The play has a number of autobiographical elements, being about a doctor turned novelist and journalist who have left their respective spousesto live in an artists colony. David Williamson was an engineer turned playwright who lived in an artists colony in Eltham with wife Kristin after both left their respective spouses. Williamson's parents claimed the characters of the parents were based on them. It was Williamson's first play to deal with inter-generational conflicts on stage.