Description

Steve, a typical Aussie bloke, has retired from his company and passed the family business over to his confident son Jimmy, leaving his more sensitive son Luke out in the cold. This is just the latest in a lifetime of insults and rejection for Luke and he stops speaking to his father … for eight years. Steve falls gravely ill and, wanting a measure of peace before the end, tries to make things right with Luke. Once Luke can finally see the love behind the bluster, he and Jimmy commit to doing whatever it takes to fulfil their father's dying wish.

Crunch Time, David Williamson's final play after an astonishing 50 years of writing for the stage, displays his much-loved combination of wit and drama in a tale of family and duty set against current social issues.

'Chair-gripping tension … Williamson's trademark sense of dramatic irony is lively to the end' —Sydney Morning Herald

'There is as much humour ... as joy, tenderness and disappointment' —Sydney Arts Guide

'A fine swan song for the finest playwright Australia has ever seen' —State of the Art

Biography

David Williamson

DAVID WILLIAMSON is Australia’s best known and most widely performed playwright. Some of his 55 produced plays over the last 50 years include The Coming of the Stork, The Removalists, Don’s Party, The Club, Travelling North, Emerald City, Money & Friends, Dead White Males, The Jack Manning Trilogy, Up for Grabs, Soulmates, Nothing Personal, When Dad Married Fury, Rupert, Cruise Control, Dream Home, Odd Man Out, Sorting Out Rachel, Nearer the Gods, The Big Time, Family Values, Crunch Time, The Great Divide, The Puzzle and Aria. His plays (also in translation) have been performed internationally, including in London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. David has adapted many of his plays into feature films to great acclaim and his original feature screenplays include Gallipoli, Phar Lap, The Year of Living Dangerously, Balibo (as co-writer) and On the Beach (adapted for television). David’s many awards include 12 Australian Writers’ Guild Awards, 5 Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Screenplay and, in 1996, the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award. David has received four honorary doctorates and been made an Officer of the Order of Australia, as well as having been named one of Australia’s Living National Treasures.