I've always maintained that a playwright needs to be a good cook. Rayson now has two plays, Hotel Sorrento and Life after George , that have been huge hits and seem certain to become classics of Australian theatre. Success like that can affect writers differently, for better and worse. Rayson says after a thoughtful pause. It also made her conscious of having an audience.
Writers think differently about the idea of an audience or readership.
Some are highly aware of it while others have very little sense of one. Rayson was extremely impressed with last year's production of Cloudstreet and is now working on a three-generation, family saga. It is, she says, an attempt to understand the rural crisis. It's going to be an all-night job. The audience would arrive at 6pm and interval would include a picnic.