Codgers is a 2006 stage play by Don Reid that was later turned into a 2011 comedy film of the same name by Wayne Harrison. Reid created a companion play for Codgers entitled Biddies, released in 2012.
Codgers was developed as a play by Don Reid.[1] [2]
It toured regional New South Wales in 2008 and nationally in 2010.[1]
The story follows five elderly men that meet weekly at their local gym to talk and spend time together. When a newcomer threatens their friendships, the group must overcome the temporary setbacks and find a way to overcome these new issues.
Performances of the play were positively received.[3] [4] The Sydney Morning Herald review said that it was a "pleasant, simple and heart-warming comedy about ageing and its possible wisdoms".[5]
Reid won the 2006 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award of Codgers.
The play was adapted into a feature film directed by Wayne Harrison and starring Ronald Falk, Ron Haddrick, and Edwin Hodgeman.[6]
The film premiered at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre on 24 June 2011 and was released to video on demand through Titan View in 2013.
In 2012 Reid released Biddies as a companion piece to Codgers.[7] [8] The play featured a similar plot device as its predecessor, centering on five older women and former schoolmates that are gathering together to sew a project for their former school. The play starred Maggie Blinco, Annie Byron, Vivienne Garrett, Julie Hudspeth, Donna Lee, and Linden Wilkinson,[9] and received mixed reviews.[10]