The Club by David Williamson

329 Words2 Pages
Conflict in David Williamsons – The Club David Williamson is a naturalistic playwright where the emphasis is on the stark reality. However, in The Club, Williamson presents a satirical view of the intrigues of a Victorian football club presenting extreme situations, yet also writing realistically. He writes this satire exposing the failings of society and holds them up to ridicule and scorn. The basic conflict in The Club, is over visions for the future of the team. Gerry, the administrator, wants big changes to the team by getting rid of the captain, coach and some players. To achieve this, he plots constantly but with no positive results. Jock is his extremely inept co-conspirator. This conflict is evident in the key themes of power/politics, commercialism, loyalty and tradition. Typically, the characters respond to disagreement by being highly assertive or forceful in their language. There are any number of comparative situations in the wider world. For example: • A director of a public art gallery is in conflict with staff, members of the art world and some members of the general public. • A school council sacks a Principal over the poor academic results of the students. • Shareholders fiercely criticise company board members, the big bonuses directors have received, and the poor performance of the company. • In such complex organisations, various groups have to try to work together for the sake of the organisation itself. In The Club, David Williamson shows how badly things can go wrong when individuals actively work against each other, even in this small world of a football club. Most of the action of the play takes place in the football club's committee room. This, then, is stark reality. This is appropriate as play is about power / politics. The committee table represents business and is surrounded by picture of

More about The Club by David Williamson

Open Document