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Scott is imprisoned for crimes against a young woman. His mother Coral arranges a meeting with the victim's wealthy parents and the prison psychologist, with mediator Jack Manning to guide the conference. Coral may have an ulterior motive.
Russell and Wendy return to Australia and discover that their filmmaker friend Mark has released a movie whose characters appear to caricature them. The perceived betrayal stirs long-standing resentments among the friends, leading to brief violence, reconciliation, and hindsight.
Stephen returns home, reluctantly, to his mother's deathbed. As he and his sister revisit family photographs and childhood memories, they uncover conflicting versions of their parents' unhappy marriage.
Decades after their Olympic rowing medal, former teammates reunite in Port Douglas. Banker Jim envies surgeon Dick’s reputation, while Steven’s arrival threatens to uncover their shared past.
A drama about euthanasia and the struggle to decide whether to end one's life, inspired by David Williamson's experiences with the health system after his heart condition.
After a vital operation prevents Helen from having a child, her sister Claudia agrees to be a surrogate. Years later, when Claudia and her husband cannot conceive, she confronts the fact that the child she gave to Helen may be her only chance at motherhood.
A comedy about sexual harassment and political correctness examines conflicts in changing social values.
On an island off Queensland, a film producer tries to make a tax-loss thriller about Aboriginal people taking revenge on white castaways. The director, screenwriter, leading man, and a local Aboriginal man reshape the project around competing artistic and political aims.
Mediator Jack Manning is called to Enabling and Caring, a nonprofit, to address a dispute over its direction. The organisation’s new CEO and longstanding staff clash as a workplace conference exposes competing values and personal grievances.
A psychologist goes to work at a building company in this satire of the corporate world.
Chrissie works as an ambulance paramedic until the director of paramedical services discovers that her qualifications are entirely fabricated.
Three couples—Australian, English, and American—are seated together on a cruise for a week. Their fixed dinner-table arrangement forces strangers who may loathe one another to coexist, and the situation grows worse.
After illness leaves Steve with six months to live, he tries to reconcile with his estranged son and bring his family together to help him die.
A satirical response to post-structuralist theory, the play challenges claims that people and truth are wholly constructed by language and ideology. Shakespeare appears as a recurring motif.
Forty years after Don’s Party, Don and his old friends gather at his home on Australian federal election night in 2010. As election results come in, the now older group compares the turns their lives have taken and mixes politics, strong personalities, and alcohol.
During the 1969 Australian federal election, schoolteacher Don hosts friends to celebrate an expected Labor victory. As the results disappoint, drinking and increasingly ugly exchanges expose the guests' frustrated ambitions and relationships.
Young couple Dana and Paul buy an apartment in Bondi but struggle with their mortgage and troublesome neighbors. Williamson says the play draws on the difficulty his adult children faced in entering the property market.
Screenwriter Colin and book editor Kate Rogers move from Melbourne to Sydney, where Colin chases film projects and Kate advocates for an Aboriginal author's novel. Their family and professional struggles satirize the film and publishing industries, while Sydney becomes the play's Emerald City of self-discovery.
After a sacked construction worker rams his former boss's car, a community convener brings the worker, his boss, their families, and coworkers together to discuss the harm and circumstances behind the incident instead of sending the case directly to court.
On a retiring judge’s seventieth birthday, his eldest daughter shelters an asylum seeker from border patrol, setting off conflict within the family.
In ancient Rome, playwright Titus Maccius Plautus must convince producer Crassus Dives that his new comedy will succeed and satisfy the censor. Before the script is finished, Plautus and his wife perform an improvised version of The Swaggering Soldier, which challenges Roman conventions including slavery and women's roles in theatre.
Psychology professor Roland is an expert on the pursuit of happiness, but struggles to find it in his own life.
In Derek Freeman's dream, people from his life, including Margaret Mead, return to discuss his objections to her account of Samoan adolescence.
A satire about a right-wing radio shock jock, inspired by prominent Australian talkback personalities.
After Emma leaves her husband Jack, who has abandoned law for creative work as an island-resort bellhop, their friends' failing marriage and the arrival of new partners bring the group into confrontation.
Vietnam veteran Graham discovers that his wife Karen has left him for economist Neville, whose own wife is pregnant. Williamson's commissioned drama grew from an early storyline titled Return from Vietnam and was substantially revised during development.
David Williamson reworks Shakespeare’s King Lear into contemporary, accessible English while retaining the original structure and philosophy.
The children of two clashing families fall in love. Set in Noosa, the play draws on Williamson's observations of life after moving there, while its fictional characters are distinct from the real people who inspired them.
A cross-dressing Australian Rules football player faces the influence of managers in a sport increasingly shaped by money and professional representation.
When mathematician Peter is financially ruined by his brother's bankruptcy, neighbour Margaret asks his wealthy friends to help him, but they hesitate. The play grew from Williamson's question about whether a close-knit beach community would support a beloved member facing a disaster beyond his control.
Isaac Newton battles the Royal Society to prove his theory of universal gravity; the play draws on his relationships with Edmund Halley, Mary Newton and Robert Hooke.
A power struggle develops between an older editor and her younger rival in publishing, as both women contend with losing power and status with age.
Alice marries the direct Ryan and discovers that he has Asperger's. Their relationship becomes an unconventional romantic comedy about differences in social understanding, love and acceptance.
A romance develops between two middle-aged people.
In a theatrical near-cabaret, Rupert Murdoch presents his own legacy and ideological convictions to the audience. David Williamson frames the media magnate’s pursuit of influence through Murdoch’s self-justifying voice and parallels to Shakespeare’s Richard III.
On Queensland's Gold Coast, retired foreign correspondent Bob King faces a student writing his biography. The student accuses King of selling out to governments and failing to report genocides, while King probes the student's personal history; their arguments escalate into violence and end in Bob's death.
Scarlett, a thirty-something waitress who lives with her mother, is obsessed with classic films and has an active fantasy life. She dreams of being with her boss, Steve, while the awkward Alan pursues her.
Liz is hired to seduce local councillor Billy Nottle, who is suspected of taking bribes from developers.
Three female investigative reporters examine the New South Wales Labor government of the 1980s in Williamson’s satirical comedy.
A wealthy man must tell his family that he has a secret daughter. The family conflict raises questions of responsibility toward Indigenous communities and fear of losing inherited entitlement.
Set in Melbourne and New York, best-selling expatriate author Katie Best engineers a revenge scheme to bring down her most craven critic, Danny O'Loughlin.
Two former drama-school classmates have taken different paths: Celia is a wealthy soap star, while Vicki works in independent theatre. Vicki proposes a film collaboration that could become a major opportunity for both.
An Australian rules football club struggles through a season as a high-priced recruit disappoints, a coach faces dismissal, and board members maneuver for control. The satire was inspired by the Victorian Football League's Collingwood Football Club.
A socially awkward, loudly left-wing student comes to share a Melbourne flat with three university friends, with disastrous results.
Set in a university, the play follows political intrigue within an academic department. Williamson based it on his experience as a lecturer at Swinburne Tech.
The death of a prominent Labor Party politician and its impact on the people close to him.
Set in a large industrial firm, the play follows a corporate executive who writes romantic fiction and hates his fellow workers; paranoia and trade unions shape its conflict.
An academic working on a PhD and his wife hire a Danish student to babysit their children, setting the play's domestic and academic tensions in motion.
A father takes his daughter on a cruise that turns out to be for swingers; the comedy examines how infidelity, boredom and the desire for more disrupt people's lives.
In a Melbourne police station, new constable Ross and chauvinistic Sergeant Simmonds respond to Fiona's report of domestic abuse. Their attempt to help remove her furniture escalates into violence and a cover-up after Kenny dies, exposing the abuse of authority and social indifference.
A legal-aid solicitor and a prominent barrister compete over their careers and the future of their teenage son.
Newly retired engineer Frank and Frances, a divorced mother of adult daughters, leave Melbourne to settle in a cottage in subtropical New South Wales. Their late-life romance is tested by Frank’s illness, his domineering habits, Frances’s family obligations and their clashing political outlooks; as Frank’s health fails, both reassess how they treat those around them.
Art dealer Simone tries to sell a Brett Whiteley painting for a record price, guaranteeing the amount herself and putting her and her partner's assets at risk. She stages an unofficial auction among wealthy buyers, whose rivalries and motives push her toward financial and personal compromise.
A doctor turned novelist and a journalist leave their respective spouses to live together in an artists' colony. The play draws on Williamson's own experience as an engineer-turned-playwright living in an artists' colony after both he and his partner left their marriages.
Two brothers are upset when their father marries Fury, an American fundamentalist Christian half his age. The marriage ignites family conflict involving old resentments, including one daughter's belief that the father contributed to her own father's suicide.
Scott is imprisoned for crimes against a young woman. His mother Coral arranges a meeting with the victim's wealthy parents and the prison psychologist, with mediator Jack Manning to guide the conference. Coral may have an ulterior motive.
Russell and Wendy return to Australia and discover that their filmmaker friend Mark has released a movie whose characters appear to caricature them. The perceived betrayal stirs long-standing resentments among the friends, leading to brief violence, reconciliation, and hindsight.
Stephen returns home, reluctantly, to his mother's deathbed. As he and his sister revisit family photographs and childhood memories, they uncover conflicting versions of their parents' unhappy marriage.
Decades after their Olympic rowing medal, former teammates reunite in Port Douglas. Banker Jim envies surgeon Dick’s reputation, while Steven’s arrival threatens to uncover their shared past.
A drama about euthanasia and the struggle to decide whether to end one's life, inspired by David Williamson's experiences with the health system after his heart condition.
After a vital operation prevents Helen from having a child, her sister Claudia agrees to be a surrogate. Years later, when Claudia and her husband cannot conceive, she confronts the fact that the child she gave to Helen may be her only chance at motherhood.
A comedy about sexual harassment and political correctness examines conflicts in changing social values.
On an island off Queensland, a film producer tries to make a tax-loss thriller about Aboriginal people taking revenge on white castaways. The director, screenwriter, leading man, and a local Aboriginal man reshape the project around competing artistic and political aims.
Mediator Jack Manning is called to Enabling and Caring, a nonprofit, to address a dispute over its direction. The organisation’s new CEO and longstanding staff clash as a workplace conference exposes competing values and personal grievances.
A psychologist goes to work at a building company in this satire of the corporate world.
Chrissie works as an ambulance paramedic until the director of paramedical services discovers that her qualifications are entirely fabricated.
Three couples—Australian, English, and American—are seated together on a cruise for a week. Their fixed dinner-table arrangement forces strangers who may loathe one another to coexist, and the situation grows worse.
After illness leaves Steve with six months to live, he tries to reconcile with his estranged son and bring his family together to help him die.
A satirical response to post-structuralist theory, the play challenges claims that people and truth are wholly constructed by language and ideology. Shakespeare appears as a recurring motif.
Forty years after Don’s Party, Don and his old friends gather at his home on Australian federal election night in 2010. As election results come in, the now older group compares the turns their lives have taken and mixes politics, strong personalities, and alcohol.
During the 1969 Australian federal election, schoolteacher Don hosts friends to celebrate an expected Labor victory. As the results disappoint, drinking and increasingly ugly exchanges expose the guests' frustrated ambitions and relationships.
Young couple Dana and Paul buy an apartment in Bondi but struggle with their mortgage and troublesome neighbors. Williamson says the play draws on the difficulty his adult children faced in entering the property market.
Screenwriter Colin and book editor Kate Rogers move from Melbourne to Sydney, where Colin chases film projects and Kate advocates for an Aboriginal author's novel. Their family and professional struggles satirize the film and publishing industries, while Sydney becomes the play's Emerald City of self-discovery.
After a sacked construction worker rams his former boss's car, a community convener brings the worker, his boss, their families, and coworkers together to discuss the harm and circumstances behind the incident instead of sending the case directly to court.
On a retiring judge’s seventieth birthday, his eldest daughter shelters an asylum seeker from border patrol, setting off conflict within the family.
In ancient Rome, playwright Titus Maccius Plautus must convince producer Crassus Dives that his new comedy will succeed and satisfy the censor. Before the script is finished, Plautus and his wife perform an improvised version of The Swaggering Soldier, which challenges Roman conventions including slavery and women's roles in theatre.
Psychology professor Roland is an expert on the pursuit of happiness, but struggles to find it in his own life.
In Derek Freeman's dream, people from his life, including Margaret Mead, return to discuss his objections to her account of Samoan adolescence.
A satire about a right-wing radio shock jock, inspired by prominent Australian talkback personalities.
After Emma leaves her husband Jack, who has abandoned law for creative work as an island-resort bellhop, their friends' failing marriage and the arrival of new partners bring the group into confrontation.
Vietnam veteran Graham discovers that his wife Karen has left him for economist Neville, whose own wife is pregnant. Williamson's commissioned drama grew from an early storyline titled Return from Vietnam and was substantially revised during development.
David Williamson reworks Shakespeare’s King Lear into contemporary, accessible English while retaining the original structure and philosophy.
The children of two clashing families fall in love. Set in Noosa, the play draws on Williamson's observations of life after moving there, while its fictional characters are distinct from the real people who inspired them.
A cross-dressing Australian Rules football player faces the influence of managers in a sport increasingly shaped by money and professional representation.
When mathematician Peter is financially ruined by his brother's bankruptcy, neighbour Margaret asks his wealthy friends to help him, but they hesitate. The play grew from Williamson's question about whether a close-knit beach community would support a beloved member facing a disaster beyond his control.
Isaac Newton battles the Royal Society to prove his theory of universal gravity; the play draws on his relationships with Edmund Halley, Mary Newton and Robert Hooke.
A power struggle develops between an older editor and her younger rival in publishing, as both women contend with losing power and status with age.
Alice marries the direct Ryan and discovers that he has Asperger's. Their relationship becomes an unconventional romantic comedy about differences in social understanding, love and acceptance.
A romance develops between two middle-aged people.
In a theatrical near-cabaret, Rupert Murdoch presents his own legacy and ideological convictions to the audience. David Williamson frames the media magnate’s pursuit of influence through Murdoch’s self-justifying voice and parallels to Shakespeare’s Richard III.
On Queensland's Gold Coast, retired foreign correspondent Bob King faces a student writing his biography. The student accuses King of selling out to governments and failing to report genocides, while King probes the student's personal history; their arguments escalate into violence and end in Bob's death.
Scarlett, a thirty-something waitress who lives with her mother, is obsessed with classic films and has an active fantasy life. She dreams of being with her boss, Steve, while the awkward Alan pursues her.
Liz is hired to seduce local councillor Billy Nottle, who is suspected of taking bribes from developers.
Three female investigative reporters examine the New South Wales Labor government of the 1980s in Williamson’s satirical comedy.
A wealthy man must tell his family that he has a secret daughter. The family conflict raises questions of responsibility toward Indigenous communities and fear of losing inherited entitlement.
Set in Melbourne and New York, best-selling expatriate author Katie Best engineers a revenge scheme to bring down her most craven critic, Danny O'Loughlin.
Two former drama-school classmates have taken different paths: Celia is a wealthy soap star, while Vicki works in independent theatre. Vicki proposes a film collaboration that could become a major opportunity for both.
An Australian rules football club struggles through a season as a high-priced recruit disappoints, a coach faces dismissal, and board members maneuver for control. The satire was inspired by the Victorian Football League's Collingwood Football Club.
A socially awkward, loudly left-wing student comes to share a Melbourne flat with three university friends, with disastrous results.
Set in a university, the play follows political intrigue within an academic department. Williamson based it on his experience as a lecturer at Swinburne Tech.
The death of a prominent Labor Party politician and its impact on the people close to him.
Set in a large industrial firm, the play follows a corporate executive who writes romantic fiction and hates his fellow workers; paranoia and trade unions shape its conflict.
An academic working on a PhD and his wife hire a Danish student to babysit their children, setting the play's domestic and academic tensions in motion.
A father takes his daughter on a cruise that turns out to be for swingers; the comedy examines how infidelity, boredom and the desire for more disrupt people's lives.
In a Melbourne police station, new constable Ross and chauvinistic Sergeant Simmonds respond to Fiona's report of domestic abuse. Their attempt to help remove her furniture escalates into violence and a cover-up after Kenny dies, exposing the abuse of authority and social indifference.
A legal-aid solicitor and a prominent barrister compete over their careers and the future of their teenage son.
Newly retired engineer Frank and Frances, a divorced mother of adult daughters, leave Melbourne to settle in a cottage in subtropical New South Wales. Their late-life romance is tested by Frank’s illness, his domineering habits, Frances’s family obligations and their clashing political outlooks; as Frank’s health fails, both reassess how they treat those around them.
Art dealer Simone tries to sell a Brett Whiteley painting for a record price, guaranteeing the amount herself and putting her and her partner's assets at risk. She stages an unofficial auction among wealthy buyers, whose rivalries and motives push her toward financial and personal compromise.
A doctor turned novelist and a journalist leave their respective spouses to live together in an artists' colony. The play draws on Williamson's own experience as an engineer-turned-playwright living in an artists' colony after both he and his partner left their marriages.
Two brothers are upset when their father marries Fury, an American fundamentalist Christian half his age. The marriage ignites family conflict involving old resentments, including one daughter's belief that the father contributed to her own father's suicide.