Prisoners of Mother England was one of Hall�s early plays, written in the late 1970s while he was employed at the University of Otago. Like many of his plays, this is a comedy with sharp undertones. The predictable one-liners are there, along with the humour that appears superficial but which masks deeper feelings of confusion and pain.
Life is not easy for these new arrivals; they had hoped for a better life but had not realised how much they had been shaped by what they had left behind. Some managed to make the transition easily, some with difficulty, a few not at all. They lived through a time of political turbulence, when everything that had at first seemed so easy became more difficult. The good life of the late 50s and early 60s when butter was �ninepence a pound, cigarettes two shillings for twenty, �petrol three bob a gallon� moved gradually into troops being sent into Vietnam, the introduction of decimal currency and the Wahine disaster.
Cast and crew
Director
Nigel EnsorCast
Presenter - Vincent WongStanley - Campbell Thomson
Vera - Marilyn Parker
Gerry - Chris Summers
Maureen - Toni White
Ken - Steve McNamara
Shirley - Katrina Yelavich
Philip - Chris Reid
Louise - Katherine Beresford
New Zealanders - Natalie Milne
New Zealanders - Andrew Morrison
New Zealanders - David Thomson
New Zealanders - Doug Leggett
New Zealanders - Marie Steele
Crew
Production Manager - H-J KilkellyTechnical Director - David Manley
Stage Manager - Christine Hurst
Stage Hand/Props - Ellen Stewart
Lighting Operation - Angus Dingwall
Lighting Operation - Kathy Creswell-Moorcock
Wardrobe - Roz McKechnie
Wardrobe - Anna Findley
Poster Design - Kathryn Madill
Photographer - Reg Graham
Front of House - Murray Robertson
Front of House - Alison Finigan