Damian Callinan is heading back to familiar territory, and it’s the kind of territory he knows how to mine for both laughs and something a little deeper. With Spoons, running from March 26 to April 5 at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Members Lounge, Callinan returns to the character driven storytelling that’s earned him three nominations for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Spoons centres on eighty four year old Stan Coates, recently widowed and newly told it’s time to move into a senior living facility. Stan is sharp, stubborn and prone to falls thanks to orthostatic hypotension, so he’s taken to wearing a bike helmet and knee pads around the house. He’ll consider the move, but there’s one sticking point. He’s told he can’t bring his late wife’s souvenir teaspoon collection. That’s where the trouble begins.
When Stan’s grandson starts filming his sharp riffs on the spoons and his brutally honest reviews of aged care homes, the clips go viral. Suddenly, Stan becomes an unlikely voice for elders’ rights and aged care reform.
It’s a premise that lets Callinan flex the character work that’s defined his career, from The Merger to Double Feature and his recent screen roles in The Newsreader and The Emu War. Here, he blends dark humour with genuine tenderness, capturing the quiet panic and pride of a generation facing change it never asked for.
Tickets are available from comedyfestival.com.au
