The script, Millennium Bridge, is an investigation into the passions and fears that are shaping contemporary Australia today. Charting the political climate of the past decade, at the play's centre a man is building a bridge from Australia to Asia. The central dramatic question being asked is &quotIn an environment where the emphasis on economic prosperity overrides that of human rights and freedom of speech--what will be the consequences for the Australian people?" The accompanying analysis of the ten-year period it took to write Millennium Bridge illuminates the significance of institutional issues on a play and playwright's development. Written from the perspective of a mid-career playwright, the paper argues that the professional and personal circumstances within which a work of art is created (and their effect on the playwright's confidence and financial capacities) are a significant determinant of the productivity of playwrights.

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Mgr. Tomáš Vokáč Engaged Drama of Everyday Life (Socially Engaged French Drama of the late 19th and 20th Century) Abstract This thesis describes the fundamental ontological change in the character of the French drama of the 19th and 20th century which became the basis for the modern French drama of the 20th century. The thesis is based on the analysis of the selected plays with the focus on socially engaged and socio-critical themes. This thesis defines the basic line of development of the socially engaged drama that begins with the work of naturalistic writers Émile Zola and the Goncourt brothers, continues in the form of Henry Becque's playwrights and the authors grouped around Andre Antoine's Théâtre Libre, especially Jean Jullien and his theory of "live theatre", and results in the definition of Eugène Brieux's, François de Curel's and partly Octava Mirbeaua's drama. The opposite character of French theatre and drama at the turn of the 19th and 20th century is described as the counterpart to this line. The thesis provides comparison with the contemporary influences of commercial and subsidized theatres, refers to the symbolist theatre and to the work of late Parnassians. It also closely describes Neo- Romanticism Drama in verse represented by the works of Edmond Rostand, Jean Richepina and, partially,...