Take a group of female school teachers. Place in an isolated bush hut with only basic food supplies. Cut them off from the outside world for a weekend.
Add a good dose of alcohol. Listen to the resulting bursts of ego, selfishness, arguments, admissions, baring of souls and creation offriendships.
That's the recipe for Roger Hall's theatrical Kiwi classic, Social Climbers.
Being staged by Playbox till October 26 at Riverlea Theatre, Social Climbers is produced by Lee Owens and directed by Steve Grounds.
Playing to an almost full house for opening night, the rollicking, fast-paced play demanded slick conversational interaction - almost from the opening curtain.
The cast warmed to its task early and mastered Hall's perceptive lines which have been cleverly updated and localised for this production. The audience was up for a laugh and was given good value.
Julie Turner, playing the larger-than-life drama teacher Maxine, was a standout on the night, with Jane Barnett's portrayal of 'I think I'm past my use-by-date' history teacher Kath wringing the most from her comic lines.
Camp mother, tramp instigator and secretly separated Susan (Branda Twidle) was influential, as was school counsellor and 'camp confidante' Annie (Nicole Domett).
Phillipa Sherry, playing mousey English teacher Emily, grew in matriarchal confidence to rein in her wayward but artistic daughter, the sneering Sinead, played by Chelsea Bowden.
A very shrewd, fly-on-the-wall peep at a ladies' weekend gone bad ... with a happy ending.
Well done. Great theatre. A good laugh!
Tickets available from ITICKET - www.iticket.co.nz or from the Riverlea Theatre Box Office 0800 800 192.
