Description

David Williamson is the most popular, prolific and produced playwright in Australian history. These four comedies consolidate his place as a great dramatic entertainer. Williamson turns his unflinching gaze on the foibles and follies of married life and life itself.

In Jack of Hearts, Williamson has written his charm into a lovable loser who does his best to disprove the theory that nice guys always finish last.

In Cruise Control three philandering, bickering and workaholic couples board a cruise ship travelling from London to New York for seven days of marital healing.

Dream Home follows Dana and Paul, whose dream turns into a nightmare when they discover their perfect beachside flat is festering with neighbours’ grudges, death threats, come-ons, heart-to-hearts, the smell of oysters ... and Paul’s ex-girlfriend living upstairs in the throes of regret.

In Happiness, Williamson follows Roland, a professor of Wellbeing, and his cynical wife Hanna as they grapple with the elusiveness of the emotion.

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.