“Each Williamson play skewers an aspect of Australian life – some more recognisable and easy to identify with than others … They’re not big sweeping dramas with heavy messages but they are the plays that will stay as timestamps of Australian society at particular points in time.”
Julia Newbould
4 Stars
Venue: Ensemble Theatre
Sydney
Dates : Until 14th March 2026
The indefatigable David Williamson has written another banger. The Social Ladder is his latest offering and is premiering at the Ensemble Theatre. I think it’s one of his best. It’s sharp (aren’t they all), the characters are recognisable (again, common in his plays), it’s contemporary (tick) while also being a classic theme – moving up the social ladder and having a laugh at people’s foibles and weaknesses.
Led by the wonderful comedic Mandy Bishop, the play’s number one social climber from Engadine, we’re plunged right into the Australianness and the Sydney milieu. With an Australian twang we’ve heard her use before as Julia Gillard and others in the Wharf Review, we’re torn between rooting for her to get the job of her dreams and wanting to see her fall flat on her face and off her social ladder.
The play revolves around three couples: Katie Norrie (Mandy Bishop) and her husband Roger (Johnny Nasser), power couple at the top of the social ladder the Mallorys – Charles (Andrew McFarlane) and Catherine (Sarah Chadwick) – and the leftist arty couple, the Gregorys – Laura (Jo Downing) and Ben (Matt Minto).
Katie is eyeing a position on a prestigious art foundation board run by Catherine. She wants to be in their orbit, make their current friends jealous and obsolete and move onto the next rung on the social ladder. Katie contrives a meeting with Catherine at their daughters’ school. Catherine has seen Katie circling and has managed to avoid her for some time but eventually, Catherine can’t outmanoeuvre her and accepts a dinner invitation. A big part of the lure for her is a new Arthur Boyd painting Katie has just acquired.
Wanting to make the dinner party extra special, Katie decides to invite her ex-neighbours, the Gregorys, as she believes Ben directed one of Catherine’s favourite films. The set up of the play is clever with each woman telling their partners they are going to a dinner party and setting the rules for each of them.
The Norries brushed the Gregorys from their lives as they were climbing the social ladder. Receiving the invitation after being ghosted for the past three years, they are keen to attend and speak their piece. Katie is going all out for the party – she’s hired a serious-money painting to impress the Mallorys, she’s hired a top chef to make the dinner, Roger is tasked with the wine, and she’s on her way to a seat on the board.
The Mallorys have been tempted with the thought of seeing a Boyd they may not know.
It’s a fun dinner party we all play a joyously voyeuristic part. Everyone has their secrets and it takes just a little alcoholic lubrication to unlock them. Laughs come hard and fast through the play – it’s a tightly written with many one-liner zingers between sparring cast members. The timing of the cast is impeccable and director Janine Watson has set a great pace for the script’s delivery.
It’s difficult to single out any performance from the particularly strong cast. Each cast member steps up to make this a true ensemble production: from Andrew McFarlane’s perfect unprincipled investment banker to Matt Minto’s sensitive director, Johnny Nasser’s angry and put upon husband, Sarah Chadwick’s upper class society matron and Jo Downing’s left-wing dancing teacher, and of course, Mandy Bishop at the centre of the drama.
Not unlike his other plays, this finds something likeable in each character despite them having perhaps other despicable qualities.
Lightning and set designer Veronique Benett has achieved a setting that perfectly mirrors Katie’s garish taste. The outfits also perfectly reflect each cast member’s role.
Each Williamson play skewers an aspect of Australian life – some more recognisable and easy to identify with than others. There have been lawyers, singers, dysfunctional families, politicians, accountants, property developers, and it seems that each year produces a new drama. His plays are observations of today’s life – the characters, the plight and the political landscape. They’re not big sweeping dramas with heavy messages but they are the plays that will stay as timestamps of Australian society at particular points in time.
Thank you, David Williamson, for adding your lens to another aspect of our contemporary life and providing us with another fun night of theatre.
photos by Phil Erbacher
4 rungs
Julia Newbould, Theatre Now
