Writer’s Note: David Williamson, THE GREAT DIVIDE
When I was a kid in the fifties, Australia was the second-most egalitarian country in the developed world. The difference in salary between a worker and a managing director seldom exceeded a factor of five. Now with Australia the third-least egalitarian country in the developed world, the ratio is more like a factor of 200. We are now the country of the Great Divide, where a minority enjoy a lifestyle of unimagined opulence and the rest of Australia can only look on, and the country in which most of the younger generation have been effectively locked out of home ownership for life. The efficient manner in which our neoliberal ideology, embraced by both our major parties, works to make the wealthy ever wealthier seemingly can’t be stopped, certainly not by a playwright, but at least I can offer a glimpse of hope that suggests that occasionally, just occasionally, the seemingly inexorable power of money can be challenged by someone who is smart enough and angry enough to stand up against it.
DAVID WILLIAMSON AO
Playing 8 Mar – 27 Apr, don’t miss this brand new comedy by prolific playwright David Williamson.