''Heretic'' is a 1996 play by

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

David Williamson David Keith Williamson Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australians, Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Vi ...

. The play explores cultural anthropologist

Derek Freeman John Derek Freeman (15 August 1916 – 6 July 2001) was a New Zealand anthropologist knownTuzin, page 1013. for #Freeman_vs._Mead:_A_self_described_heresy, his criticism of Margaret Mead's work on Samoan society, as described in her 1928 ethno ...

's reaction to

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

's famous book ''

Coming of Age in Samoa ''Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation'' is a 1928 book by American Anthropology, anthropologist Margaret Mead based upon her research and study of youth – primarily adolescent girls – on ...

''. The play takes place in Freeman's dream, where individuals (including Mead) from his life return and discuss his life.

Production

The play was directed by STC director Wayne Harrison in 1996, and starred Elizabeth Alexander as Mead and Robyn Ramsey as Derek Freeman. However, after its opening night at

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, a row erupted between Williamson and Harrison about the director's interpretation of the play and almost overshadowed the play itself. One controversial feature of the staging of the production was the use of huge, distorted, paper mache heads of powerful (and rejected by Freeman) female figures, such as

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

, and

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

.Matthew Rimmer, "HERETIC: COPYRIGHT LAW AND DRAMATIC WORKS"
accessed 9 December 2012

References

Plays by David Williamson 1996 plays {{1990s-play-stub