Alison Quigan and Mark Hadlow starred in the world premiere of Winding Up last year. Photo / NZH
I've been reading a bit about Roger Hall's latest offering to the theatre world, Winding Up, and the consensus seems to be that it's a very funny, light-hearted look at the issues that concern us once we're past retirement age.
The two central characters are Barry and Gen, the same
couple that bickered their way through Conjugal Rites, Roger Hall's highly successful 1990s comedy which was made into a British TV series.
I'm sure most of us will be able to identify with the issues raised: dealing with family issues, organising travel, why is my body not working as well as it used to, so many people I know are dying and how will I organise my own funeral?
One critique I read of the play made the point that while older audiences would have no trouble identifying with Barry and Gen's problems, younger audiences may not. How empathetic are the young? I suspect the issues raised simply don't concern most of them and neither should they until time catches up with them.
A quick internet search revealed that Winding Up toured various centres in both the North and South Islands in 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, a lot of the performances were postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions but eventually did go ahead, just as the restrictions limited our Repertory Theatre productions in 2020.
