Don's Party

Last updated

Don's Party
Written by David Williamson
Date premiered1971
Place premiered Australia
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy-drama
SettingSuburban house

Don's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The play opened on 11 August 1971 at The Pram Factory theatre in Carlton. [1]

Contents

Plot

Don Henderson is a schoolteacher living with his wife Kath and baby son in the Melbourne suburb of Lower Plenty. [2] On the night of the 1969 federal election Don invites a small group of friends to celebrate a predicted Australian Labor Party (ALP) election victory, much to the dismay of his wife. To the party come Mal, Don's university mentor, and his bitter wife Jenny, sex-obsessed Cooley and his latest girlfriend, nineteen-year-old Susan, Evan, a dentist, and his beautiful artist wife Kerry. Somehow, two Liberal supporters, Simon and Jody also come.

As the party wears on it becomes clear that the Labor party, which is supported by Don and most of the guests, is not winning. As a result, alcohol consumption increases, and the sniping between Don and his male friends about their failed aspirations gets uglier, as does their behaviour toward the women. Mack, a design engineer whose wife has just left him, pulls out a nude photo of her for his friends' approval. Crass womaniser Cooley pursues the available women. The disillusioned wives exchange tales of their husbands' sub-par sexual performance. By the end of the night, Don and some of his friends have begun to grasp the emptiness of their compromised lives.

The play led to a 2011 sequel, Don Parties On .

Film version

See Don's Party

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Fraser</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983

John Malcolm Fraser was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Bracks</span> 44th Premier of Victoria, Australia

Stephen Phillip Bracks is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Labor Party (historical)</span> Former political party in Australia

The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was an Australian political party. The party came into existence following the 1955 ALP split as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), and was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957. In 1962, the Queensland Labor Party, a breakaway party of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party, became the Queensland branch of the DLP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Calwell</span> Australian politician

Arthur Augustus Calwell was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party through three federal elections, losing each one in turn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Cairns</span> Australian politician

James Ford Cairns was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and the fourth deputy prime minister of Australia, both in the Whitlam government. He is best remembered as a leader of the movement against Australian involvement in the Vietnam War, for his affair with Junie Morosi and for his later renunciation of conventional politics. He was also an economist, and a prolific writer on economic and social issues, many of them self-published and self-marketed at stalls he ran across Australia after his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Peacock</span> Australian politician (1939–2021)

Andrew Sharp Peacock was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions, leading the party to defeat at the 1984 and 1990 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. V. Evatt</span> Australian politician (1894–1965)

Herbert Vere Evatt, was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition from 1951 to 1960. Evatt is considered one of Australia's most prominent public intellectuals of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Snedden</span> Australian politician (1926–1987)

Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975. He was also a cabinet minister from 1964 to 1972, and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1976 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Williamson</span> Australian dramatist and playwright

David Keith Williamson is an Australian playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Dunstan</span> Australian politician (1926–1999)

Donald Allan Dunstan was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for the division of Norwood from 1953 to 1979, and leader of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from 1967 to 1979. Before becoming premier, Dunstan served as the 38th attorney-general of South Australia and the treasurer of South Australia. He is the fourth longest serving premier in South Australian history.

The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conscription in Australia</span> Overview of conscription in Australia

Conscription in Australia, also known as National Service following the Second World War, has a controversial history which dates back to the implementation of compulsory military training and service in the first years of Australia's nationhood. Military conscription for peacetime service was abolished in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Renshaw</span> Australian politician

John Brophy Renshaw was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Shorten</span> Australian politician (born 1967)

William Richard Shorten is an Australian politician and former trade unionist serving as the current Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. Previously, Shorten was leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2013 to 2019. A member of parliament (MP) for the division of Maribyrnong since 2007, Shorten also held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard and Rudd governments from 2010 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Watt (Australian politician)</span> Australian politician

William Alexander Watt was an Australian politician. He served two terms as Premier of Victoria before entering federal politics in 1914. He then served as a minister in the government of Billy Hughes from 1917 to 1920, including as acting prime minister during World War I, and finally as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1923 to 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Peacock</span> Australian politician (1861–1933)

Sir Alexander James Peacock was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Premier of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Dobie</span> Australian politician

James Donald Mathieson Dobie was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives for over 25 years, representing the seats of Hughes (1966–1969) and Cook. He was an assistant minister during the McMahon government (1971–1972). Prior to entering politics he worked for the Bank of New South Wales.

The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. Santamaria, the dominant force behind the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" or "the Movement".

Don Parties On is a 2011 play written by David Williamson. It was a sequel to Don's Party and opened the 2011 season of the Melbourne Theatre Company. Directed by Robyn Nevin, this sequel premiered on 13 January 2011 at the Arts Centre Melbourne Playhouse.

<i>Dons Party</i> (film) 1976 Australian film

Don's Party is a 1976 Australian film version of the play Don's Party by David Williamson with a screenplay by Williamson, directed by Bruce Beresford. John Hargreaves plays Don Henderson with Jeanie Drynan as Don's wife Kath. Ray Barrett plays Mal, Don's mentor, and Pat Bishop is his wife. Graham Kennedy plays Mack, Graeme Blundell is the Liberal supporter and Veronica Lang his obedient wife. Kerry is the attractive and assertive artist and Evan is her uptight and possessive partner. Cooley comes with his young girlfriend Susan.

References

  1. "Australian Performing Group" (advertisement), Melbourne Age, 6 August 1971 p. 8
  2. Pat Dreverman, "Young will act out life's absurdities", Melbourne Age, 4 August 1971 p. 20