David Williamson Biography

Australian playwright, born in Melbourne, educated at Monash University. His first play, The Coming of the Stork (1970), was performed in Melbourne; other early work, including The Removalists (1971) and Don's Party (1971), was staged in London as well as Australia; both plays were later filmed. Williamson has also written several important screenplays, for Gallipoli, Phar Lap, and The Year of Living Dangerously, as well as for a number of his own plays. Distinguished immediately by their sharp and witty observation of local Australian life, Williamson's plays subtly explore suppressed tensions often only revealed by the characters under the effects of love, anger, or alcohol. Many draw on Williamson's own milieu to great effect, especially What if You Died Tomorrow (1973), The Department (1974), and The Club (1977). Other plays include Travelling North (1979); The Perfectionist (1982); Emerald City (1987), which comically probes perennial Melbourne/Sydney tensions through the career of a scriptwriter; Top Silk (1990), set in the legal world; Siren (1991, performed 1992), exploring games of power and sex; Money and Friends (1991, performed 1992), a satirical comedy about the rich élite; Brilliant Lies (1993), about the backlash against feminism; and Sanctuary (1994), the story of an investigative journalist whose biographer won't let him retire. All reveal Williamson's enduring interest in contemporary power pressures within sharply defined social and cultural groups. He has also published his Collected Plays (2 volumes, 1986, 1994).