David JoblingPlaywright David Williamson (LINK)
July 15th 2008 01:02
David Williamson replies to questions posed by David Paul Jobling regarding his new play THE GREAT MAN at the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House.
A Sydney Theatre Company production, THE GREAT MAN is set in the lounge room of a 'great' politicians second wife as his funeral service is being worked out to mark his passing.
DPJ: You have written some of the funniest Australian plays I've ever seen, "Don's Party" & "The Club" are my favourites. Is THE GREAT MAN a comedy in the same vein?
DW: There's humour, but the play's undertow is essentially serious. It's a look at the way the Labor party, (who all at Don's Party wanted to see in office after 19 years), actually performed in its two periods in office. And in many ways I think the answer, at least in the Hawke Keating years, is not all that well. I do however balance this with the views of Tegan who feels that the progress on social issues in the Hawke Keating years was substantial and that no modern political party can do anything about the growing gap between rich and poor.
DPJ: There is a very 'typical' type of humour in your work, I would call it'dark' because it focuses in on some of the aspects of human behaviour that people would rather have go unnoticed, would you agree with that?
DW: Very much so. I do think there's a deep egotism in the human nature that often makes us blind to how badly we are behaving vis a vis our fellow human beings. There is also a deep need to be approved by others and a capacity for compassion that keeps our large egos in check to some degree. I think my plays do give due credit to these more positive aspects of human nature, but I lot of the humour comes from our egotism.
DPJ: Do you sit and chuckle at the word processor as you create the scenes where characters foibles are undone?
DW: Yes sometimes. I find that the things that come to me spontaneously and make me chuckle are the things that work best on stage.
DPJ: Are there any great politicians around these days in your opinion (Australian or from elsewhere)?
DW: I think there are very competent and clever politicians around. Bill Clinton being one and Tony Blair being another. Whether they deserve the word great is another matter. In Australia I don't see any politician at anywhere near the level of competence of those two.
DPJ: Who are the great men you have thought of when you've written this play THE GREAT MAN?
DW: My deceased Great Man is totally fictional. There are many great labor politicians from the Whitlam era who would never have behaved like Jack.
DPJ: If you were in politics what portfolio would you most like to handle?
DW: Treasury.
DPJ: Why?
DW: It's the one that influences financial allocations to all others and in this sense you could have a direct bearing on the direction of the nation.
DPJ: Has your writing process changed much over the years or is it much the same today as it was twenty years ago?
DW: Much the same.
DPJ: Do you have a web site on the net?
DW: No.
DPJ: Are there any sites on the net you find useful for research?
DW: Lots when I'm after information.
DPJ: Have you spent much time at the funerals of politicians?
DW: No.
DPJ: It is a sad event when someone has died, maybe it's also the most real or telling event in a persons life because now they're gone they can no longer defend themselves. Does this type of thinking come into play with THE GREAT MAN?
DW: Yes. The funeral is the start of the final reputation making process. And funerals are often used by people making their own reputations rather than the reputation of the deceased, as is obviously going to happen in this case.
DPJ: We have the saying "Ruled by our dead fathers" do you think it's correct these days with so many new things in the political system - more women than before, less definition between political parties...? Media driven issues... Is politics changing, or do you think it's like the church in as much as it takes a long long time to change?
DW: The power of the patriarchy is definitely on the decline.
DPJ: What do you think of the Pope apologising for 2000 years of Catholic destruction of culture & spirituality?
DW: I wish John Howard would take note and do a little apologising on our behalf.
DPJ: Do you think it is important for an Australian Prime Minister to apologise for the destruction of Koori, Nunga, Murri and other Australian Aboriginal families and cultures?
DW: Yes.
DPJ: Have you figured out what/who you'd like at your funeral? A particular song or poem? If you had to choose a poem what would it be?
DW: I'm not sure I'd choose a poem. A bit of a drama maybe.
DPJ: You've been the subject of rather whimsical 'controversy' in the press media in the past with new work - it's rather pithy when it happens in my opinion given the amount of real issues that the press/media could be covering, have you come to ignore that sort of thing (suggested rifts between you and Wayne Harrison come to mind, scathing reviews of new
work) ? Has it enabled you to be a more determined writer or does it have no effect over or upon you in the long haul?
DW: It has affected me a lot personally, but I hope it has had no impact on my work, in that I keep writing the plays I want to write and not the sort of plays that some critics would like me to write.
DPJ: You must be one of the most loved Australian playwrights - does this also mean you are one of the least loved - polar extremes being a part of human nature.
DW: I think that being popular is a sure focus for flack and I've got my share of that.
DPJ: Do you think it's likely that in fifty years a playwright will use a similar premise for a play called THE GREAT WOMAN ? Based on a conglomeration of our female politicians today?
DW: Yes, the day of The Great Man is certainly drawing to a close, which is part of what the play is saying.
DPJ: Are you a person who would identify as 'spiritual'?
DW: No, I'm not spiritual. I'm a materialist who believes the Universe runs to an elegant set of laws which pay no particular attention to the fate of humanity. Humanity must look after its own fate.
DPJ: What nourishes your creative spirit?
DW: My creative spirit is nourished by the wonder that humanity ever came to exist and what a complicated lot we all are.
DPJ: Are you working on something new, a new play or screen play?
DW: Yes, a screenplay which Bryan Brown is producing.
Interview by David Jobling 13/3/00
A Sydney Theatre Company production, THE GREAT MAN is set in the lounge room of a 'great' politicians second wife as his funeral service is being worked out to mark his passing.
DPJ: You have written some of the funniest Australian plays I've ever seen, "Don's Party" & "The Club" are my favourites. Is THE GREAT MAN a comedy in the same vein?
DW: There's humour, but the play's undertow is essentially serious. It's a look at the way the Labor party, (who all at Don's Party wanted to see in office after 19 years), actually performed in its two periods in office. And in many ways I think the answer, at least in the Hawke Keating years, is not all that well. I do however balance this with the views of Tegan who feels that the progress on social issues in the Hawke Keating years was substantial and that no modern political party can do anything about the growing gap between rich and poor.
DPJ: There is a very 'typical' type of humour in your work, I would call it'dark' because it focuses in on some of the aspects of human behaviour that people would rather have go unnoticed, would you agree with that?
DW: Very much so. I do think there's a deep egotism in the human nature that often makes us blind to how badly we are behaving vis a vis our fellow human beings. There is also a deep need to be approved by others and a capacity for compassion that keeps our large egos in check to some degree. I think my plays do give due credit to these more positive aspects of human nature, but I lot of the humour comes from our egotism.
DPJ: Do you sit and chuckle at the word processor as you create the scenes where characters foibles are undone?
DW: Yes sometimes. I find that the things that come to me spontaneously and make me chuckle are the things that work best on stage.
DPJ: Are there any great politicians around these days in your opinion (Australian or from elsewhere)?
DW: I think there are very competent and clever politicians around. Bill Clinton being one and Tony Blair being another. Whether they deserve the word great is another matter. In Australia I don't see any politician at anywhere near the level of competence of those two.
DPJ: Who are the great men you have thought of when you've written this play THE GREAT MAN?
DW: My deceased Great Man is totally fictional. There are many great labor politicians from the Whitlam era who would never have behaved like Jack.
DPJ: If you were in politics what portfolio would you most like to handle?
DW: Treasury.
DPJ: Why?
DW: It's the one that influences financial allocations to all others and in this sense you could have a direct bearing on the direction of the nation.
DPJ: Has your writing process changed much over the years or is it much the same today as it was twenty years ago?
DW: Much the same.
DPJ: Do you have a web site on the net?
DW: No.
DPJ: Are there any sites on the net you find useful for research?
DW: Lots when I'm after information.
DPJ: Have you spent much time at the funerals of politicians?
DW: No.
DPJ: It is a sad event when someone has died, maybe it's also the most real or telling event in a persons life because now they're gone they can no longer defend themselves. Does this type of thinking come into play with THE GREAT MAN?
DW: Yes. The funeral is the start of the final reputation making process. And funerals are often used by people making their own reputations rather than the reputation of the deceased, as is obviously going to happen in this case.
DPJ: We have the saying "Ruled by our dead fathers" do you think it's correct these days with so many new things in the political system - more women than before, less definition between political parties...? Media driven issues... Is politics changing, or do you think it's like the church in as much as it takes a long long time to change?
DW: The power of the patriarchy is definitely on the decline.
DPJ: What do you think of the Pope apologising for 2000 years of Catholic destruction of culture & spirituality?
DW: I wish John Howard would take note and do a little apologising on our behalf.
DPJ: Do you think it is important for an Australian Prime Minister to apologise for the destruction of Koori, Nunga, Murri and other Australian Aboriginal families and cultures?
DW: Yes.
DPJ: Have you figured out what/who you'd like at your funeral? A particular song or poem? If you had to choose a poem what would it be?
DW: I'm not sure I'd choose a poem. A bit of a drama maybe.
DPJ: You've been the subject of rather whimsical 'controversy' in the press media in the past with new work - it's rather pithy when it happens in my opinion given the amount of real issues that the press/media could be covering, have you come to ignore that sort of thing (suggested rifts between you and Wayne Harrison come to mind, scathing reviews of new
work) ? Has it enabled you to be a more determined writer or does it have no effect over or upon you in the long haul?
DW: It has affected me a lot personally, but I hope it has had no impact on my work, in that I keep writing the plays I want to write and not the sort of plays that some critics would like me to write.
DPJ: You must be one of the most loved Australian playwrights - does this also mean you are one of the least loved - polar extremes being a part of human nature.
DW: I think that being popular is a sure focus for flack and I've got my share of that.
DPJ: Do you think it's likely that in fifty years a playwright will use a similar premise for a play called THE GREAT WOMAN ? Based on a conglomeration of our female politicians today?
DW: Yes, the day of The Great Man is certainly drawing to a close, which is part of what the play is saying.
DPJ: Are you a person who would identify as 'spiritual'?
DW: No, I'm not spiritual. I'm a materialist who believes the Universe runs to an elegant set of laws which pay no particular attention to the fate of humanity. Humanity must look after its own fate.
DPJ: What nourishes your creative spirit?
DW: My creative spirit is nourished by the wonder that humanity ever came to exist and what a complicated lot we all are.
DPJ: Are you working on something new, a new play or screen play?
DW: Yes, a screenplay which Bryan Brown is producing.
Interview by David Jobling 13/3/00
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