Cruel at times — but a good old Godber

Men of the World, Oldham Coliseum

ONE of the most enjoyable days I spent in years gone by was joining a coach trip (in the name of work) with a bunch of mad pensioners.

It’s true what they say: for those who manage to retain their wits into maturity, as people get older they get younger — especially hunting in packs.

If I remember correctly, at one point, one of the ring leaders — she was pushing 80 — was running up and down the bus flashing her union jack bloomers to the delight of all concerned. And that was just on the way there . . .

John Godber taps into the same sort of joie de vivre with this 2002 comedy on its new tour, though as he depicts Yorkshire pensioners, they are a pretty miserable bunch as they and their drivers travel on a coach trip to Heidelberg, home of castle, university and bierkellers.

Unlike many of Godber’s works in recent times, there’s a gem of a good play in “Men of the World”, weighed down by his apparent need every few seconds to have a lame joke at the expense of some hapless character of pensionable age.

There’s the poignancy of elderly souls whose infirmities see them fall by the wayside at Leicester Forest services, to die without even seeing Folkestone; the “Marx Brothers” — three old men worn to nothing in the pit; the Beverley Sisters, never very bright, now condemned to an old age of repeating themselves in inane conversations, and the drivers themselves, endlessly looping the same journeys.

The trio — Frank, Stick and Happy Larry — cope with the missing persons and the endless complaints and try to stay good-humoured — except Stick (Robert Angell), who can’t stand pensioners and just wants to join his lecherous pal on the route to the Costas, driving coachloads of nubile youngsters.

Frank — actually a woman, played by Sarah Parks — is sanguine after six years of playing coach nursemaid, while Happy Larry (Dicken Ashworth) simply wants out — or does he?

The evening goes quickly, to be sure; and Godber gets through dozens of cliches about old age in his usual, linear narrative, never delving too far beneath the surface of any of his characters.

It’s funny, certainly, but also a little obvious and occasionally a little cruel. But that’s what we go to see a Godber play for, isn’t it?