Australia’s most prolific playwright has come out of retirement and has his finger on the pulse, addressing the cost-of-living crisis. The title of his play refers to the haves and have nots in society. When David Williamson was a boy in the 1950s, the difference in salary between a worker and a managing director rarely exceeded fivefold. Now…
The word ‘Rhinestone’ immediately makes me think of ‘Cowboy’. So, when I saw the title of the current play at Ensemble Theatre Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, I thought that David Williamson had delved into the great ‘Western’ genre. Well, he does a little bit. Set mostly in the living room of Monica in Sydney’s…
Queensland Theatre can’t go wrong opening its 2023 season with this entertaining and sometimes searing comedy-drama from the prodigious David Williamson (Emerald City, Don’s Party, The Removalists and many more). Family dynamics clash with topical politics and social issues in the tight, interval-free 90-minute play directed by Artistic Director, Lee Lewis (Prima Facie, Mouthpiece). Family…
It’s always a treat to see a David Williamson play. But with Nearer the Gods, set in England in 1684, there is not a vulgar Australian joke to be heard, nor a can of beer to be seen. In fact, the only reference to a “pot” is in Isaac Newton’s chamber. Instead, using the backdrop…
It’s not often that a dramatic play comes along that so generously pays out the trifecta to the audience. The New Theatre’s production of The Removalists does this in spades. With an outstanding script, flawless acting and incisive direction, the audience virtually has no choice but to return home fully satisfied! Written by David Williamson…
The satire about the film and publishing industries in Sydney (the Emerald City of the title) is also about marriage and its strains, especially when it is of two competitive partners trying to find a balance in life. This is Australia of the late 1980s, full of entrepreneurial optimism and materialism, that see antihero protagonist…
David Williamson’s Nearer the Gods intriguingly promotes itself as a show about the politics of 17th Century science. This appears affirmed by its pre-show Purcell Chamber Music sounds and when Isaac Newton (Rhys Muldoon) appears seated at a table centre stage, he is wearing a periwig and dressed extravagantly according to the play’s Restoration-era setting….
