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How to Survive a Happy Childhood - Table Read
David Williamson turns his satirical blow torch on his own generation and their manipulation of the Australian real estate market in this uproarious new comedy.
Jess grew up in a supportive environment with two loving parents who followed their own dreams and always made time for their daughter. She gets a rude shock when moves to Melbourne to study at university and encounters life as a young working-class woman living out of home in 2026 Australia - the crushing financial pressure, game-playing men, and prejudice from private school girls. Most of all there’s her hugely wealthy grandparents Catriona and Jack who believe they did everything the hard way and can’t see why the younger generation can’t do the same. When Jess’ parents start to feel the financial crunch and ask for help, old resentments re-emerge and tempers fray.
With his latest comedy, David Williamson turns his satirical blowtorch on his own generation - especially how they have manipulated the property market to hoard wealth and make it impossible for the younger generation to ever own their own home without family help.
How to Survive a Happy Childhood is a sharp, funny look at the faultlines in Australian society.
It going to be premiered in 2028.
This Astra Nova event is a public reading as part of the development process.
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"I have fourteen Grandchildren most of them old enough to have realised what a bad deal they've been dealt by my generation, which by rigging the tax laws heavily in favor of owning property, have made our generation's property worth much more than it should be. The astronomical house prices this has caused have ensured they can never own their own homes. And they're angry about it. I thought it was time our theatre companies realized that the greatest injustices aren't the ones that are presently on their stages, they are our intergenerational injustices.”
David Williamson
Playwright
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Content Warnings : The playwright advises there is colourful language and ‘a bit of sex talk’.
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Catriona | Barb Lowing
Jack | Ron Kelly (TBC)
Barry | Christopher Sommers
Jess | Stella Peterson
Gemma | Elise Greig
Carl | Davis Dingle
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Playwright | David Williamson
Director | Lewis Jones
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Buyers could have purchased a house in some of Queensland’s most prestigious suburbs just a decade ago for the same price as an unliveable hoarder house in Brisbane now.