Comedy and drama by Philip Bentley
AGE OF REASON is a collection of three short plays related by their theme, with each play centering on characters who have very different ways of coping with growing older. Together, they provide a full evening of theatre, but each play also stands alone.
LIVING WORK OF ART
Camellia Brown is an opera singer, who retired at the peak of her career. On a visit to London, on a lecture tour, she is staying at a modest hotel. Here she meets Walter, a young waiter, and a fan of hers since childhood. Walter is thrilled to meet her, but his attitude changes when he discovers that she has refused the chance of a comeback season at Covent Garden. He becomes more and more threatening, until Camellia is forced to make the decision of her life.
THE SEVENTY-FIFTH DAY
This play could perhaps be described as a 'blackish comedy'. Nancy and Dotty are two elderly ladies, who are apparently getting together for afternoon tea. Their behaviour seems somewhat eccentric, as they lampoon their friends, neighbours, and society in general, until we find that their intention this afternoon is to "do themselves in". By the end of the play, they are both asleep, but uncertain if they have taken enough sleeping pills to "do the job", and Nancy's son is hammering on the door in an attempt to rouse them.
THE WORLD AND MRS T
In this comedy/drama, Mrs T. has opted out of life by conning her way into a long-stay ward in a mental hospital. Here she is visited by Helen, who claims to be a trainee psychiatric nurse. Helen gradually wins Mrs T's confidence, and collects enough evidence to convince hospital authorities that Mrs T. is malingering. Forced out into a halfway house, Mrs T. is quite miserable, until she hatches a plot to get back into hospital, and has the last laugh on Helen.
THE WORLD AND MRS T. was the recipient of the 1994 Shell Playwright’s Award
AGE OF REASON was premiered at the Heretaunga Players theatre on 16th May 1994, and the first professional production opened at Bat’s Theatre, Wellington, on 13th December 1994.