Welcome to MAMIL What’s it about?

MAMIL is a play about universal themes facing men and women the world over: MAMIL explores the male midlife crisis in all its lurid glory, where the superbike the relentless pursuit of money to feel happy, the bragging and bravado men sometimes and cycling culture reign supreme. project to fit in, the health consequences of not listening to one’s own body, the value of It’s 2007, just months before the GFC makes everyone stop in their tracks. Bryan Cook, friends and family, self discovery and redemption. property developer and Tom Jones obsessive is busy making a small fortune building MAMIL has attracted strong and broad-based audiences wherever it has played. poorly constructed homes. He’s stressed out, self-medicating and self-loathing, slowly This is a play written by a man, about a man, told through the language of men killing himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf score. – so has obvious strong appeal to men, especially MAMILs. But a real delight while touring When the property market implodes, his life crashes with it and he joins a men’s cycling has been the equally high engagement by women – the loudest laughs often coming from group to relieve the stress and attempt to get healthy. them with the no-holds barred insights into the murky cracks and crevices of the male psyche. The various members of the peloton are going through their own mid-life crises, dealing with their failures and fears, one hill climb at a time. It is a contemporary, highly accessible play so has appeal far beyond the usual theatregoers. Several venues reported new and diverse audiences being attracted Faced with his own mortality, Bryan discovers all the cars, golf clubs and homes mean into the theatre, to be thoroughly entertained by a performer and a show that is funny, nothing without the love of family, friends and most importantly, oneself. poignant, thought provoking and challenging. Medium Copy Bryan Cook is a property developer who has accumulated a small fortune Welcome to MAMIL (90 words) building leaking homes. He’s a stressed out, self-medicating, self-loathing arse, who is slowly killing himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf handicap. When his carefully constructed life starts to Show Title MAMIL fall apart due to the 2007 financial crisis, he joins a men’s cycling group to relieve stress but makes a few unexpected discoveries along the way. Written By Gregory Cooper Achingly funny and devastatingly poignant, MAMIL explores the male Performed By Mark Hadlow midlife crisis, where the super bike and cycling culture reign supreme.

Age suitability 15+ Short Copy When Bryan Cook’s carefully constructed life starts to fall apart, he joins (49 words) a men’s cycling group to relieve stress but makes a few unexpected Running Time 90 minutes with no interval discoveries along the way. MAMIL will have you in hysterics as you follow one man’s adventure, transforming from stressed-out property developer Director/ Greg Cooper to health-conscious road warrior. Playwright Alternate Copy Bryan Cook is a kiwi property developer who has accumulated a small Touring Set Bryan King/Graham Jacobsen (160 words) fortune building poorly constructed homes. He’s stressed out, self- Design medicating and self-loathing; slowly killing himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf score. Lighting Design Jane Hakaraia/Stephen Paul When things fall apart, he joins a men’s cycling group to relieve the stress Sound Design Hamish Oliver – and makes a few startling discoveries in various cracks and crevices.

Executive Richard Vizor MAMIL is a one-man show in which Bryan Cook recounts his journey from Producer king of the road to chastened member of the peloton, along the way highlighting some of the worst traits of blokeness. Operator Sean Hawkins Technician Mark Hadlow, as Bryan, brings his considerable talents as a comedic actor and singer to the role, revealing Bryan’s complex, confused inner world, Online Links @mark_markhadlow therealmarkhadlow MAMIL_Show from his brashest to most intimate moments.

Long Copy You’ve seen them whizzing past you clad in Lycra. Maybe you know one You can’t help warming to his character as his privileged life unravels and (170 words) of them… maybe you are one of them. They are those cyclists who ride he hits rock bottom, muddles his way from unassailable self-centredness expensive racing bicycles and swarm the roads revealing all in their body- to vulnerable self-awareness, then takes his first steps towards maturity hugging outfits and streamlined helmets. They are MAMILs –Middle and redemption. Aged Men in Lyrca. Review Quotes “Hadlow shows his splendid verbal dexterity and comic versatility in Achingly funny and devastatingly poignant, MAMIL explores the male portraying not only Bryan and his appendage, Little Ted, but all four midlife crisis, where the super bike and cycling culture reign supreme. fellow cyclists.” - Terry MacTavish for Theatreview Bryan Cook is a property developer who has accumulated a small fortune “Hadlow’s performance is incredibly impressive and he is unafraid to put building leaking homes. He’s a stressed out, self-medicating, self-loathing himself out there.” - Charlie Gates for The Press arse, who is slowly killing himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf handicap. When his carefully constructed life starts to “This production will be one of the highlights of the year. It is a must-see fall apart due to the 2007 financial crisis, he joins a men’s cycling group to show, for men and women.” - Ewan Coleman for The Dominion Post relieve stress but makes a few unexpected discoveries along the way. “I was left in awe … it is laugh-out-loud material and definitely worth a Following sell-out seasons in New Zealand, much-loved award-winning ticket.” – 3 News New Zealand actor Mark Hadlow brings his hit one-man show to the United Kingdom. “Hadlow deserves the standing ovation he receives … MAMIL wins the popular vote.” – Grant Hindin Miller for Theatreview

“If you have an opportunity to see this show in future grab your tickets fast, I’ve never seen a show sell out as completely as this one has.” – Sam Jury for Broadway World New Zealand

“It was definitely one of the best shows I had seen in a while. Mark Hadlow is a seriously talented actor.” Mark Hadlow Gregory Cooper

Mark Hadlow, ONZM, is one of New Zealand’s best-known Gregory has been a professional theatre actor, writer and actors. He has performed in countless theatre productions director for over 20 years. He began his career at The throughout New Zealand. Mark has made dozens of film ap- Court Theatre in , New Zealand and wrote pearances, television series, commercials and thousands of and directed some of their earliest school holiday radio voiceovers. He has directed many plays throughout productions. Since then his children’s shows have New Zealand, some independent productions and some been produced and toured by numerous companies for The Court Theatre in Christchurch. including The Fortune Theatre, New Zealand Playhouse and Australia Playhouse. Mark has been seen on screen playing the dwarf Dori in Trilogy, his third movie. In Meet Gregory also co-wrote and directed the New Zealand the Feebles he voiced Heidi the Hippo and Robert the tours of The Complete History of New Zealand and Hedgehog and sang many of the songs. King Kong saw him The Complete History of World Rugby for the Real rehearsing and performing the role of Harry in the vaudeville New Zealand Festival as part of the Rugby World scenes opposite Naomi Watts and Bill Johnson. His latest Peter Cup celebrations in 2011. He also wrote Jackson movie, Mortal Engines, saw him playing the Auctioneer and directed The Complete History Stigwood. Mark also played alongside New Zealand comedian, of Christchurch that played to over Billy T James in The Billy T James Show, a 26 episode sitcom. 25,000 people in Hagley Park as part of the Christchurch City He has performed in many musical theatre productions includ- Council Summer Theatre season ing My Fair Lady; Mr Cinders; Jesus Christ Superstar; Chica- in 2012. go; Kiss Me Kate; Sweeney Todd; The Rocky Horror Show and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum In 2014 he wrote and directed with John English. Mark Hadlow’s one man show MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Mark has been nominated for and won several awards, Lycra). Since then the show including Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy Se- that has been performed over ries for Willy Nilly, playing the role of the challenged brother 100 times nationwide with interest from Australian and UK producers to take off-shore. He Harry in the three-season, top-rating sitcom. was also commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy to write Commander Claire & The He won Best Theatrical Performance of the Year in 1993 for the Pirates of Provence and The Complete History of the Royal New Zealand Navy for their hugely successful one-man show SNAG and ultimately went on to 75th Anniversary Celebrations in 2016. win Entertainer of the Year in 1995. He won Best Character Voice Over In 2015 he co-wrote That Bloody Woman, a musical about Kate Sheppard that played to Artist in the 2010 New Zealand Radio Awards. capacity audiences at the Christchurch Arts Festival, Auckland Theatre Company and The Mark has worked for Queensland Theatre Company and performed SNAG at the Adelaide Court Theatre before touring nationwide. Arts Festival and at the Edinburgh Festival in 1996. He loves the one man show format and In 2016 his latest show The Streaker was staged by The Court Theatre and Centrepoint MAMIL, written by Gregory Cooper, opened in 2014 and has since played to over 50,000 Theatre in Palmerston North. people with rave reviews throughout New Zealand. Most recently Gregory has directed Steel Magnolias and O Le Malaga Fa’a’atua (The In March 2018 he completed a co-lead role with Jed Brophy in Stef Harris’ latest thriller, Journey of The Gods) for The Court Theatre and has also been commissioned to write a Blue Moon. The film was invited to world premiere in the New Zealand International Film new mainstage show. Festival in 2018 in Christchurch, Nelson and . It has now been selected to play at Cannes in 2020

He also completed the support role of a South African kick boxing coach in the Shane Ran- gi short film Die Like a Shark.

He has most recently been seen as Hansom Harold, a wrestling fight promoter in the televi- sion series Colonial Combat set in the 1830s in New Zealand, which has just aired a second season. Hadlow has been amazed at the connection audience members have found with the different personalities. “Everyone identifies with one or more of the characters – they are all very Press and PR believable and honest. They answer so many questions as to why we love cyclists and why we hate them. The play is very relatable for audiences who come along and see themselves or Media Release (Short) people they know in the characters on the stage.”

Mark Hadlow, New Zealand’s finest comedic actor, finds the perfect vehicle in the multiple roles It was a chance encounter with a group of MAMILs that led Hadlow to formulate the idea for he plays in the hit comedy, MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man in Lycra). his one man show, “Whilst filming The Hobbit trilogy in Wellington, New Zealand in 2011, I was invited to ride with a small peloton of bike riders. I was immediately struck by the strong After receiving rave reviews in New Zealand, award winning playwright Gregory Cooper’s camaraderie of the group and the subjects discussed quite openly – health, personal issues, MAMIL hits British shores. relationship issues, business issues, the All Blacks. It was robust, very much acceptable and not sexist or derogatory. It was remarkable.” MAMIL explores the male midlife crisis, where the super bike and cycling culture reign supreme. Hadlow plays Bryan Cook, a property developer who has accumulated a small fortune building Hadlow approached Cooper with the concept and Cooper rapidly penned the first draft. “We leaking homes. He’s a stressed out, self-medicating, self-loathing arse, who is slowly killing had our first read through in 2012 and my mind was blown. It was almost ready to be put in front himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf handicap. When his carefully of an audience! We had a few discussions about the content and the characters and after a few constructed life starts to fall apart due to the 2007 financial crisis, he joins a men’s cycling group nips and tucks we had the show we still perform today, 5 years, 175 performances and 50,000 to relieve stress but makes a few unexpected discoveries along the way. audience members later,” Hadlow recalls.

To tell Bryan’s story, Hadlow plays characters from every corner of the globe, he sings opera and “MAMIL has become a very funny play that also manages to shine a light on some serious issues even plays a particular part of his body. concerning men’s physical and mental health that don’t get talked about enough,” Cooper says.

MAMIL has played to 50,000 audience members over 175 performances in New Zealand and While New Zealand has been the only country to enjoy MAMIL thus far, Hadlow is delighted now is ready to take audiences in the UK along for the ride. that he gets to share this remarkable work with audiences in the United Kingdom, “It’s an international story. The UK is as bike mad as anywhere and they will relate just as much as “I’m excited that people in the UK will have the chance to see one of New Zealand’s finest actors anyone to the characters and their stories. There are thousands of Kiwis living in the UK, and I in an absolute tour de force of a performance,” Cooper says. hope to see lots of them at the show – when you’re a Kiwi living overseas it’s pretty special to MAMIL is funny, poignant, sad, irreverent and outrageous, just like real life. It has something for see a live one-man show written and performed by other Kiwis.” everyone, male or female, senior or junior. You don’t have to be a biker to enjoy MAMIL. It’s an “I’m excited that people in the UK will have the chance to see one of New Zealand’s finest opportunity for non-riders to giggle at the absurdity of lycra abuse in all its glory. actors in an absolute tour de force of a performance,” Cooper says. “Watching Mark in MAMIL is always exciting as you never know what he’s going to do next. I’ve lost count of the number of performances I’ve seen and no two have ever been the same, which is exactly how live theatre should be.”

Media Release (Long) MAMIL is funny, poignant, sad, irreverent and outrageous, just like real life. It has something for Mark Hadlow, New Zealand’s finest comedic actor, finds the perfect vehicle in the multiple roles everyone, male or female, senior or junior. You don’t have to be a biker to enjoy MAMIL. It’s an he plays in the hit comedy, MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man in Lycra). opportunity for non-riders to giggle at the absurdity of lycra abuse in all its glory.

After receiving rave reviews throughout New Zealand, award winning playwright Gregory Trigger warning – contains a middle aged man in lyrca. Cooper’s MAMIL hits British shores.

Achingly funny and devastatingly poignant, MAMIL explores the male midlife crisis, where the super bike and cycling culture reign supreme. Hadlow plays Bryan Cook, a property developer who has accumulated a small fortune building leaking homes. He’s a stressed out, self- medicating, self-loathing arse, who is slowly killing himself to increase his bank balance while decreasing his golf handicap. When his carefully constructed life starts to fall apart due to the 2007 financial crisis, he joins a men’s cycling group to relieve stress but makes a few unexpected discoveries along the way.

To tell Bryan’s story, Hadlow plays characters from every corner of the globe, he sings opera and even plays a particular part of his body.

“I play ten characters, and have a different favourite at different times, and audiences respond to them in such a variety of ways so there is a lot of joy that comes from that. I do love Pinarello, the Italian singing road bike. He’s a hoot, especially his arrival.” Box Office Selling Points

• Mark Hadlow is a prominent award-winning New Zealand actor

• He has most recently been seen in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, King Kong, Mortal Engines, Blue Moon, Die Like A Shark and the television series Colonial Combat

• MAMIL is a one-man show

• MAMIL stands for Middle Aged Man in Lycra

• Mark Hadlow plays 10 characters

• MAMIL received rave reviews throughout New Zealand

• The show has been performed 175 times and been seen by 50,000 audience members

• It’s a hilarious yet also poignant story about a man who joins a cycling group after his life begins to fall apart as a way of relieving stress

• It’s relatable to men and women across the globe

• The show was written by award winning New Zealand playwright Gregory Cooper

• The show is incredibly relatable, especially if you are, or know, a MAMIL

• MAMIL is funny, poignant, sad, irreverent and outrageous, just like real life

• It has something for everyone, male or female, senior or junior

• You don’t have to be a biker to enjoy MAMIL. It’s an opportunity for non-riders to giggle at the absurdity of lycra abuse in all its glory Meet the Characters

Bryan Cook is not the man that Edy married. He is opinionated, brash, and hollow. He idolises his business partner Max Kallas and focuses on the shallow and unrelenting facade of property development. Bryan is bewitched by Max and his filthy lucre, often at the expense of everything else. He is a father of two and owns a chiahuahua.

South African Max Kallas is a diehard Springbok supporter and unscrupulous business operator. He paid a fortune to get illegal residency in NZ. His modus operandi, for business and life is money. There’s every possibility he put up the money to poison the All Blacks in the World Cup final in 1995. Max is ruthless in his quest to become the 35th richest man in New Zealand

Wayne is a huge Harry Potter fan. Has seen all seven Harry Potter films, read the books and continues to travel to Harry Potter conventions around the world. He is a retired concrete contractor now bankrupted because of a property deal gone bad. He is now a committed MAMIL and is the leader of a peloton called The MAMILs. He hails from the days of a handshake being a binding contract and a friendship is for life. He’s not afraid to call a spade a hammer to make his point.

Krishna is a dairy owner and cosmopolitan reader. He works 24 hours a day in making his small town New Zealand corner store the Lycra and out of date nappy rash cream capital of the MAMIL world. Nothing is ever a problem for Krisna, especially when it’s half price.

Seamus is abusive, abrupt and a man of few words, but utterly accurate in his perception of life, every other “f....er” is a pervert! He’s not afraid to verbally express his dismay at other’s shortcomings and has a marvellous ability for profanity. (Language will offend).

Pinarello is quite simply a very caustic, abrasive Italian bicycle. A 16th generation Tour de France road bike, Pinarello is unforgiving in his pursuit of his rider being the polka dotted lycra wearing King of the Mountain. He is an avid opera fan, his favourite being Pagliacci.

Little Ted is Bryan’s appendage. Insecure, maltreated and often neglected, Little Ted struggles as the unheard inner voice of Bryan. He spends much of his time worrying about Bryan’s health, and is a constant reminder of the dangers of ignoring regular medical check-ups.

Doctor Hans Grueber is Bryan’s German GP and heavy Wagner fan. Hans is ready at a moment’s notice to diagnose medical conditions in his patients. Relentless in his quest to make prostate cancer Government regulated and funded, Hans utilises his skills to educate men, and their fear of rectal and prostate examination.

James Benge also known as Benjo is a tax, liquidation and numbers genius, Benjo strives to demonstrate the power of autism as an advantage in life to others. Being a MAMIL only enhances the capacity for him to be the best friend any man could have. of Kiwis that live there. It’s a Iive one man show written and performed by kiwis, so it’s very Mark Hadlow Q&A exciting to be able to take that out to the world. What do audiences love most about this show?

Mark Hadlow, ONZM is one of New Zealand’s best-known actors. He has performed in countless I’ve had so many different takes on what people enjoy in the piece – everyone’s experience theatre productions, films and television series. He has toured New Zealand extensively with his is unique. I think some people just love the one man show genre with the knowledge that at one-man show MAMIL (Middle Aged Man in Lycra). Now he brings the hit show to the UK to any time I may mess up and even fall off my bike! I just want people to have a great night of delight British audiences. entertainment in the theatre.

How long have you been performing MAMIL? Gregory Cooper wrote and directed this show - how much were you involved in the process? MAMIL is now in its fifth year! There’s been 175 performances, and nearly 50,000 audience members have seen it from Invercargill to Auckland. In a country of 4 million, they’re not bad Gregory wrote MAMIL so quickly, so when we had a first read through at our New Zealand stats! producer’s house in 2012 my mind was blown! It was almost completely there. We had a few meetings and talked about the different characters, accents and of course the content. Then What drew you to this play initially? Gregory went away and made a few shifts, nips and tucks to the second draft and we still have Whilst filming The Hobbit trilogy in Wellington in 2011, I was invited to ride with a small peloton the same show 175 performances later. It’s wonderfully written. of bike riders! I was immediately struck by the strong camaraderie of the group and the subjects One of the thrills of live theatre is that the show can be vastly different every night - what discussed quite openly - health, personal issues, relationship issues, business issues, the All experiences have you had in touring MAMIL where things haven’t quite gone to plan? Blacks, naturally. It was robust, very much acceptable and not sexist or derogatory. After a week or two I knew this might make a great one man show! Very unfair question, being the ultimate professional, nothing ever goes wrong...... Bollocks!

What excites you most about this play? Every night is different and the audience is different. They perceive things differently, laugh in different places and sometimes some individuals are completely unaware that the actor can see The audience! There is an uneasy start when they are trying to work out what it’s about and them and hear everything. then bang - the characters, the quick-change repartee and dialogue brings them in and we are suddenly on a great journey together! I love it! I remember one particular performance got off to a cracking start and was going great guns but one woman kept texting on her phone literally every second and at one point took a phone How many characters do you portray? call. I stopped and politely suggested she leave the auditorium because it might be urgent, There are 10 characters in MAMIL. Brian Cook our affable yet uncomfortably relatable anti-hero, her response was too rude to put in writing! She left and the audience and myself heard every Max Kallas, James Benge, my timid unmentionable, Hans, Pinorello, Wayne, Krishna, Seamus and expletive from the foyer about the worst actor and play she had ever been too. There are so Tom Jones. many stories, and yes, some evenings are dynamite. Just ask my stage manager!

Who is your favourite character and why? What do you love most about live theatre?

I have a different favourite at different times! Audiences respond to them differently every night, It’s in the moment! You can feel the audience and there are those nights when it just all comes so the joy comes from that! They are all my favourite but Pinarello the Italian singing road bike is together. Live theatre is full of emotions and feelings and it’s terrific. The audience and actors are probably up there as a hoot especially his arrival! He is so rude to Bryan Cook. aligned and it soars! That is live theatre - it’s magic, it’s living, it’s real and it’s unimaginable how satisfying it can be. Who do you think would most enjoy the play MAMIL? Are you a MAMIL? Everyone will enjoy the play MAMIL because the everyone – both men and women, will identify with one or more of the characters. Although heightened characterisation is necessary, due to Secretly yes. But it’s a weird phenomenon, because off the bike it isn’t that attractive, especially it being a one man show, the characters are very believable and honest. Each audience member the click clack of the bike shoes and the pants that look like nappies! The hugging body design loves to love or hate a character because they relate to them or they know someone like them! doesn’t leave much to the imagination at times! But you wear lycra because it’s less wind It’s all in the moment. It’s funny, poignant, sad, irreverent and outrageous just like real life! resistant, less rash in the nether regions and the shoes lock you on so you don’t slip off with horrific consequences! The leg shaving I ain’t doing, but there is a very good reason, if you come What are you most excited about in taking this show to the UK? off your hair is ripped out by the roots on the road surface as you slide and tumble. MAMIL’s are international! MAMIL’s are everywhere and it’s a phenomena that has exploded onto the world sports scene. Its rivalry as the top sport is extraordinary and women as much as men are getting hooked by the lycra! The UK is going bike mad as much as anywhere and the characters answer so many questions for the audience as to why they love cyclists and why they hate them. New Zealand has been the only country to enjoy MAMIL and I’m just delighted that we now get to take this wonderful show to audiences in the UK, especially the many thousands

What excites you most about this play? Gregory Cooper Q&A I’m most excited about how MAMIL has become a very funny play that also manages to shine a light on some serious issues concerning men’s physical and mental health that don’t get talked about enough. How did you become a writer? Mark summed this up well… When I became part of Christchurch, New Zealand’s The Court Jesters in the ‘90s, The Court Theatre started doing school holiday shows and I ended up acting in the first one… as well as “Men often don’t talk about personal issues surrounding their marital, sexual or professional making our own props and sourcing costumes! Craig Cooper, who ran the Jesters at the time, problems, but joining a bike group I was surprised at the candid conversation of the males in the asked me if I would be interesting in writing an adaptation of ‘Old McDonald Had A Farm’ for the group, not sexist or male bravado, but quite enlightening and much understanding within the next school holidays and I said yes. I’d never written a play before but I’d always enjoyed creative group. Here is the perfect second instalment to S.N.A.G, about a man suffering a mid-life crisis, writing at school and thought what better place to learn how to write a script than a professional but in the new millennium, with new and different characters but nevertheless working through theatre. Old McDonald went well and then I just kept on writing more. We were also given some fears and seeking the answer to the age-old question of failure!” slots in The Court Theatre’s studio space called The Forge to create more experimental scripted/ Watching Mark’s performance is always exciting as you never know what he’s going to do next. improv plays which was a great opportunity. I’ve lost count of the number of performances I’ve seen and no two have ever been the same, What was your process in writing MAMIL? which is exactly how live theatre should be.

I like to try and knock out a first draft quite quickly without overthinking things. The basic story Do you have a favourite character? line of a man who finds redemption and changes his life through cycling was there and Mark and I like them all, but I think my favourite is the MAMIL Cycling group’s spiritual leader Wayne. He’s I had lots of discussions about characters so there was plenty to go on. I think the first draft took a real ‘salt of the earth’ bloke with a gruff exterior who has this hidden philosophical, almost about six weeks. It was far too long but that’s what always happens with a first draft. Then Mark Zen-like side that helps guide Bryan on his journey. The way Mark embodies Wayne’s very unique and I had a reading which led to a second draft. As we rehearsed it for the first season it kept on style of pedalling never fails to make me laugh as well. changing. After the first show we realised the entire final scene was unnecessary so that got cut. Mark’s constantly discovering new things too, so the script is always ‘fluid’. What are you most excited about in UK audiences seeing MAMIL?

What was the inspiration behind MAMIL? I’m excited that people in the UK will have the chance to see one of New Zealand’s finest actors in an absolute tour de force of a performance. One of my earliest theatre memories was seeing Mark in S.N.A.G (Sensitive New-Aged Guy) at the Repertory Theatre in Christchurch. I was 16. This was my first experience of a one-man show Also, although the major themes of MAMIL are universal, it is still a distinctly Kiwi story and it’s and how an actor could switch between multiple roles and interact with ‘themselves’ as multiple always exciting to be able to share our stories with an international audience. characters. It had a huge impact on me. What do you love most about writing for theatre? Almost 25 years later in 2012, Mark and I were having a beer and he mentioned that he would love to do another one-man show. At the time, he was filmingThe Hobbit in Wellington and I love the process from first draft to first show. It always exciting, (and nerve-wracking) to hear along with some friends from the film had formed a men’s cycling group. Mark said he had the words being spoken for the first time in a reading. That moment when lines start getting become a M.A.M.I.L (Middle Aged Man In Lycra) and before our beer was finished we knew laughs and you see the actors bringing the characters to life is a hugely rewarding and satisfying. this would be a the perfect title for a one actor show. It’s not a sequel to SNAG as such, but the Then once you start rehearsals you have this team of people, directors, stage managers, actors, connection with the two acronym titles was very cool. designers all working to make your show even better. What is also wonderful about writing for live theatre is that the audience become an integral part of the experience and since every Did you know much about MAMILs to begin with? audience is different every show is different.

Nothing at all! I was living in Melbourne at the time and had certainly seen a few of them on the Are you a MAMIL? roads and in cafes ordering coffees, but that was about it. Definitely not! What challenges did you face in writing this play?

The first challenge was not knowing anything about cycling and MAMIL culture but luckily the internet was full of great articles and blogs which helped get me up to speed. Only having one actor on stage also meant that there were some constraints on the type of scenes I could write. A three-minute rapid fire argument with lots of quick-fire dialogue between five men on bikes would be easy to stage with five actors, but almost impossible with only one, even one as skilled as Mark. Marketing Ideas

How to spot a MAMIL

1. Does he shave his legs?

2. Does he spend vast amounts of time polishing his jockey wheel?

3. Does he disappear for hours on end, sometimes for the whole weekend?

4. Has he ditched the flashy sports car for a fancy road bike?

5. Have the designer clothes been replaced with fluorescent cling wrap?

6. Does he often suffer from mysterious groin strains?

7. Do you feel like you need to do an intervention because of the amount of money he is spending on his bike?

8. Does he babble about “Conquering the Mountain” in his sleep?

Interesting MAMIL Facts

• The MAMIL script has a total of 1206 lines. Delilah says four, Pinarello Italianises 35, Hans painfully inflicts 57 lines; Max gets 97 very guttural South African lines, Tom Jones, in a guest appearance in Bryan’s dream, cameos with 17, and even though knocked off his bike Benjeo gets 53 lines. Seamus gets 10 lines all with profanities in them, and Krishna nearly steals the show with a mere 60 lines. This leaves crabby old Wayne with an amazing 258 lines, and Bryan Cook takes out the top prize of 557 lines. In total that’s 109 more lines than Iago in Othello which Mark Hadlow played in 1999.

• The 200 shows around New Zealand totalled 211,050 lines, not including any five pages of dialogue skipped or forgotten or added lines and bodily functions that heightened the drama. They have been heard by 44,385 people. Over 200 shows there have been 83 completely sold out shows and 72 people have got to experience the show on the stage. On 7 different shows 18 people experienced sold out shows crammed into the lighting box.

• The 100-show milestone at The Court Theatre in Christchurch in 2015 meant the bike had gone up and down 812 times, not including pre or post show joy rides for some lucky punters. In total it has been upped and downed 1421 times in performance, which is 2.1 kilometres for the Pinarello. However even more impressive is that the back wheel has rotated 40,600 times on average in the 200 shows which, over the time the show has been playing, means 105 kilometres have been ridden.

• Technically the show has triggered 13,125 sound cues and 15,575 lighting cues

• Across all 200 shows there have been 135 loads of laundry all on cold cycle, and with an environmentally friendly laundry detergent, 53 dry-cleans of the suit, 168 water bottles on the Pinarello and 75 Perspex wipe downs.

• Through all the seasons the actor had one terse discussion with a female punter who refused to stop using her mobile phone in the beginning of one show in Christchurch. Building The Beast

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7 metres in length (including towing bar)

3.5 metres wide

3 metres high

Internal bike component of set.

The Beast On wheels (movable) needs to be taken out of the trailer whilst stored as the weight is 225 kg

A. 4.5 metres in length

B. 1 metre wide

C. 2.2 metres high Contacts

Mark Hadlow (ONZM) Actor MAMIL NZ Ltd (director) [email protected] +64 21 997689

Richard Vizor Executive Producer MAMIL UK (Partner, director) [email protected] +44 7776 786270

Samantha McConnell Marketing and Publicity [email protected] +64 27 522 9700