‘It had no filters’: the legacy of Australia’s provocative National Black Theatre

Zac Martin in a scene from Basically Black in 1973. The revue skits were commissioned as an ABC TV pilot and were part of the short-lived but culturally powerful National Black Theatre. Photograph: Courtesy of the ABC

When the first full-length play by an Indigenous Australian to be professionally produced premiered in Redfern in 1975, its writer, Robert Merritt, sat chained in the audience to two police escorts for the entire performance.

When the play ended, to thunderous applause, Merritt walked to the stage, throwing his arms in the air, as well as the arms of his two burly security escorts. He was still handcuffed to each of them.