''Juggler's Three'' is an Australian play by David Williamson. It was based on the breakup of his first marriage, when he left his pregnant wife for a woman who left her husband.

Background

The play was commissioned by John Sumner of the Melbourne Theatre Company in mid 1971. Williamson submitted a storyline called ''Return from Vietname'' about a conscript, Graham, who discovers his wife, Karen, has left him for an economist, Neville. The play was originally titled ''Third World Blues'' but the MTC requested this be changed to ''Juggler's Three''. The play underwent many revisions, and at one stage included sequences set in Vietnam. The first production was very well reviewed and later transferred from

Russell St Theatre The Russell Street Theatre was a theatre on Russell Street, Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne Theatre Company performed there from 1960 to 1994, using it as their main city venue in the 1960s and early 1970s and their secondary venue from the late 1 ...

Harry M. Miller Harry Maurice Miller (6 January 1934 – 4 July 2018) was a New Zealand Australian promoter, publicist and media agent. Life and career Born on 6 January 1934 in New Zealand, Miller grew up in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. He moved to Aus ...

's Melbourne

Playbox Theatre The Playbox Theatre was a theatre located at 53-55 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia, from 1927 to 1984. It became the home of the Playbox Theatre Company, previously Hoopla! and later Malthouse Theatre. History The theatre seating ...

, which was rare for Australian plays at the time Williamson later called the play "a hysterical and unresearched piece of melodramatical nonsense."

''Third World Blues''

Williamson later reworked the play again in 1996 as ''Third World Blues''."Background to Third World Blues", ''Performing Arts Collection''
accessed 26 Oct 2012 This was done at the behest of Wayne Harrison, the director, who was an admirer of the original play. There had been a well publicised conflict between Harrison and Williamson over the staging of ''Heretic'' but they reunited for this play. Williamson rewrote the play after researching by talking to Vietnam veterans and counsellors saying "I slowly started to realise just how traumatic war and combat is for most participants." He also made key structural changes saying "the original was virtually in farce form - there was something like 39 entrances and exits. It's down to 19 now, which structurally makes it half as farcical as before."

References

Notes

*Brian Kiernan, ''David Williamson: A Writer's Career'', Currency Press, 1996 {{David Williamson 1972 plays 1996 plays Plays by David Williamson