In Australian drama, two names stand out – Louis Esson (1879–1943) and Douglas Stewart. Esson, influenced by John Millington Singe and William Butler Yeats, tried to achieve similar results in plays on Australian themes. Stuart’s plays Shipwreck (1947), Ned Kelly (1943) and Flame in the Snow (1941) deal with the events of Australian history. Many critics have compared Flame in the Snow, which depicts Scott’s expedition to the South Pole, to the best poetic dramas ever produced for radio broadcasts. The success of Ray Lawler’s plays Summer of the Seventeen Year Old Chrysalis (1955) and The Redneck at Piccadilly Circus (1959) in London and Australia greatly contributed to the further development of Australian drama. Alan Seymour’s play One Day of the Year (1962) is also considered a masterpiece.
The most famous contemporary playwright is David Williamson, whose plays are on the stage of Australian theaters. Often they touch on social and political issues: The Mafia Leader’s Company (1971), The Suspended (1971), The Chair (1975), Traveling North (1980), The Emerald City (1987), Diamond Illusions (1993) and Dead White Men (1995) … Patrick White made his literary career as a novelist and then became a prolific playwright, best known for his plays A Season in the Sarsaparilla (1965), Night on a Treeless Mountain (1965) and The Buckman (1983). Other famous contemporary playwrights are Luis Naura and Alexander Buzo.
