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The Perfectionist
Williamson, David, Perfectionist, The
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
10 people want to read
About the author
David Williamson
41 books27 followersDavid Williamson AO gained a Bachelor of Engineering at Monash University in 1965 before briefly working as a design engineer at General Motors Holden and in 1966 he began lecturing in thermodynamics and social psychology at Swinburne Technical College.
Mr Williamson began writing and performing plays in 1968 with La Mama Theatre Company.
The Removalists and Don's Party established him as Australia's best-known playwright and established his reputation overseas on the stages of Europe and America.
His success in films is notable, having written the screenplays to Don's Party (1976), The Club (1980) and Phar Lap (1982), as well as collaborating with Peter Weir to make Gallipoli (1980) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Over 30 years, his work has encompassed more than 36 plays and numerous films and television productions.
Mr Williamson has won four AFI awards and the Australian Writers' Guild AWGIE award 11 times. He has received honorary doctorates of Literature from the University of Sydney (1988), Monash University (1990), Swinburne University of Technology (1996) and the University of Queensland (2004).
Mr Williamson began writing and performing plays in 1968 with La Mama Theatre Company.
The Removalists and Don's Party established him as Australia's best-known playwright and established his reputation overseas on the stages of Europe and America.
His success in films is notable, having written the screenplays to Don's Party (1976), The Club (1980) and Phar Lap (1982), as well as collaborating with Peter Weir to make Gallipoli (1980) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Over 30 years, his work has encompassed more than 36 plays and numerous films and television productions.
Mr Williamson has won four AFI awards and the Australian Writers' Guild AWGIE award 11 times. He has received honorary doctorates of Literature from the University of Sydney (1988), Monash University (1990), Swinburne University of Technology (1996) and the University of Queensland (2004).
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December 15, 2021
This play, from 1982, examines sexism in the relationships of two generations of a family. Stuart is the Perfectionist, his thesis is so much more important than wife Barbara's, and she follows him to Denmark for his lecturing job, where she meets babysitter Erik. Stuart's already had heaps of affairs, but he doesn't want Barbara to have a fling with Erik. Back in Australia in act two, we meet Stuart's dad Jack and mum Shirley. Jack's a creepy lawyer who stopped Shirley pursuing her acting career in London, and is in denial that she's now an alcoholic. Williamson observes and depicts all of this sexism, but doesn't really offer many solutions or alternatives. Barbara and Erik's eventual short affair is doomed, all the characters are unlikeable. I don't see this play coming back to the stage any time soon.
Displaying 1 of 1 review