Hundreds of people turned up to The PumpHouse Theatre in Takapuna on 11th August, to mark 50 years (to the night) since Roger Hall's first professional play, Glide Time, took to the stage. With a Q&A hosted by Alison Leonard, and tributes from Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson and Shane Bosher from Playmarket. Due to popular demand, Shane has given us permission to share his speech.

I join with you all tonight in celebrating Sir Roger Hall.

My name is Shane Bosher, and I’m here on behalf of Playmarket, who have had the great pleasure of representing Roger and his work since the 1970s. 

At the beginning of Glide Time, John enters his office, hurling a busted umbrella, inverted by the wind, into the wastepaper basket. He gives a great cry to the gods: “Wellington, I HATE YOU. I loathe you! Dear God, let this department be decentralised. Anywhere. Anywhere! Just get us out of Wellington. I’d even settle for Masterton.”

New Zealand theatre would never be the same. In fact, it laid down a gauntlet, proving once and for all that for New Zealand plays, there was an audience. 

Over his career, Roger has written 47 plays, 6 pantomimes and a large number of plays for children. It is a staggering body of work. 

Like Alan Ayckbourn, Neil Simon and David Williamson, Roger reaches right into the fabric of the society around us, laying bare our frailties, our contradictions – the wonderful messiness of being human. His writes plays for us and about us. 

Roger’s plays are rich in social critique and expansive in their reach: from public service workers pulling the 9 to 5 drudge, to stories about finding community in bushwalking or book clubs, Roger writes about people we know. He has written stories about immigration, education, returning to university (or dating!) in middle age, grandparenting, the corruption of aged-care homes. 

My colleague Alison Quigan, who is one of the great interpreters of Roger’s work has said that “Roger’s plays are mostly comedies with serious intent.” To Alison, “Comedy is tragedy – but with better timing. The truth must always be present to make people laugh and therefore to relate to the situation. All of Roger’s plays are deceptively complex. Many people, when they first read them, see a simple story well told. A light comedy. But, without fail, once we start rehearsing there are many levels that are revealed.”

And those many levels have created indelible theatrical moments, many of which tell the greater story of New Zealand:

• Aunt Dolly singing Scones, Pikelets, Pavlova in Footrot Flats – The Musical
• At one point in Glide Time, Hugh asks the wonderfully bureaucratic Wally for an order form. Wally’s reply? “You’ve got to order order forms on an order form.”
• In Prisoners of Mother England, Shirley talks about their big trip across the ocean to New Zealand in the 1950s: “Thirteen thousand tons of rust, jammed with eleven hundred assisted migrants, and manned with a crew press-ganged from the Gorbals. No air conditioning, no swimming pool. I’m only on this thing because Ken’s got some notion of a brave new society on the other side of the world.” 
• At the end of Middle Age Spread, spouses Elizabeth and Colin sit in the fallout from a wonderfully awkward dinner party where Colin’s affair with a young colleague has been revealed. From a silence, Elizabeth asks: “What do we do now?” Colin replies, gingerly, “What we do, Elizabeth, is the dishes.”

I have personal history with Glide Time. Like Roger’s play, I’m navigating fifty years on this earth too. I had the extraordinary privilege of programming and then producing the play’s 30th anniversary production for Silo Theatre back in 2006. And I’m so pleased to know that it’s about to delight audiences in a brand spanking new production with Phoenix Theatre.

In fact, my own career has peppered with wonderful encounters with Roger and his work. Just a few years out of drama school, I was cast in a production of A Way of Life, which toured the country. 

With great narrative sweep, A Way of Life traces a specific thread of New Zealand history. With the branches of the McDonald family tree and their resulting intergenerational tensions, it’s kind of like our own version of Tim Winton’s Australian classic Cloudstreet. I had the great pleasure of being in the one and only professional production, and remember how the many rural communities we toured to responded - rapturously. This was their story, writ large. The play is epic, impactful, literate, compassionate and underpinned by great craft. I’d love to see it brought to life in a new production. 

‍Roger’s work has turned the fortunes of many New Zealand professional theatres around. It has also allowed companies to expand their reach. By Degrees was one of Auckland Theatre Company’s first great successes. In its early days, ATC programmed work in the Herald and Maidment Theatres. The success of Social Climbers enabled them to programme into 700 seaters such as Sky City. A Shortcut to Happiness was the first play programmed by The Court Theatre in a post-earthquake Christchurch. Chosen to centre joy, audiences came out in droves, with Roger’s play offering them great solace and belonging. 

Over the last 50 years, Roger has created a profound legacy. He has shown us who we are. We are all so lucky to have had you showing us the way, Roger.