When a man gets to a certain age, it's time to look back.
Whether revisiting clear memories of learning to read during the war (by the light of Messerschmitts crash-landing outside), or hazier memories of chasing a ball that rolled into a minefield on Crosby beach, Liverpudlian poet Roger McGough delivers key ingredients to provoke private thoughts among the audience.
Occasionally, the watching guests would murmur in shared understanding of experience, events or fears. This was McGough on growing older. Looking further back, recalling people, places and events.
Yet in just a few words his own experiences were easily – and in many cases sympathetically – shared with his audience. Colourful language and choice descriptive phrases spark thoughts racing which are revisited hours later in one's quieter moments.
Who else could have described marrying in old age as "leading your partner into a macabre dance" or conjured up the thought that living each day as if it's your last might well involve lying in intensive care, wired up to medical machinery rather than a gung ho rollercoaster existence?
This is not a maudlin show. Far from it. It celebrates the rich tapestry of life and the ability to look back and put everything into perspective – summed up well in As Far As I Know, some thoughts on a (perhaps) quiet life, which elicits a wonderful audience response when read aloud by the writer.
