Clean no Muldoon

Clean no Muldoon

It’s official. The oft-reported ‘fact’ that Greg McGee modeled Foreskin’s Lament character Clean on Robert Muldoon isn’t true.

In fact, according to the author, Clean was based on a couple of players he knew, “one of whom, I suspect, deliberately smashed my nose when he was supposed to be my support in the lineout.’

McGee says that some aspects of rugby as portrayed in the play have changed, but not necessarily in the ways some critics would have us believe.

“I think there’s a bit of a rose-tinted view that amateur rugby was somehow socially inclusive and egalitarian, but ironically, it’s the professional game that is much more enlightened and inclusive.”

He says that New Zealand’s great advantage in the amateur era was that the players were as ruthless and results-oriented as any professionals, and in that respect, not a lot has changed, “though the resources and systems around the players are obviously a hell of a lot more sophisticated. At least, you’d hope so!”

Greg McGee, played rugby jn the early 1970s for Otago, and as a junior All Black and All Black trialist, and director Kathi George says his knowledge of his metier shines throughout the work bringing an overwhelming authenticity to the dialogue and the action.

“The public often just see the glossy world of professional rugby, but at a club level this play is still very close to the mark,” says Kathi.

“It’s an essentially New Zealand work with our national love of rugby at all levels and its importance to us as a people at its heart,” she says.

Foreskin’s Lament is a Stagecraft production and is on at the Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street from 18 – 28 May.

Tickets are $22 waged, $20 unwaged, or $18 for groups of 10 or more. 2 for $22 night Thursday 19 May. Please note booking/delivery fees may apply.

Bookings, online at www.stagecraft.co.nz or ph 0508iticket (0508 484253).

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