Saturday, May 23, 2020

Play review - "The Club" by David Williamson (1977)

A masterpiece - Williamson isn't hampered by the presence of women, has a world that he probably only knew second hand but had studied all his life, and characters full of men he would have known. The blustering sex pest president, sitting on his dignity, whining, insecure; the tyrannical, thuggish old school coach, wife beater, ruthless politician; the sharp administrator (the character I related to), with a keen eye for the main chance, a survivor's instinct, a feel for the future, no love of tradition; the coach, missing the game, trying not to be out foxed, hanging on; the champion player, with a disastrous love life, and strike happy; the could-be champion, snobby, insecure, smart-arse.

Williamson's skill is at his peak here - the way he keeps the comings and going on stage, the skill of the player telling the ex coach the joke, the ebbs and flows, the reveal of information. It's a wonderful, wonderful, play - I'd class it among Williamson's three masterpieces, the others being A Conversation and Emerald City.

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