This was an inspirational show by the Older Women’s  Network Own Theatre group, a group which has existed in the community since  1988 when the group first formed outside Parliament House in Canberra. They decided that they were fed up being invisible in government policy so they pitched a tent and communicated their unhappiness with what was then the status quo.

The performers ranged in ranged in age from  60 to 90. They were Norma Bastock, Itojo Hardie, Inez Jessurun, Denise Miel, Marjorie Moffat,  Carolyn Neumann, Brigid Sen, Ruth Thompson, Rita Tratt, and Miranda Walker. Each of  them performed  their roles with  sensitivity and conviction. They were accompanied by pianist Janice Beavan. 

The show started with the performers telling us now old they were and where they were born.  One of the main premises came through very early- ‘you’re never too old to be yourself’

A few Beatles songs made it into the show – ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and ‘Help’. With the former song, the lyrics were reshaped to include the phrases – ‘‘When I’m Seventy Four to When I’m Eighty Four’…

There was a comment about things getting better when one gets  older- the same way that cheese and wine does.

A lot of old songs were reworked, keeping the tunes and the melody, and changing the lyrics. Then there was a very fun version, with the group in a line, singing a very upbeat  ‘Stayin’ Alive’.

Voice quality varied from very good to fair amongst the performers which was natural as this was about giving things a go more than professional singing,

Abuse of elderly people was high on the agenda. The song  ‘Behind Closed Doors’ incorporated this theme. 

Older women are often effected by homelessness.The statistics ate  alarming.

John Prine’s  beautiful, lyrical song ;’’Hello in There’s  led to a lovely group hug.

A couple of life size puppets  were used to good effect and with plenty of humour.  

Director Jo-Anne Cahill made the different elements within the show come together well. The choice to use a narrator was a wise one, keeping a good structure.  

The point is  made that older people are often invisible- they don’t go to school, they don’t go to work- so people don’t see them and find out how they are functioning. You have to stop, look and listen when you are with elderly people. Elderly women, particularly, are a marginalised group within society.  

There are arguments within the family that prove hard to deal with- as one of the performers said, and there are scenes where individual performers tell anecdotes  from their own lives- ‘I survived the Holocaust but have had problems with my own flesh and blood’.

The chorus provided a  good version of Aretha Franklin’s song ‘Respect’  with all the women ‘finding their own little Aretha’.

Crowd favourite songs  were sung including ‘I am woman’ and Monty Python’s  ‘The Bright Side Of Life’.

There was an incisive scene where the point is made that elderly people are told how to behave in an age appropriate manner such as  not wearing their hair long and  not wearing short skirts because that’s only what young women do.

The different kinds of abuse were mentioned- physical, verbal, emotional and  financial. The play tells us that well-meaning family members often misunderstand the plight of an elderly women. Elderly women are quite vulnerable and should not have to conform  with what society expects of them.

The show ended on an a very upbeat note. We each took the piece of paper on our seats with a song typed on it and sang along with the chorus ‘Don’t knock your Granny/ you’ll be an oldie someday/Don’t knock your Granny/Respect and compassion is  the way/Life is uncanny/You wake up one day and you’re old/It’s not ok to knock your Granny/So consider yourself told’. Very clever and the audience loved joining in.

As well as songs there were poems and a favourite poem was quoted Dylan Thomas’s poem ‘Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light’.

The costumes were excellent and in colour mode with the women wearing the colour red relating to passion, purple relating to the women’s movement, and black relating to abuse.   

It was a delight to see this show and it was good to see it performed on a main stage in Sydney. The show comes across as a call for solidarity amongst the older female members of the population as they have plenty of wisdom accrued with the benefit of a lot of life experience.  

The show ended with a mostly standing ovation from the audience who appreciated how much these performers gave.

DON’T KNOCK THE GRANNY played the Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross on Saturday  4th May, 2019.