Codgers single work   drama   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 Codgers
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Ageing, racism, sexual diversity, inclusion, acceptance - all wrapped up in peoples' secrets...

'Five senior Aussie men, four of them mates since war service, meet one morning each week in a gymnasium...they exercise together, chew the fat together about their families, laugh, tease and sing. They solve the problems of the world, agreeing to disagree. But some surprising and disturbing elements enter to test and challenge their comfortable relationships to one another and to the world around them. Secrets, differences and loss of trust threaten to destroy the long-established friendships.

'JIMMY, the jokester, worries about having something to leave his grand-daughter, and the real estate deal that LES sets up to help grow JIMMY's nest egg starts to look shonky in the face of LES's increasing forgetfulness - while old LES has to cope with losing his marbles. Conservative PATRICK suspects his mate of an affair and his confidence in the rightness of his own moral view is deeply shaken by Sar-major KEITH's revelations about the nature of his masculinity. Good-natured ribbing about old political sores becomes tense when newcomer STANLEY CHANG's enthusiasm to join the group ruffles everyone's feathers and exposes long-held prejudices. ROD, the youngest of the troupe, struggles to manage the discord:

'They begin to see that the vulnerability of one is the vulnerability of all - and commonality begins to re-assert itself. Seeing each other and themselves in a different light: they learn that 'difference' is more a matter of point of view; that you 'wouldn't be dead for quids'; and, no matter what - that you gotta laugh!'

Source: Codgers website, http://www.codgers.com.au/home.php
Sighted: 05/08/2008

Affiliation Notes

  • Associated with the AustLit subset Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' as the work contains a Chinese character.

Production Details

  • Produced at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, 1-9 August 2008. Director: Wayne Harrison.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Clunky But a Warm, Well-Cast, Amiable Crowd-Pleaser Glenn Burns , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 June 2010; (p. 30)

— Review of Codgers Don Reid , 2008 single work drama
A Chip off the Old Block Ron Cerabona , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 May 2010; (p. 15)
Still Here Sharon Verghis , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 April 2010; (p. 5-7)
Sharon Verghis looks at opportunities for older actors in early-21st century Australian theatre. Her sample includes the roles available in Don Reid's Codgers.
Lack of Funds Leaves Codgers in the Cold Clare Morgan , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 April 2010; (p. 13)
Codgers More Than Just Grumpy Old Men Claire Low , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 24 March 2010; (p. 6)
Stretching the Friendship Stephen Dunne , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5 August 2008; (p. 14)

— Review of Codgers Don Reid , 2008 single work drama
Clunky But a Warm, Well-Cast, Amiable Crowd-Pleaser Glenn Burns , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 June 2010; (p. 30)

— Review of Codgers Don Reid , 2008 single work drama
Codgers More Than Just Grumpy Old Men Claire Low , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 24 March 2010; (p. 6)
Lack of Funds Leaves Codgers in the Cold Clare Morgan , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 April 2010; (p. 13)
Still Here Sharon Verghis , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 April 2010; (p. 5-7)
Sharon Verghis looks at opportunities for older actors in early-21st century Australian theatre. Her sample includes the roles available in Don Reid's Codgers.
A Chip off the Old Block Ron Cerabona , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 May 2010; (p. 15)
Last amended 26 May 2010 14:09:48
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