Free-Rain Theatre Company artistic director Anne Somes said Bob Larby's A Month of Sundays ''is one of the most beautifully written plays about the ageing process''.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
''It moves so effortlessly from humour and fun and banter into the poignant stages and then the really heartbreaking moments,'' she explained. ''It's lovely to perform and lovely to watch.''
The play is set in a rest home for the aged. Cooper (played by Graham Robertson) has moved there to avoid depending on his daughter Julia (Lainie Hart), with whom he has a frosty relationship. She and her husband Peter (Paul Jackson) visit once a month but he is much closer to a fellow resident, Aylott (Oliver Baudert), and Nurse Wilson (Joanne Richards), with whom he has a flirty relationship.
Robertson also played Cooper when Somes first produced the play in 2008. A catalyst for that production was her experience with her mother, who lived with Somes and her family for 16 years before she died at the age of 92.
''The week before she went into hospital when the physical deterioration started, she was playing bridge and winning,'' Somes said.
''She went into a home and lasted 11 days.''
Somes said A Month of Sundays managed to be funny and warm without being sappy. She also saw it as a fine way to pay tribute to the octogenarian actors Robertson and Baudert.
''They still have so much to give.''
A Month of Sundays is on at the Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, from October 18 to November 3, Tickets $35/$30. For more information and bookings visit canberratheatrecentre.com.au or phone 6275 2700.
