It’s always exciting to see theatre in new spaces. It’s easy to get stuck in the familiar haunts—Basement and Q Theatre—but those come with expectations, especially for a Sam Brooks play. Branching out and breaking free by using the Old Folks Association, based just off Karangahape Road, creates new possibilities and longer show time to experiment with.
We open with four men sitting in a living room, each occupying themselves differently, each visibly uncomfortable. We don’t know why they’re here. We hear coughing upstairs from an unseen presence. Slowly, it’s revealed—they’re waiting for someone to die. But why? And how do they know each other?
In true Brooks style, he withholds just enough to keep us guessing, letting our minds run to the worst, the best, before landing somewhere unexpected: these four men have been living rent-free in a mansion, in exchange, their ‘patron’ watches them have sex with each other.
Faced with eviction in the morning, each man reacts differently—one hunts for a will that might leave them the house, one breaks down in tears, one is oblivious, and one waits for it to end. Rose, the housekeeper, and Alicia, the prodigal daughter, stir the pot as personalities clash and revelations surface.
What I enjoyed most about A Rich Man was its twist on the traditional mistress role. It explores the dynamics of being a ‘kept man’ and the currency of sex and companionship. It questions if these things can be commodified or if they are inherently exploitative, and what, at the end of the day, are characters owed for their services to a rich man?
The one element that distracted me was the question of who actually owned the house; Alicia knew all along it was hers, so the tension in that subplot felt unnecessary. The play already had enough conflict, and this made the finale feel a touch thinner when it could have ended on a sharper beat.
There’s a snappy, one-hour gem in A Rich Man. But I also like its rawness—the refusal to conform to tidy timeframes. It’s a reminder you can stage something excellent with very little: no microphones, no elaborate lighting (Brooks himself flicking lights on and off). Smoke Labours Productions are delivering top-quality theatre for Auckland’s arts scene, and I look forward to more.
