It was adapted into a Margaret Fink-produced film in 1975, starring Peter Cummins as Simmonds, John Hargreaves as Ross, Kate Fitzpatrick as Kate, Jacki Weaver as Fiona, Martin Harris as Kenny, and Chris Haywood as the Removalist.
Set in a time of radical change in Australian society, Simmonds is revealed to be very chauvinistic, a great juxtaposition from Ross' nervous character.
While Ross is being verbally tested by Simmonds, two women enter the station, Kate Mason and Fiona Carter, who are sisters.
She says that there are bruises on Fiona's back and thigh, which Simmonds inspects personally, and even photographs (he says that a view by the "medically untrained eye" would look good on the police report).
Simmonds is keen to assist the women with the removal of the furniture because he sees the possibility of sexual reward.
Simmonds comes back alone (the sister having taken a taxi to her new apartment), and finds Ross begging for help, as he believes Kenny to be dead.
Ross is relieved, but Simmonds does not agree with the suggestion that he be brought to a hospital; instead, he bargains with Kenny with the lure of a prostitute, in exchange for the assurance that he would keep the incident quiet.
There are some unseen characters, however, such as a car salesman, Fiona's Mother and Kenny's baby daughter Sophie.
He sees to satisfy his sexually perverse needs through the pretext of examining his clients, such as Fiona, for marks "apparent to the medically untrained eye".
Williamson demonstrates that should abuse occur in a police station and under the witness of policemen, their victims are rendered powerless.
Through the portrayal of the policemen as powerful and somewhat uncontrollable in their nature towards the end of the play, Williamson displays and highlights a serious social issue of the time, therefore making it one of his most remembered works.
Kenny is depicted as a "larrikin" working-class man, and represents the stereotypical egoistic "Aussie" male of the 1970s.
The play's action is instigated by Kenny's beating of his wife Fiona, the reporting of which prompts her visit to Ross and Simmonds's police station, and her move out of their shared home.
The play's major plot twist occurs in the final minutes when Kenny, despite apparently having recovered from a beating by Ross to the point where he begins to negotiate a deal with the two officers, dies suddenly at mid-conversation from a brain hemorrhage.
The play deals with a lot of issues/themes/concerns and expresses these through the 'new age theatre' that David Williamson engages his audiences through.
Symbolically David Williamson explores Australian society through the characters, themes and concerns.
Words such as 'fuck', 'shit' and 'cunt' are provocative and confronting but also true of the 'ocker' language and mannerisms that Kenny, Ross and Simmonds embody.
In the same year, the Vietnam War began, which led to an increasing Australian involvement, including the introduction of National service (1964.)
With a string of public trials against corruption in the police force, The Removalists is an examination of Australian society at one of its most turbulent times.
Williamson used familiar issues in his society such as corruption and violence in the police force and reflected them in The Removalists.
[1] He later said, "the play was actually a very black satire on the very worst aspects of Australian macho, male behaviour, which the audiences, interestingly, read straight away.
They read what's actually happening there in front of them on the stage, whereas those occasional critics who view life through an ideological framework, they interpreted the play to be a searing attack on police brutality, which it never was.
[3] The play was turned into a 1975 Australian film, starring Peter Cummins, John Hargreaves, Jacki Weaver, Kate Fitzpatrick, and Martin Harris, with Chris Haywood as the removalist.