Up for Grabs (play)
| Up for Grabs | |
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| Written by | David Williamson |
| Genre | Theatre play |
Up For Grabs (2000) is a play by Australian playwright David Williamson.
Set in the booming international art market from 1990, which was fuelled by the dot com boom, it involves scenes of an alternate sexual nature. Not seen critically as one of Williamson strongest plays, it is a play of bad manners, an analysis of how wealth and power can corrupt the arts.
The London West End theatre version saw Madonna, billed as 'Madonna Ritchie', starring on stage for the third time in her career, to overall poor critical review of her technical ability and was even described as "the evening's biggest disappointment" by one.
Williamson's play is about the booming international art market from 1990 to the present. In Australia in 1990, total art sales at auction were less than $17 million, by 1995 $27 million, by 1999 to $70 million and in 2002 worth more than $90 million. According to investment analysts, art has been the fourth best-performing asset in Australia for the ten years to 2002. This pushed contemporary Australian art prices to new highs, with Brett Whiteley's "The Jacaranda Tree" fetching $1.9 million in 1999
The boom was fuelled by the Dot com boom years, and Williamson also address six of the seven deadly sins (Pride, Lust, Avarice (Greed), Envy, Wrath, Gluttony), to address the "anything goes" personal and sexual excesses of the time. A play of bad manners, an analysis of how wealth and power can corrupt the arts.
The story deals with the efforts of Simone, a young fledgling art dealer, to sell a painting by Australian artist Brett Whitely for a record $2 million and thereby establish herself at the “big end of town”. This ambition turns to desperation when she signs a contract guaranteeing this price, putting both her own and her partner Gerry's assets on the line.
Simone, who has a small list of clients with the sort of money needed for this kind of transaction, sets up an unofficial auction to push up the price. Her prospective buyers include Dawn Grey, a corporate art buyer still frustrated that she did not have what it takes to be a great artist; Kel and Mindy, a young dotcom couple with more money than sense; and Manny and Felicity, a wealthy but unhappy couple looking for a suitable trophy.
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