Description

Two plays that investigate the divergence of self-interest and truth in public life.

The Great Man: Jack Barclay, great man of the Australian Labor Party, is dead. And with him has died the last remaining connection to the social reforms of 1970s Labor governments. New Labor is thriving in its place, proudly parading economic reform as the defining agenda for the new century. At his funeral family, friends and party faithful will gather to celebrate his life. Or will they? In the grand tradition of Australian public life, each stake an individual claim to Jack's greatness and put a personal spin on his life and contribution to the nation. The Great Man is a wickedly comic tilt at politics, greed and the craving for personal identity.

Sanctuary: Robert 'Bob' King, an internationally renowned investigative journalist, has returned to his native Australia to retire to the relative isolation of Queensland. But the sanctuary he thought he had found himself is breached by a student about to publish King's biography. Conflict erupts between the young idealist and the pragmatic realist as each challenges the other's true values and motivations. A gripping story that builds in suspense to a thrilling climax, Sanctuary is a rare and successful attempt to illuminate the propaganda that is often called journalism.

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.