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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
A young policeman’s first day on duty becomes a violent and highly charged initiation into law enforcement. Remarkable for its blend of boisterous humour and horrifying violence, the play has acquired a reputation as a classic statement on Australian authoritarianism and is a key work in the study of Australian drama.
(Publication Synopsis)
Adaptations
-
form
y
The Removalists
( dir. Tom Jeffrey
)
Australia
:
Margaret Fink Productions
,
1975
Z866281
1975
single work
film/TV
Constable Ross, a police constable on his first day of duty, and the cynical Sergeant Simmonds are drawn into a domestic dispute when two women come in to report a wife-beater. The officers arrange for a furniture removalist to come and take furniture from the flat of the woman's belligerent husband, and attend the removal themselves. The tension escalates when the husband, Kenny, knocks the removalist down and is subsequently beaten up by the police. The violence escalates as Kenny, who is handcuffed, is repeatedly assaulted while the others watch. It ends only when Constable Ross believes he has killed Kenny. The two policemen argue about the dire consequences, but Kenny regains consciousness and gets up.
Based on David Williamson's play (first staged at La Mama Theatre, Melbourne in 1971), the screenplay (including dialogue) closely follows the structure of the original story. The narrative is also set in the same two locations: a police station and a small flat.
Reading Australia
This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.
Unit Suitable For
AC: Year 10 (NSW Stage 5) with possible extension into Years 11–12.
Themes
Australia, authority, domestic violence, love and loss, morals, Power, violence
General Capabilities
Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Personal and social
Production Details
-
First produced at the Cafe La Mama, Melbourne, 22 July 1971.
Director: Bruce Spence.
The play's first major season was at the Nimrod Street Theatre, Sydney, opening on 13 October 1971.
Director: Bruce Spence.
The world rights were purchased by Harry M. Miller Attractions: their production, opened at the Playbox Theatre, Sydney, on 10 August 1972.
Director: John Bell.
Broadcast on ABC Radio National on Sunday 23 January 2011 as part of the Playing the 20th Century series.
Performed at Bondi Pavilion, 22 May - June 15 2013.
Performed at Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, 14-16 August 2014.
Performed at NIDA as part of their annual student productions.
Director: Elsie Edgerton-Till.
Cast drawn from final-year BFA Acting students.
Crew drawn from final-year BFA Costume, Properties and Objects, Staging, and Technical Theatre and Stage Management students, with students of the MFA Design for Performance.
Contents
- Reflections on Violence, single work criticism (p. 3-8)
- Authority and Punishment: The Australian Inheritance 1825-1840, single work column (p. 9-19)
- Police: Authority and Privilege, single work column (p. 20-21)
- Directing The Removalists, single work criticism (p. 122-128)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Braille.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Applying Rasa Theory in David Williamson's The Removalists
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 33 no. 1 2019; (p. 41-47) 'Australian theater has indeed come of age since Ray Lawler's The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was performed in Melbourne in 1955, which corresponds to John Osborne's performance of Look Back in Anger, also performed in 1955. This has led many critics of Australian theater to divide its history into two neat parts: pre-Lawler and post-Lawler drama. Early dramatists were busy imitating the European models, and the frequent staging of sentimental plays and vaudeville cannot be ignored. Early drama since 1833 was mostly concerned with the life of the bush rangers, which is roughly equivalent to the US Wild West. The Aboriginal cause has also been a topic in the hands of David Burn, whose Bush Rangers was performed in 1829, after he wrote a considerable portion of the same in Tasmania. Though David Williamson (1942–) belongs to the "First Wave" of such dramatists, he was active in the 1990s as well and is associated with a literary phenomenon called the "New Theater" in Australian drama.' (Introduction) -
form
y
Interviews with 10 Australian Authors
Tom Tilley
(interviewer),
Melbourne
:
ABC Splash
,
2018
16600399
2018
website
interview
film/TV
'Meet ten of Australia's literary greats. Tom Tilley speaks with writers such as David Malouf, Nadia Wheatley and Michael Gow about their works, their inspirations and their lives as writers.'
Source: Introduction.
-
Aussie Classic Still Packs a Punch
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 August 2014; (p. 46)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
It's Still a Knockout
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 9 August 2014; (p. 6)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama'The lingo of the 1970s is reclaimed in a revival of David Williamson's explosive hit of stage and screen, The Removalists...'
-
Adapting to a Season Without Cate
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 September 2013; (p. 16)
-
Curtain Call
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 23 - 29 July no. 453 2003; (p. 24)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
Real Bloke's Work
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 26 July 2003; (p. 5)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
More Than Furniture Set to be Moved
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 11 August 2003; (p. 13)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
Final Act is a Classic
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 7 August 2003; (p. 17)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
Fitting Finale
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 13 - 19 August no. 456 2003; (p. 10)
— Review of The Removalists 1971 single work drama -
A Human Bower Bird
Annmaree O'Keeffe
(interviewer),
1975
single work
interview
— Appears in: Semper Floreat , July vol. 45 no. 10 1975; (p. 7) -
Reflections on Violence
1972
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Removalists 1972; (p. 3-8) -
Directing The Removalists
1972
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Removalists 1972; (p. 122-128) -
Introduction
1986
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Collected Plays : Volume I 1986; (p. vii-xviii) -
David Williamson
1979
single work
criticism
— Appears in: After 'The Doll' : Australian Drama Since 1955 1979; (p. 112-128)
Awards
- 1972 winner AWGIE Awards — Major Award
- 1972 winner AWGIE Awards — Stage Award
- Melbourne, Victoria,