May the 4th Be With You
silently cheering them on. I’ve always been a sucker for underdog stories.
In short, it’s a very good movie – but it didn’t change my world, despite the fact it was a landmark moment in cinema and culture.
Star Wars was almost, but not quite, enough to keep me from The Coroner.
It definitely piqued my interest. I want to watch the other Star Wars films, but I’m not rushing to the DVD store on my way home.
I now realise there is a whole realm of Jedi (a Jedi! I know what that is now!) out there that I should explore.
And it is a reminder that we should all, from time to time, make an effort to watch a classic – or even a non-classic – that is not our cup of tea.
At least until The Coroner starts on the other channel. Roots and Wings, New Plymouth Repertory Society
A suicidal car accident, a father finding out in a humiliatingly public way that his son is gay and his subsequent, prejudiced, emotional response to that news hardly seems material for comedy.
However, Roots and Wings by Frank Vickery cleverly combines a very humorous script with these weighty issues.
Mix in some excellent casting by director Gill Weatherall, who goes by the name Gill.e, wonderfully strong characterisations by the cast and the result is an audience that thoroughly enjoys pondering those very issues.
They witness laughter, tears, rejection, love and, at times, some chaotic frenzy. When lead actor Simon Mace brilliantly breaks into song it’s rather like watching a fleeting moment of Priscilla being performed live from a hospital bed and it impresses a lot.
When two different scenes play out simultaneously on stage theatre goers are forced to concentrate hard to keep up with the action.
It requires precise timing by the actors who must take turns to deliver their lines. There’s lots of head turning and quick changes of attention from one scene to the next.
As one viewer on opening night quipped, ‘‘That’s rather like my family at times. Everyone talking at once. It’s hard work but so real.’’
There’s a lot of realism. With Anna McDermott’s realistic portrayal of a nurse and the true to life setting of a hospital, you sense this is life, albeit with a comic twist added, playing out before you.