Arts laureate Shane Bosher on honouring his hero playwright Bruce Mason
stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Behind the music - St Bishop
rte.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rte.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Matriarch Fran (played with brusque charm by Lara Macgregor) is quickly on the phone to all the other siblings. Despite Rosie’s protests of not being ready to talk about it, Fran tells each of them to come over, “something’s happened”. The feeling of being known by someone so well, while they don’t listen to a word you say may remind some of their own parent/child relationships. Mark (beautifully played by Jthn Morgan) has recently broken up with his girlfriend of three years, Pip (an emotive Heather O’Carroll) is a career woman married with two kids and Ben (sharply performed by Daniel Watterson) is a fast paced, successful young man.
The play follows parents Fran and Bob – played by Lara Macgregor and Stephen Lovatt – as they encounter the complicated lives of their four adult children, played by Heather O’Carroll, Jthan Morgan, Caitlin Rivers and Daniel Watterson. Bosher said at its core, the story was about resilience, change and parents who have brought up children who have now moved into their own lives. It was equally about how children must, in their own way, break those parental bonds in order to become the people they need to be. “To me, it’s a homage to the great suburban in-between, and a love letter about family.It’s about growing up, moving on and what we leave behind.”