Many Kiwis have left New Zealand for their big OE in their youth. Photo / 123rf
Many Kiwis have left New Zealand for their big OE in their youth. Photo / 123rf
Last week our play reading group read Taking Off, a Roger Hall play about four women in middle age who decide to do the big OE they wished they’d done in their youth. Given that theatre is a visual as well as an audio experience, I wondered how easy itwould be to stage a play that was originally written for radio. None of the characters interact, each telling their story in a different way.
One lady constantly rings her friends to tell them what she’s been up to, one writes postcards, another emails and Ruth, the farmer’s wife, using her trusty “how to write a novel” textbook, writes her own novel chronicling her experiences.
These four ladies all ring true. We enjoyed reading the play and we could all vouch for the authenticity of the ladies’ experiences. If it hadn’t happened to us, it happened to someone we knew. They were all glad to come home again too, just as I was.
