It is one of Williamson's few plays not to be set in contemporary Australia and was written as a vehicle for actor Drew Forsythe.
[1] Flatfoot is the story of Titus Maccius Plautus (Drew Forsythe) is an ancient Roman playwright, who must convince his producer, Crassus Dives (John Gregg), that his new play, The Swaggering Soldier, will be a success and please the Roman censor.
Plautus' uncensored play meets resistance by defying various Roman societal conventions (with themes such as abolishing slavery, lampooning authoritative figures and allowing women to assume roles in the theatre).
But he was going through the same agonies as any playwright so I identified with him – trying to convince the producer to put his next play on, trying to get his actors in line, trying to cast it, trying to keep them in order, trying to sort out his marital problems at the same time.
[2]Flatfoot was first performed at a rehearsed reading at the Longweekend Festival in Williamson's home town of Noosa, Queensland.