Heretic

Williamson and Harrison decided to collaborate upon a play about the intellectual dispute between the Australian academic Derek Freeman and Margaret Mead, the author of On The Coming Of Age In Samoa.2 The Sydney Theatre Company production, though, was fraught with difficulties. Williamson complained that the production by Harrison and his collaborators took liberties with the script. He was bitter that the character of Margaret Mead was transformed into public icons of the 1960s, such as Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Streisand and Jackie Kennedy. He considered that the addition of words to the text such as ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ without his authorisation was a breach of the ethical norms and standards that governed the theatre. For his part, Harrison was distressed that his authority as the director of the play had been compromised. He thought that the interference of playwright in the direction of the cast was a breach of the protocols and conventions of the theatre.