David Williamson’s new play is the kind of tale the French spin so reliably in their comedy films – a toe-curling dinner party scenario that serves as an examination of ambition, social anxiety and class.

Katie (played by Mandy Bishop) is a middle-ranking arts professional married to medical tech entrepreneur Roger (Johnny Nasser). They want for nothing, one imagines, but outer suburban-raised Katie has long been fixated on the greasy pole of Sydney’s arts board scene. She wants a seat at the kinds of board tables headed by establishment power couple Charles and Catherine Mallory (Andrew Macfarlane and Sarah Chadwick). 

Determined to impress, Katie embellishes her CV and invites Charles and Catherine to dinner – luring them off their beaten track with the promise of fine wines, a meal prepared by a celebrity chef and the presence of a well-known (though fading) Australian film director Ben (Matt Minto) and his partner Laura (Jo Downing), a teacher.

The main event is the promised unveiling of an important addition to Katie’s art collection – one that Charles cannot resist.

Matt Minto, Mandy Bishop and Sarah Chadwick in The Social Ladder. Photo © Phil Erbacher

Australia’s class system is of abiding interest to Williamson (in 2025’s Aria, for example) and The Social Ladder packs more laughs than it does new insights or surprises. It’s a little like watching a tennis match at times, with the characters establishing their ideological positions with booming baseline rallies in the first act before heading to the net in the second for a series of frantic and increasingly chaotic volleys. 

Director Janine Watson maintains buoyancy throughout and the cast is a strong one. Bishop’s Katie is sharply played; you find yourself quietly cheering her on even as her flimsy pretence collapses around her. Macfarlane is good as a merchant banker and strict (if blind) meritocrat. Chadwick is creamy-smooth and very Double Bay. The head-butting between the men is entertaining and veers toward the athletic once everyone starts ripping into Roger’s collection of sub-$15 wines. 

Johnny Nasser in The Social Ladder. Photo © Phil Erbacher

Once everyone has blown off their steam, however, there’s not a lot left to say or do except find a way off stage. Williamson offers a final tingle by leaving the gate ajar to Katie’s incorrigible yearning for advancement, but when all’s said and done, he leaves the ladder in place, the rungs intact; the joke, as ever, is on those scrambling to climb it.

The Social Ladder plays at Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli, Sydney until 14 March.