World Premiere
‘The most popular playwright in the country’ – The Age
‘Williamson is at his best… it is the theatre's gain that he has decided to party on’ - Variety
It’s 21 August 2010, the night of yet another federal election and, of course, yet another election night party at Don’s place. Over the decades, as he and his friends watched governments come and go, they have also closely followed the incoming results from each other’s lives: the tallies of luck and misfortune, the unexpected swings for and against. And through it all, the lesson that this crowd of superannuated Baby Boomers never seemed to learn is that politics and strong personalities should never be mixed with alcohol.
Maintaining the rage. Forty years ago, an aggressive young playwright muscled his way onto the scene with a clutch of time-defining plays, including Don’s Party. With this sequel, David Williamson celebrates four decades of telling the tribe their story.
WARNING: Contains strong language
Key Photography by Earl Carter. Production Photography by Jeff Busby.
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When I began directing theatre in Australia in the mid-eighties, David Williamson had long been the country’s pre-eminent and, let’s not deny it, most popular playwright. And now I find myself mid-career, he’s still here, undimmed in energy and popular as ever. 2011 will be his fortieth year in the theatre and he has given himself – and us – the most apposite fortieth anniversary gift in this riotous sequel to his iconic hit Don’s Party, with its characters suitably aged, though not noticeably more civilised. I love that Robyn Nevin’s own long association with Williamson, going back almost thirty years to The Perfectionist, will be commemorated by her directing a cast led by Garry McDonald, Diane Craig and Frankie J. Holden.
Artistic Director Simon Phillips
Don Parties On - Variety review
Four decades later, this sequel to David Williamson's seminal satire Don's Party proves that, while the politics may have changed, the lives of Don and his friends can still be mined for plenty of humor and social observation... read full article.
Scenes Summer 2011 - 'Don's Home Reno'
Dale Ferguson thought through forty years of changes to design the set for Don Parties On... read full article.
