Imagining an alternate history where European colonisers were defeated in their attempt to colonise Tasmania has earned UNE student Dylan van den Berg a place in this year’s prestigious Queensland Premier’s Drama Award shortlist.

Dylan, a Canberra-based actor and playwright undertaking a Master of Arts (Theatre & Performance) at UNE, says he’s had opportunity within the course to hone his playwriting craft and delve deeper into subjects like Aboriginal history and experience.

“Undertaking the elective ‘Aboriginal Resilience and the Arts’ was an incredible experience. It was powerful and enlightening, offering deep insight into the ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have withstood the forces of colonisation through their arts practice,” Dylan says.

“I also learned a great deal from ‘Scriptwriting for Theatre’, which has a refreshing focus on generating material and regular writing tasks.”

A Palawa person with family connections to North East Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands, Dylan is passionate about sharing Aboriginal history and promoting reconciliation. However his shortlisted play, way back when, written for his creative project in the master’s program, is his first effort to explore the subject on stage.  

Describing it as “culturally hybrid” and a “play within a play”, Dylan says way back when has three Aboriginal women re-enacting the European’s failed attempt at colonising Tasmania, in his imagined history, and confronting their personal experiences of colonial violence.  

 “There’s comedy, there’s a play-within-a-play and there’s a deep reflection and comment on the lingering effects of colonisation. The heart of the story lies in the women’s connection to each other, and their ‘coming together’ – despite their differences – through the performance of personal and collective histories,” Dylan says.

While no stranger to acting and playwriting – he has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Drama and International Communication at the ANU, has trained in improvisation and acting at the State University of New York and Upright Citizen’s Brigade (NYC), and worked professionally as an actor for a number of years – he says applying for the QLD Premier’s Drama Award (QPDA) was a new way of challenging himself.

“Applying for the award was a way of putting my work out into the world in a way I hadn’t before. This year, they received over 200 entries, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted alongside a bunch of talented artists.”

“The QPDA has a real focus on projects grappling with Australian society, and I felt that my play was a reflection of how non-Indigenous Australia often views Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as a celebration of the resilience of the world’s oldest continuing culture,” Dylan says.

When he’s not writing and acting, Dylan puts his passion for reconciliation into practice at the Starlight Children’s Foundation, developing their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), implementing their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment strategy and realising other diversity and inclusion initiatives.

On the creative front, he has a number of exciting projects underway. His play Milk will premiere in Canberra in 2020 with ACT Government funding, and another work, The Camel, will feature in this summer’s ‘Fringe at the Edge of the World Festival’ in Hobart. 

Even with the solid industry experience behind him, Dylan thinks study and research will continue to play an important role in his future as he develops and hones his craft.

“The chance to learn from experienced teaching staff at UNE, who all have extensive industry experience, has been invaluable,” he says.

“I’ve got a few shows in the works for the next 12 months or so, and then I think I’d like to continue my practice-led research with a PhD.”

More about the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award, administered by Queensland Theatre: http://www.queenslandtheatre.com.au/QPDA