A comical conversation overhead on a bus about a wayward bachelor party was the inspiration for STAG WEEKEND, which has its world première at The Forge at The Court on October 25th.
Directed by Mark Hadlow, Stag Weekend was written by Court Jesters Brendon Bennetts and Dan Bain.
Stag Weekend exposes the world of male shenanigans and the inevitable clashes that result when mates with varying ideas about what makes for a good time reunite on the West Coast. The show promises a trail of carnage slammed together with loads of laughs when the four very different friends set out to bag a stag.
Simon, the groom, (played by Cameron Douglas) is your average guy who is desperately in search of what it means to be a real man in today's modern world. He is looking to his best mates for guidance.
Andrew (Andrew Ford) is the one who seems to have it all - he's settled, with a good job and plans for the future, but all is not what it seems. Professional, polished and in his element in a metrosexual city environment, his veneer starts to slip when confronted by West Coast reality.
Charismatic, alternative lifestyler Tim (Owen Black) is put out when he realises that not all things in life are as easy to obtain as they have been in the past. There are some situations that a winning grin and an instant guitar melody just can't fix.
And traditional Kiwi bloke Gary (Tom Trevella) cannot understand why his boyhood mate wants to do anything other than hunt, drink, vomit and build stuff because that's what real blokes do... don't they?Personalities clash and the jokes tumble out as the four debate the merits of gladwrapping the naked groom to a
pole verses an afternoon at the driving range followed by wine tasting. One thing the foursome can agree on are the individual changes that each has undergone since high school days.
Playwrights Brendon Bennetts and Dan Bain have worked together for over ten years. With this play they wanted to replace the short-lived nature of improvisation with a script that would last. "We started Stag Weekend over four years ago pre earthquakes. Every place that we started writing has now fallen down! It shows the destructive power of our writing, no building can withstand it!" says Bain. During the writing process, Bain was one of Bennett's groomsmen but there, they insist, any similarity to the play ends.
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