Alec Buzo was born in Sydney. He established himself early as a leading playwright of the New Wave. Key themes of the New Wave were confrontational attitudes and exploration of vernacular and abusive language. Buzo's play Norm and Ahmed (1968) became the focus of national court cases and debates in relation to censorship of language in the theatre. It premiered at the Old Tote Theatre in Sydney in 1968, then it was performed in Melbourne and during its following national tour resulted in court cases across three states ending up in the High Court. Over the next four years plays such as The Front Room Boys (1969), Rooted (1969), Macquarie (1972) and Tom (1972) established Buzo's reputation as an important voice in Australian new writing. Coralie Lansdowne Says No (1974), Martello Towers (1976), Makassar Reef (1978) and Big River (1980) furthered his reputation. He was among the first of the New Wave playwrights to be recognised internationally, especially with successes in the USA with shows such as Rooted, Tom and Makassar Reef.
Along with David Williamson, Buzo explored the comic potential of urban life and vernacular. Through the social satire his work explores the human price of contemporary society. Buzo's work focuses on the dramatic study of the individual's alienation from society and from one another. Throughout his writings there is a strong implicit defence or appeal for basic humanism in interpersonal relations in all contexts from romantic to professional. Many of his lead characters have withdrawn from social interaction reacting wittily and angrily against their view of the world. Coralie Lansdowne Says No one of Buzo's most successful plays achieved notoriety because it appeared to be about the downfall of a high flying independent woman. There has been a lot of debate around this play. It is a critique of the 'new' liberated woman, after the introduction of the contraceptive pill gave women more choices in their lives. Coralie's freedom is shown as a lack of direction and understanding, with no more ambition than to be a wit. The play follows Coralie's process of compromise in her search for happiness. In the process she retreats from glamorous and luxurious life style she has been leading. Her journey of sorting through the demands of people in her life and in the end she reassesses her judgements and recognises value she had previously overlooked.
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