The Removalists
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| The Removalists | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tom Jeffrey |
| Produced by | Richard Brennan, Margaret Fink |
| Written by | David Williamson |
| Starring | Peter Cummins, John Hargreaves, Kate Fitzpatrick, Jackie Weaver, Chris Haywood |
| Music by | Galapagos Duck |
| Release date(s) | 1975 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Removalists (1971) is a play written by Australian playwriter David Williamson. The main issues the play addresses are violence, (domestic violence in particular) and the abuse of power and authority. The story is supposed to be a microcosm of 1970s Australian society.
It was adapted into a film in 1975, starring Peter Cummins as Simmonds, John Hargreaves as Ross, Kate Fitzpatrick as Kate, Jackie Weaver as Fiona, Martin Harris as Kenny, and Chris Haywood as the Removalist.
Contents |
[edit] The Plot
The play begins in a police station as the Constable Neville Ross meets Sergeant Dan Simmonds. This is Ross's first placement, as he has just finished his police training. Simmonds establishes his authority by continually patronising Ross. Simmonds explains his disagreement with modern police training. It is shown that he is sexist and chauvinistic. Kate Marson and Fiona Carter (who are sisters) enter and Kate encourages Fiona as she tells Ross and Simmonds about her husband's abuse of her. Simmonds gets Ross to take photos of Fiona's bruises, actions imbued with sexual intent. Simmonds convinces the insecure Fiona of the importance of the actions, saying that her bruises should be "visible signs of abuse to the medically untrained eye".
The sexual innuendo is developed with the women’s competitive attitudes for Simmonds’ attention. They arrange to help Fiona move her furniture to her new flat in exchange for action. They all go to Kenny and Fiona's house to let Fiona get some of her things together so that she can separate from Kenny.
Kenny returns home drunk and becomes violent, and the Removalist, who has been contracted to remove Fiona's belongings, continually complains. Tensions rise, until Ross beats up Kenny, who then dies suddenly from a brain haemorrhage.
[edit] Characters
There are six characters in the play. There are some unseen characters, however, such as the car salesman and Sophie who is Fiona and Kenny's baby daughter.
[edit] Simmonds
Simmonds is the police sergeant who abuses his power by threatening the new recruit, Ross. He is a chauvinistic hypocrite who has no respect for women, including his own wife and daughter. He sees to satisfy his sexually perverse needs through the pretext of examining his clients, such as Fiona, for marks "apparent to the medically untrained eye". His clients, usually victims of circumstances, are in desperate need of help.
Through the character Simmonds, Williamson shows the abuse that is done by the police force to victims. The abuse occurs in a police station and under the witness of policemen. Thus victims are at a loss.
[edit] Ross
Ross is a recruit who has only recently joined the police force after being in training for one year. When he is assigned his first duty at a small police station located in a small suburb of Melbourne, Ross becomes a subject of abuse from his sergeant Simmonds. As the play progresses, he begins taking part in the actions of corruption that Simmonds creates. Near the end of the play, Ross assaults Kenny after losing his temper. Under the belief that he had killed Kenny, Ross tries to blackmail Simmonds to save himself. The transformation from a naïve recruit to abuser of power is clearly depicted. He is no longer a puppet for Simmonds but a player in this sick game.
[edit] Kate
Kate Mason arrives at the police station with her sister Fiona; to report Fiona being assaulted by her husband Kenny. Kate is a promiscuous woman, she uses her body to get what she desires and it is noted in the play that she does not limit her sexual activity to her husband alone. In one scene, Kate allows her sister to be used in order to fulfill her own satisfaction. She may have been doing the right thing by trying to help her sister get away from Kenny, but she is just as bad as Simmonds when it comes to abusing the power that they hold.
[edit] Fiona
Fiona Carter is Kate's sister. Fiona wants to divorce her husband Kenny, after being beaten by him. She is a passive housewife and fits into the sterotypical gender roles of 1970s Australia. She is married to Kenny, and has a baby daughter Sophie.
[edit] Kenny
Kenny is depicted as a "larrikin" working-class man, and represents the stereotypical egoistic "Aussie" male of the 70s. The play's action is instigated by Kenny's beating of his wife Fiona, the reporting of which prompts her visit to Ross and Simmonds's police station, and her move out of their shared home. Kenny is very hot-headed and his vocabulary is vulgar Australian vernacular.
Comparisons to Simmonds reveal they share similar qualities (or perform a similar conception of masculinity); they both like to use threats, use sexually explicit and rude language and both use physical forms of violence to make them seem dominant. They play's major plot twist occurs in the final minutes when Kenny, despite apparently having recovered from a beating by Ross to the point where he begins to negotiate a deal with the two officers, dies suddenly and mid-conversation from a brain haemorrhage. In the end Kenny seems to be the victim.
[edit] The Removalist
The removalist (Rob) is the man who moves the furniture out of Fiona and Kenny's house when they are separating. The Removalist represents the everyman who 'sits on the fence'. His main concern is getting paid for the work, and running off to the next 'job'. He represents another part of Australian society whom are passive in times of crisis.
[edit] Issues
The play deals with a lot of issues/themes/concerns and expresses these through the 'new age theatre' that David Williamson enages his audiences through. For the first time Australians were seeing themselves on stage. Symbolically David Williamson explores Australian society through the characters, themes and concerns. For example, "The Removalist" represents the everyman who 'sits on the fence'. The use of the 'police force' is interesting too - it is a blackly humorous pun, given the force and violence that the two police characters use.
Violence is a constant theme throughout the play. Words such as 'fuck' and 'shit' are provocative and confronting but also true of the 'ocker' language and mannerisms that Kenny, Ross and Simmonds embody.
