Celluloid Heroes (play)

Plot

Al, an accountant turned film producer, wants to make a tax loss film, a thriller about the revenge of a ghostly tribe of Aboriginies on two white women castaways and a macho sea captain. Filming takes place on an island off the coast of Queensland. Mike, the director, rewrites the script to insert social significance. The original screenwriter, Nestor, is a former poet. Gary, the leading man, wants to amek a statement about gay rights. Dick, a local Aboriginal Man, also becomes involved.

Original 198o cast

• Peter Sumner as Al
• John Gregg as Mike
• Alan Wilson as Brett
• Henry Szeps as Gary
• Kate Fitzpatrick as Maggie
• Barbara Stephens as Allison
• Robin Ramsay as Nestor
• Kevin Smith as Dick

Reception

H.G. Kippax of the Sydney Morning Herald called the play "good enough long enough to make one feel guilty about being critical" as "the first half is Williamson fooling at the top of his bent" but disliked the second half, arguing "farce and Aboriginal rights simply won't go together."

Harry Robinson of the Sun Herald called it "a brittle, thin vehicle for good gags" and "I doubt anyone will stage it three or five years from now."

Mike Gibson of the same newspaper called it "a mediocre play."

Leonard Radic of The Age argued "the first half of the satire works beautifully... but after the interval something runs awry."

Rewrite

Williamson rewrote the final scenes before the play moved to the Theatre Royal in January. "I feel I have made the Aboriginies have an excessively easy victory over the whites - exactly the sort of victory they never have in real life," he said. "What I have tried to do in the new ending is take away the fairytale ending, still have the Aboriginal character retaining his integrity and have a more likely ending which is much funnier.

Kippax reviewed the new production and declared the play "remains the funniest in Sydney... the new ending produces no miracle - the actual ending is rather tame - but he [Williamson] certainly gets the romp going again."

However subsequent tours of the play for Adelaide and Perth were unsuccessful financially, causing losses of $150,000, and the Elizabethean Theatre Trust cancelled a proposed Melbourne season. "It gave me a bit of a jolt at first," said Williamson. "But it really wasn't my first work... I tried to combine a punchy social issue (Aboriginal land rights) with a comedy of manners and it just didn't come off."

Williamson later said "I didn't get the kicking" over the play "that I might have got. I guess I was forgiven one bungle on my track record. It was really a coterie play not a GP play."

The play was rejected for publication by Currency Press, although Williamson plays typically sold very well.

Legacy

Williamson later called it:

He later wrote about the Australian film industry with more acclaim in Emerald City.

References

References

1. [http://www.realtimearts.net/article/53/6991 Donald Pulford, "Defining moments: the Nimrod story" ''Real Time Arts''] accessed 24 October 2012
2. (14 December 1980). "An ephemeral but cutting Williamson satire". [[The Canberra Times]].
3. (9 October 1980). "New play for Nimrod birthday". The Sydney Morning Herald.
4. Sykes, Jill. (25 November 1980). "Playing on film foibles". The Age.
5. Kippax, H.G.. (4 December 1980). "Nimrod enjoys an anniversary treat". The Sydney Morning Herald.
6. Robinson, Harry. (7 December 1980). "Big party for sheilas, mugs and urges". The Sun Herald.
7. Gibson, Mike. (7 December 1980). "Celluoid fizzer". Sunday Herald.
8. Radic, Leonard. (8 December 1980). "David Williamson succeeds by half". The Age.
9. (18 December 1980). "Celluloid heroes II". The Sydney Morning Herald.
10. Coleman, Richard. (13 January 1981). "Williamson seeks his target". The Sydney Morning Herald.
11. Kippax, H.G.. (16 January 1981). "Celluloid heroes better than ever". The Sydney Morning Herald.
12. (27 May 1981). "Play's flop". The Age.
13. (7 August 1981). "Gallipoli won". The Age.
14. Radic, Leonard. (19 June 1981). "Writers queue up at Currency". The Age.
15. [http://www.austlit.edu.au/common/fulltext-content/pdfs/brn135368/brn135368.pdf Candida Baker, "David Williamson", ''Yacker: Australian Writers Talk about Their Work'', Picador 1986 p 290-315] accessed 24 October 2012
16. Cochrane, Peter. (14 March 1997). "Williamson's World". The Sydney Morning Herald.
17. Vagg, Stephen. (16 September 2025). "When it comes to Aussie theatre, David Williamson is the GOAT".