childhood and a standard human being. This thesis seeks to explore the implications of this space, as well as contextualise a new creative work - the stage play like, dead - within the canon of Australian theatre texts which portray young characters. like, dead will be shown to be a work which reappropriates clichéd youthful discourses through the use of irony, humour, and a sense of postmodern 'performativity' among its characters. In so doing it will demonstrate an alternative approach to representing young people on the Australian stage, by enhancing the constructedness of traditional images of 'youth' and pursuing the creation of young characters which are not solely defined by the term.

This study focuses on trends in contemporary Australian playwrighting, discussing recent investigations into the playwrighting process. The study analyses the current state of this country’s playwrighting industry, with a particular focus on programming trends since 1998. It seeks to explore the implications of this current theatrical climate, in particular the types of work most commonly being favoured for production. It argues that Australian plays are under-represented (compared to non-Australian plays) on ‘mainstream’ stages and that audiences might benefit from more challenging modes of writing than the popular three-act realist play models. The thesis argues that ‘New Lyricism’ might fill this position of offering an innovative Australian playwrighting mode. New Lyricism is characterised by a set of common aesthetics, including a non-linear narrative structure, a poetic use of language and magic realism. Several Australian playwrights who have adopted this mode of writing are identified and their works examined. The author’s play Floodlands is presented as a case study and the author’s creative process is examined in light of the published critical discussions about experimental playwriting work.