Kiwi characters fly the coop

Taking Off by Roger Hall, directed by Colleen O’leary, Foxton Little Theatre, August 3-18.

Long-haul flights are seldom this entertaining. Four solo female 50-somethings fly in this vintage piece of Roger Hall, with Foxton Little Theatre patrons packed in like economy-class passengers for opening night.

The urge to escape routines, circumstances and husbands inspires this foursome to take late-life flights to Blighty in this engaging comedy.

Frankie, a school teacher, uses her second-division Lotto prize to quickly fly the coop, just pausing long enough to flip hubby Lionel a farewell bird. Plain Jean gets made redundant from the company after 30 years and fearfully forces herself to go.

Ruth, wife of a Taranaki cow cocky, is leaving the farm and her philandering husband. Nurse Noeline has looked after and buried her husband and needs a break to reflect on her life as a compulsive carer.

The four never speak to one another in this series of revealing interspersed monologues, but each takes a turn in the spotlight, allowing the audience to eavesdrop.

The irrepressible Frankie, played by Stephanie Thomas, is always on the phone to Denise, her bestie – and occasionally to Lionel. Lisa Collinson’s Jean fills her diary with cathedrals, souvenir tea towels and the hunt for her UK rellies.

Wannabe writer Ruth, Sue Stockwell, relates her story in the third person, creatively accompanied by an overhead projection of her How to Write a Novel guide. Carolyn Allan’s Noeline reads her emails aloud before she flicks them off to friends and family.

It’s a long, wordy and static play, but each performer has invested enough in her character to earn an intrigued following. Some ‘‘flight schedule’’ tweaking would help land this plane earlier, allowing passengers a greater appreciation for the flight crew.