Characters

Cooper

(Male 70+)

Sharp of mind but failing of body resident

Nurse Wilson

(Female 22-40)

An intelligent, caring and giving Nurse 

Baker

(Female 35-60)

Housekeeping lead with a lovely singing voice

Aylott

(Male 70+)

Cooper's friend & "escape committee" cohort

Julia

(Female 30-55)

Cooper's somewhat stoic daughter

Peter

(Male 30-55)

Cooper's son-in-law and straight man

Synopsis

A Month of Sundays is a bittersweet
comedy about growing old. Cooper, has
voluntarily gone into a nursing home
rather than become a burden on his family.
We deduce his valiant determination to
hold on to his remaining dignity and
independence through his banter, as he
jokes with the other old folks, flirts
with the female staff, and keeps a close
check on his own "record of
physical deteriorations". Cooper
is on stage throughout, driving the
emotional development of the play with
his acerbic wit and waspish asides, but
we also glimpse his vulnerability.

His friend Aylott is a foil to Cooper,
who is the more dominant of the two.
Aylott is a sensitive gentle soul,
nowhere near as hearty or self-
important as Cooper. The two geri-
atrics agree that their lives now
can only be endured if they treat
life as a comedy. Whether the play
is showing the painful ritual of a
Sunday duty visit by Cooper's daughter
and son-in-law, or the inevitable
condescension shown by the young and
fit to the old and infirm, Cooper and
Aylott behave with humor and wit. Yet
throughout there is underlying sadness.
Where some writers would highlight the
harrowing elements of the gradual onset
of senility, Bob Larbey shows us the
same experience with a sharp comedy.
The two inmates of the retirement home
are covering their fear of what awaits
them with a brave veneer of humor.

The drama shows how others interact with
the two old people. We see how the
presence of the nurse and the cleaner
reinforce Cooper and Aylott's painful
consciousness of their situation,
clearly indicating that this too is
inevitable. They bustle about in a
determined fashion, yet neither are
caricatures. We see Cooper's hurt when
he learns that his grandson does not
want to visit him. Yet even when the
young are well-meaning in their dealings
with the old, the difference is pro-
found. The energetic and youthful Nurse
Wilson is genuinely kind and tender
towards Cooper; there is mutual respect.

Cooper's daughter, Julia, shows a composite
of duty, affection and irritation. Her
cameo may feel eerily and uncomfortably
familiar to anyone who feels they have
experienced a similar situation with an
elderly parent. It is all too easy to
characterize the old as "difficult" or
"feisty". Yet although Cooper is now a
stiff, bent old man, he is still fully
in charge of his mental faculties, and
has many long witty speeches where he
holds forth. He runs rings around Julia's
rather dull husband, Peter, who is no
match for Cooper's biting wit. It is with
despair and frustration that at one point
Julia bursts out, "I do wish you'd talk
to me!"

In some ways it is a play as much about the
relationships between family members as
about old age.