Last Legs
Fortune Theatre
Sunday April 29
REVIEWED BY BARBARA FRAME
A pair of dodgy former real estate agents fleece their fellow retirees; an ex-teacher turned environmental activist campaigns for bottle recycling; an emeritus professor finds himself lecturing on American literature to a bunch of snoozing oldies while his wife turns to her iPad for intellectual stimulation; a one-time actress demonstrates that a saucy reputation can always be enhanced - these are some of the things that happen in Roger Hall's new play about life in a modern retirement complex.
He has been writing about retirement and old age for several years, and Last Legs follows on the heels of Who Wants to be 100?, You Can Always Hand Them Back, Four Flat Whites in Italy and A Shortcut to Happiness, all of which have been performed at the Fortune.
Last Legs consists of numerous short scenes in which the characters interact with each other or address the audience directly, and a picture of life at Cambridge Retirement Village emerges.
Peter King's set conveys a good impression of the newness of it all, and of the together-yet-separate nature of apartment life.
Hall's talent for creating characters who represent recognisable New Zealand types and yet are uniquely themselves is as strong as ever.
Director Ross Jolly is a Hall veteran, as are most of the cast - Ray Henwood, Catherine Downes, Donna Akersten, Stephen Gledhill, Jane Waddell and Vivien Bell. Their performances, and their characters, are the play's strong points.
The funniest scenes, unrelated to the main action, are those in which a group of dotty old dears struggle with Scrabble and card games.
Comedy, dramatic intensity and social comment could all be sharper, though, and further plot development could provide opportunities for more unity and more action.
Overall, Last Legs provides a pleasantly entertaining evening and seems sure to be popular.
