KEY POINTS:
David McPhail and Jon Gadsby have taken to the stage with their latest venture, an adaptation of their iconic Kiwi comedy series Letter to Blanchy.
The 1990s television show followed the lives of three friends in a small rural town who reported their adventures to a city-dwelling friend called Blanchy.
"When we were writing the television script we felt it would make a good play," says Gadsby. "It felt like one in many ways because the action is character-driven and takes place in one location," adds McPhail "so it stuck in our minds as something we could do in the future."
In the play McPhail and Gadsby star in their signature roles of Derek and Barry, joined by Tom Trevella as put-upon friend and brother-in-law Ray. Veteran actor Martin Howells completes the comic quartet in the role of Col (Derek's horse trainer) whose marital strife, off-key singing and "trouble with the waterworks" has already frayed nerves before the four characters arrive at the ominously-named "Starvation Hut" for a spot of fishing.
Soon after arrival, torrential rain and flooding cuts off the only means of escape, trapping the group together in a tramping hut. As the rain continues to pour, tensions rise until even the most trivial of pursuits may be the catalyst for catastrophe.
Letter to Blanchy: Stir Crazy begins in Auckland at the Bruce Mason Theatre on February 25th and tours all around New Zealand before finishing in Dunedin on March 21st.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
