'Until the late 1960s, Australian drama lagged far behind other art forms in interpreting Australian life to Australians and the rest of the world. It was left chiefly to painters, poets, and novelists to exercise this function to any significant degree. However, in the late 1960s, a conjunction of social, political, cultural, and educational forces saw the appearance of an increasing number of new Australian plays in new Australian theaters. By 1980, a whole new literature of Australian drama had appeared, and Australian plays had replaced those by English and American playwrights in gaining the biggest theatre audiences across the country. Of the large crop of dramatists who were turning out new plays for the new theatres, none has been as successful as David Williamson in obtaining audiences. Williamson's work has probably been seen by more people than the combined work of most of the other playwrights.
'Thirteen years have now passed since the appearance of Williamson's first full-length play, and during this time nine of his plays have been produced and published. No substantial study of his work to date has been done. It has therefore been deemed to be an appropriate time to attempt some provisional assessment of Williamson's importance to the history of Australian drama, and it is the purpose of this study to make this attempt. The procedure adopted is to provide first a general outline of the history of Australian drama, followed by a more detailed depiction of the "new wave" of drama which began in the late 1960s. After next recognizing the nature and extent of Williamson's impact on Australian theatre, the body of the study is devoted to a detailed examination of the qualities of Williamson's nine plays. This examination is based on close readings of the plays, supplemented by a reading of the critical literature which has been written on Williamson.
'Finally, the study uses the accumulated evidence provided by the analyses and evaluations of the plays to draw provisional conclusions concerning Williamson's qualitative place in the history of Australian drama.' (Publication summary)
