Story

Five senior Aussie men, four of them mates since war service, meet one morning each week in a gymnasium. They exercise, chew the fat about their families, laugh, tease and sing. Together, they solve the problems of the world…even if they must agree to disagree.

But some surprising and disturbing elements enter to test and challenge their comfortable relationships with each other and the world around them. Secrets, differences and loss of trust threaten to destroy the long-established friendships.

JIMMY, the jokester, worries about having something to leave his grand-daughter; old LES has to cope with losing his marbles; conservative PATRICK suspects his mate KEITH of having an affair; and good-natured ribbing about old political sores becomes tense when a newcomer’s enthusiasm to join the group ruffles everyone’s feathers and exposes long-held prejudices. ROD, the youngest of the troupe, struggles to manage the discord…

They begin to see that the vulnerability of one is the vulnerability of all - and commonality begins to re-assert itself. Seeing each other and themselves in a different light: they learn that ‘difference’ is more a matter of point of view; that you ‘wouldn’t be dead for quids’; and, no matter what, that you gotta laugh!