The Professional Theatre Company and the Isaac Theatre Royal are proud to present

MAMIL 2: GOMIL  Grumpy Old Man In Lycra

How did GOMIL come into being?

It’s really about the history of Mark and Gregory and how our relationship and our friendship has blossomed and become a really productive, professional partnership. We worked together a lot on the complete histories [of Christchurch and Nelson], which goes way back to the mid to late 90s. So, we have worked together on a lot of different things. And MAMIL came out of me doing The Hobbit and ringing Gregory and saying, “I think I've got an idea for a one man show and it's called Middle Aged Man In Lycra”. Thus, MAMIL was born, and then 330 performances later, about two and a half years ago, we recorded the last performance of MAMIL at Weta Workshops as a partnership with Sir Richard Taylor, which was fantastic. I had a discussion with Greg and said, Look, there's got to be a sequel to this. And we'd had a discussion about a grumpy old man in Lycra, which was inspired by a television show, Grumpy Old Men. Then I sent Greg a whole jumble of stuff and he very cleverly took all of my mumblings and ravings and turned them into this incredible script, which is really a step up from MAMIL. It's a very interesting story about one of the characters in MAMIL, Wayne, who was the founder of the MAMILs who is heading into the twilight years of his life, and GOMIL delves into his decision around leaving home, the death of his partner, and other things that have caused incredibly difficult challenges for him. It follows his story as he experiences the psychological effects of these challenges, and how he deals with them, with the help of a counsellor. Of course, a coming of old age story is nothing without an evil Italian bike called Pinarello, which we both adore.  Pinarello featured in MAMIL and was such a great villain he had to return. 

 

So you want to make people cry.

Oh no, it's definitely funny. It's essentially a comedy with some pretty poignant undertones. However, it's been a really challenging show to put together in the sense that it's operating on a slightly deeper level, psychologically. But I think this is also what's really great about it, it’s not just watching a sequel, this is completely and utterly new. It's an extension of the MAMIL characters into a real story of salvation. The salvation of Wayne.

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Do you need to have seen MAMIL to understand GOMIL?

No, because it's done in such a great way that you can experience some of the characters from MAMIL in the beginning, and then something pretty catastrophic happens, and then you get thrown into the world of Wayne after that. It's a hell of a journey, and I'm so very lucky that I've got Gregory giving me some really great directorial advice and taking it where it wants to go.

 

What do you think about Wayne now?

Obviously we're portraying him as a grumpy old man in lycra, but the character that he was in MAMIL was a pretty charming, straight-shooting old man who retired from his concreting work and lived with his wife. And things change dramatically for Wayne in GOMIL, so that he becomes this grumpy old man, but he's still very charming and very likable, and it's his journey that I think makes it pretty interesting. And he doesn't talk very personally to everyone else, but he talks very personally to the audience.

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Who is your audience?

I think there's a lot of the younger generation who are going to recognise their grandparents and their parents and things that they're going through, but I think essentially, it'll appeal to an older audience. There are some really relevant issues in GOMIL that we're highlighting. One, is the loneliness of older men as they retire and as they lose their partner. What do they do? A lot of the stuff in the show, Greg utilised from the relationship that he had with his family, which is really a very precious thing to put into the play, and I'm hoping I'm giving that the gravitas and the importance that it requires. 

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You play seven different characters in this play, how do you switch from one character to the other?

Experience. That's what 45 years has given me.  Being able to have done MAMIL and before that, SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy), and having that ability to be able to switch from character to character with accent to accent. I mean, it's a working piece, it will continue to change and evolve.  I hope people really enjoy it and understand why this is an important theatrical play and an entertainment that can bring laughs, and I think it's going to shed a tear or two, too.

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​So, you had a Nelson season of GOMIL in December, and now you’re back in Ōtautahi. How does it feel to be back in the city where the MAMIL journey first began?

It’s been 10 years, can you believe that? MAMIL started out at The Court Theatre and as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival in 2015. After a whole lot of touring, I jumped back on the bike for MAMIL Remounted right here at the Isaac Theatre Royal in 2018. It’s been so great to be back in this beautiful venue, and to see the Performing Arts Precinct growing with the new Court Theatre opening next door in just a few months.

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But things are a bit different this time around…

You might have noticed the seating is on the stage this time at the ITR. We really wanted a sense of intimacy for the audience through the ups and downs of Wayne’s journey, so it felt like a no-brainer to make use of the vast space on stage. Being up on the ITR stage will be a whole new experience for many of our audience. NZ Van Lines very generously transported the chairs down from Nelson for us which has enabled us to have a longer season with just 300 in the audience per night.