AWOL

Two old men escape from a care home and go to a metal festival.

Cyril doesn’t like old people, which is a shame because he is one. When he learns his estranged granddaughter, Lily, has her big break with her thrash metal band, Abscess, he and his friend Neville are determined to show up and support her. Neither of them will ever be the same again.

AWOL is a feel-good adventure caper with a positive message about ageing. Fresh from a sold-out tour of Canada:
★★★★★ “Comedy gold… a pleasure to watch from start to finish.” Edmonton Journal, Alberta
★★★★★ “A headbanging great time” Saskatoon Star Phoenix
“Screamingly funny.” UMFM Manitoba

AWOL is a feel-good adventure caper about discovering you still have plenty to offer. It’s a celebration of taking risks and the joy of unexpected surprises.

Cyril doesn’t like old people, which is a shame because he is one. When he learns his estranged granddaughter, Lily, has her big break with her thrash metal band, Abscess, he and his friend Neville are determined to show up and support her. Neither of them will ever be the same again.

Comedian, poet and former mental health nurse Rob Gee wrote the show after reading a news item from Germany: “It turned out not to be true, but it inspired me to write an uplifting chase story with a positive message about ageing. It’s also a love letter to metalheads!”

Rob has performed over a hundred fringe festivals across the world and won over twenty awards for his solo shows. Fringe hits include Fruitcake (“This play has everything” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ★★★★★) and Forget Me Not: The Alzheimer’s Whodunnit (“Hilarious and heartbreaking” Victoria Times ★★★★★).

Stuart Tavendale trained at The School of the Arts in Northampton. He most recently appeared in New Old Friends production A Christmas Getaway, a national tour of Sense and Sensibility as Edward Ferrars and as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. Past credits include The 39 Steps, Netflix’s Luther and the BBC’S Years and Years.

Ryan Gladstone is artistic director of Monster Theatre and creator of numerous fringe hits, including Til Death and Juliet: A Revenge Comedy. (“A natural comedian” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.) He lives in Vancouver. Rob said, “I wasn’t expecting working with Stuart and Ryan to be this much fun. If we’d been at school, they’d never have allowed us to sit together.”