Not so long ago, British women were expected to retire at 60 and their male counterparts at 65. By that point, they were deemed to have done their bit for society and richly deserved a rest, funded by 40 or more years of contributions via the tax regime.
A combination of longevity and financial problems for UK plc have gradually pushed the retirement ages upwards, as well as giving women the privilege of working for many more years before they can retire with the approval and support of the nation.
However, the theatrical community has frequently defied the deprivations of age, sometimes successfully and occasionally less so.
Not so long ago, octogenarian Glenda Jackson was playing King Lear at the Old Vic and then at Broadway’s James Jones Theatre and, until very recently, 85-year-old Sir Ian McKellen was starring in the West End in Player Kings, an adaptation of the Henry IV plays.
These are by no means isolated examples, although it is more common for distinguished actors to leave the stage behind and spend their later years making cameo appearances in TV and film.
It isn’t just performers who ignore the call of Old Father Time. The Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough has recently announced casting for Show & Tell, which opens their next month prior to a tour encompassing theatres in Bowness on Windermere and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Astoundingly, this is Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s 90th play, and any bookmaker giving generous odds on his failing to reach the century is probably making a mistake. After all, Sir Alan is a stripling of 85 and still has the energy to turn out to play a year and will be directing this new piece.
It could be suggested that the writer has already achieved a milestone. If one were to include revues, musical entertainments, adaptations, plays for children, individual one act plays and works for TV, in cricketing parlance he would long ago have been raising his bat to acknowledge the audience’s universal acclaim on passing 100.
One day, somebody will calculate the number of performances of plays by this now venerable writer, who has for decades enjoyed the reputation of being the most performed in this country. It might literally stretch to millions.
While some of his work has been written off as somewhat ephemeral, the best has hit the heights around the world, not to mention gracing the National Theatre, many West End stages and played on and off Broadway.
The American successes might seem counter-intuitive, given that much of the playwright’s work seems to be so quintessentially English to the point where one wonders whether it might sometimes mystify foreigners. Instead, like their counterparts in this country, they find that his concentration on human foibles generally delights, occasionally challenges and will frequently leave them rolling around in the aisles.
Indeed, the situation is almost the opposite, given that according to Wikipedia, Sir Alan has had no new play transfer to the West End in almost 20 years, while in that time five crossed the Atlantic.
Perhaps Show & Tell will reverse that trend and like West End audiences. It certainly sounds both characteristic and intriguing, since the press release opens, “Jack’s planning a big party for his wife’s birthday. He’s pulling out all the stops and has booked a touring theatre company to perform in the main hall of the family home. The only problem is that Jack is getting a bit forgetful in his old age and can’t remember all the details of the booking…”