THE SOCIAL LADDER

By Diana Simmonds

January 30 2026

THE SOCIAL LADDER, Ensemble Theatre, 28 January - 14 March 2026. Photography by Phil Erbacher

A brand new play, The Social Ladder – the latest project in David Williamson’s retirement plan – is delighting audiences at the Ensemble. Plus ça change.

The problem with the now 83-year-old playwright’s original idea of taking up lotus-eating in Queensland is, simply, Sydney. The city where he’s spent most of his successful writing life continues to be the source of acidic and comedic inspiration, and he can’t resist!

This time, the struggles of class and social status revolve around art – actually a trophy painting by Arthur Boyd – and Katie Norrie’s ambitions. Mandy Bishop is superb as the woman who strapped on crampons and escaped Engadine, but brought her accent with her. She is an excruciating mix of vulnerable and awful, well-meaning and monstrous. Laughter greets her every twitch and utterance, yet it’s impossible not to feel for her as she organises an ultra-smart dinner party. No spoiler: a disaster.

Katie is married to a hugely successful tech entrepreneur and scion of the middle class, Roger (Johnny Nasser). He indulges Katie even though bewildered by her burning desire to ascend to the AGNSW’s prestige fundraising board; but then he didn’t come from the Shire, so why would he? Nevertheless, he has his own Achilles heel: a festering secret resentment against one half of the uber-power pair Katie wants to impress: Charles Mallory.

Charles is a billionaire financier and a smooth, self-satisfied prick. He is effortlessly objectionable as he sprawls in an armchair, legs akimbo, symbolically displaying his superiority. As he taunts the lesser men, he’s a sharp reminder that Andrew McFarlane is a fine actor when given the material.

As his gracious wife, Catherine, Sarah Chadwick makes an overdue and welcome return to a main-stage production. Amid the mayhem of an evening going wrong, Catherine (almost) maintains her cut-glass English accent. She’s also a source of constant subtle comedy as her face reflects the horror of Katie’s caterer cancelling at the last minute, with takeaway Rogan Josh in the oven as substitute.

The younger end of this benighted night is represented by Katie and Roger’s former neighbours, film director Ben Gregory (Matt Minto) and his school teacher wife Laura (Jo Downing). Once on the Phil Noyce track, Ben is lately reduced to crappy TV commercials and has stuffed up and been fired from the latest. Now, Laura has had enough – either he gets a job or else.

Across an hour and 50 minutes, including interval, secrets and lies, and revelations swirl around as thick as the smoke from the too-hot oven (oops, there goes the Rogan Josh). Director Janine Watson orchestrates the action with finesse and a keen eye for comedic juice. The set-up and exposition of the first act could become a tad cumbersome, but Watson keeps everything moving without being in a hurry, and is blessed with first-rate actors.

The set and lighting are a chuckle in themselves. Three class-conscious chandeliers signal what’s going on before anything else happens (lighting design Matt Cox), and various elements of illumination complement Veronique Benett’s tongue-in-cheek set of art moderne meets nouveau riche. Similarly, composer Clare Hennessy wryly adds to scenes of domestic disaster and social calamity.

A social satire with an (unseen) Boyd masterpiece as its Chekhov’s pistol is possibly unique in theatre. This alone makes a plot pivot to savour while the six ill-matched characters drink far too much bad wine. The consequences are not what might be expected, and that, too, makes for several surprises. That’s the thing about David Williamson: just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water of a Sandy Stone-style nice night’s entertainment, he jumps up and nips the unwary. Such fun.