What: Loot
Where and when: Herald Theatre, October 23 to November 21
English playwright Joe Orton's irreverent comedy Loot kicked open the door for others to overtly send up the police, religion, death and postwar middle-class manners, says veteran Kiwi comic David McPhail.
And McPhail is a man who knows a thing or two about the risks and rewards of being a comedy trailblazer.
In a career spanning nearly four decades, he has satirised on television everyone from former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon to singer Tina Turner. More recently he played a politically incorrect schoolteacher in the satire Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby.
After tickling the nation's funny bone on television in the late 1970s and early 80s with the political satires A Week of It and McPhail and Gadsby, he and creative collaborators Jon Gadsby and A. K. Grant decided to lampoon other issues - including religion.
But they soon discovered that even in the supposedly more liberal 1980s, religion was still sacred to many New Zealanders. A skit in which McPhail sipped communion wine and then cheekily asked the vicar if it was available in Chablis caused public outrage. "They were praying for our souls at Nelson Cathedral," he recalls.
So it's not surprising to hear McPhail describe Orton's Loot as a brave and funny piece of theatre which hides its 1961 vintage well.
Given the opportunity to feature in the Silo Theatre Company's production of the farce, McPhail couldn't resist. Now he's preparing to make a rare Auckland appearance, alongside Mia Blake, Cameron Rhodes, David Van Horn, Charlie McDermott and Sam Snedden.
While McPhail has produced, directed or appeared in countless theatre productions, most have been in his native Christchurch at the Court Theatre. He last appeared on stage in Auckland in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 2004.
McPhail says it didn't take much persuading for him to fly north - and it had nothing to do with an unseasonably cold spring blast blowing through Christchurch about the time rehearsals started.
"I was attracted to the material. The extraordinary thing about it is it was written in the 1960s; with most English plays of that era, you would think, 'We really can't put this on, it's far too dated', but Loot is still very, very funny. When you are dealing with a piece as clever as this, it feels as if it were written yesterday.
"How Orton managed to get away with this sort of thing back then is beyond me."
McPhail says he thinks it is presumptuous to compare his work to Orton's but agrees they were heading in a similar direction in questioning authority figures.
"He was having a go at society in general or making comments about things he disliked whereas our sole function was to prick the conscience of politicians - if you could find their consciences. What we did wasn't social commentary but political satire."
With its dark digs at authority, especially the judiciary, Loot has a contemporary resonance. McPhail thinks audiences still might raise an eyebrow at the way poor old - and very recently deceased - Mrs McLeavy is treated.
Mrs McLeavy is survived by her husband (played by McPhail), a devout Catholic and keen gardener, and her son Hal, a wayward boy with crime on his mind. Having just robbed a bank with his mate Dennis, Hal needs somewhere to stash the cash - and what better place than mum's coffin?
But the police are watching the likely lads and send round one of their finest, Inspector Truscott (Cameron Rhodes), disguised as the man from the Metropolitan Water Board, to keep an eye on them.
As well as the play itself, McPhail is relishing the chance to work with new people who are keeping him on his toes and a smile on his face. "I take as a clear indication things are going well by the fact we are laughing out loud in rehearsals."
One of those people new to McPhail is Mia Blake. While Loot marks McPhail's Silo debut, it is something of a home-coming for Blake who appeared in a number of Silo shows when the company was based at what is now The Basement Theatre.
BLAKE was last seen, seven months pregnant, in Indian Ink's The Dentist's Chair and returns to the stage after nearly a year off to spend time with daughter Isla.
She plays Nurse Fay who, hired to make Mrs McLeavy's last days more comfortable, rapidly turns her attentions to Mr McLeavy's health and wellbeing. When he leaves for his dearly departed wife's funeral, it is with thoughts of proposing to the naughty nurse. He does not know Fay has had seven husbands who have died in mysterious circumstances.
"I think it's a bit strong to say she murdered them," chuckles Blake. "Fay is something of a black widow but she would probably see what she did as helping end misery and suffering. She a delicious character to play because she says and does all the things we can only dream about.
"I love being back on my old stomping ground, too. The Silo may not be in the old building but we are rehearsing there so it feels familiar. I'm working with people I know, mostly, so I feel quite relaxed."
Blake admits to being excited, even a bit nervous, about working with McPhail. As a child, she would gather with her family round the television to watch his shows. McPhail scoffs at the suggestion that, given his place as a cultural icon, some could be nervous about working with him.
"I wasn't intimidated but I was excited," says Blake. "I rang mum to tell her that I thought David McPhail was going to be in the play. He's not intimidating but very inviting.
"For me, Loot is the right play at the right time.
"I think a psychological thriller or full-on drama would send me over the edge. Things change when you have a child, so this is a great way to ease back into work."
