Julie McGregor as Maggie and Christopher Truswell as Arthur

The plot of the show addresses the problems of ageing and caring for somebody with increasing memory loss, with an often sharp-edged humour which carried with it a tinge of sadness. Despite its unlikely subject matter for a comedy, the show is a favourite with audiences. Maggie’s and Arthur’s relationship was presented with a fascinating complexity—Maggie’s cruel attacks on and emotional manipulation of Arthur disguised her deep dependence on and need of him, and Arthur’s dutiful love of Maggie was constantly in conflict with his guilty frustration at the huge limitations for his own life which looking after his mother entailed.

DIRECTOR – AARNE NEEME
Aarne began his professional theatre career in 1962. He has worked mainly as a theatre director and as a lecturer in both vocational and academic institutions, throughout Australia and in New Zealand and Singapore. He has been the Artistic Director of a number of organisations, Head of the Theatre Department at WAAPA, and the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships.Has directed well over 250 productions, specialising in new Australian work, and in recent years has also turned his hand to television drama.

PLAYWRIGHT – GEOFFREY ATHERDEN AM
Geoffrey Atherden is a lapsed architect who launched himself slowly into a writing career back in the days of the Architecture Reviews at Sydney University. He practised architecture for many years, and during that time he was a major contributing writer for the first series of The Aunty Jack Show.

He is best known for his television series Mother and Son and has won numerous awards for it as well as for other television work, including Eggshells, One Day Miller and a United Nations Media Peace Prize for Babakiueria. His first play, Hotspur, commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company, played successful seasons in Melbourne and Sydney in 1994.

Geoffrey is an occasional contributor to a number of magazines and collections of short stories. He is a member of the Board of the New South Wales Film and Television Office and was president of the Australian Writers Guild from 1994 to 1998.