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Golden oldies: Wendy Harmer brings The Grandparents Club to the stage
By Hannah Story
Becoming a grandparent isn’t on the horizon for comedian, broadcaster and writer Wendy Harmer. But that hasn’t stopped her from penning a musical celebration of the role of grandparents in our lives, titled The Grandparents Club and starring Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger.
“My wretched daughter, who’s just turned 24, says she’s not having kids ’til she’s 36. Can you believe that? I’ll be 80,” Harmer says with a laugh. “And my son says he’s not having any. So, this is probably as close as I’ll get to being a grandparent.”
Wendy Harmer and John Field, the team behind new Aussie musical The Grandparents Club.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Lyndi Adler and Maree Kirkland-Morris, the creators of the wildly popular Facebook page The Grandparents Club, approached Harmer to write the show, which tours NSW and Victoria from May.
The page, which has more than 77,000 likes and more than 84,000 followers, is a space to share stories and memes about being a grandparent, and provides plenty of fodder for the musical. So too did anthologies about grandparenting, Michael Carr-Gregg’s new book Grandparents, and conversations Harmer had with friends who are grandparents.
“Once you sort of tune in to that world, you start seeing grandparents out with grandchildren everywhere. And that relationship is almost invisible to you as a person who isn’t a grandparent,” says Harmer.
The comedian wrote The Grandparents Club with music director John Field, the composer of musicals including Evie and the Birdman and Who Loves Me?, who is perhaps best known as the songwriter behind The Wiggles’ Hot Potato.
The musical, set in the exclusive RSL-style club of the title, up-ends preconceptions about grandparents, and throws a spotlight on the relationship between them and their grandchildren, through song, dance and stand-up comedy.
Wendy Harmer: not about to become a grandparent.Credit: James Brickwood
It’s a relationship that has arguably become more important over time, with grandparents playing a more central role in family life than ever before. According to a report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies released in 2022, more than one in four grandparents provided childcare to kids aged under 13 at least once a week.
“There’s a great army of grandparents in Australia who are minding kids, and they’re unpaid. Where would be we without them?” says Harmer.
Harmer had a close relationship with her grandmother, Nellie, which she writes about in her 2023 memoir Lies My Mirror Told Me. When Harmer was 10, her mother was institutionalised after attempting suicide. About a year later she moved to Tasmania, leaving Harmer and her siblings in their father’s care.
Wendy Harmer as a child.Credit: Courtesy of Wendy Harmer
Nellie instilled in Harmer a love of fairies – an interest that led her to write the bestselling children’s book series Pearlie in the Park. “That’s an indication of how influential grandmothers can be,” Harmer says.
“She would take me to the shores of Lake Wendouree and we would spot fairies and water sprites flitting through the reeds. There was a brownie who lived behind the curtain in the lounge room, but we never could quite catch it. And there were fairies in the garden.”
Alongside the sense of wonder and playfulness shared between grandparents and their grandchildren, the musical explores the humour in being a grandparent.
That funny side takes Harmer back to her roots as a stand-up comedian, one of the first Australian women to take on the notoriously masculine scene. But don’t expect to see Harmer on stage in the show, although you will hear her voice on the club’s PA system. “Calling Keno numbers,” she says, before mimicking an announcer: “Number 67: your schnitzel’s ready!”
She hopes grandkids bring their grandparents to see the show, and it inspires them to reflect on those relationships. “I just feel it’s a real honour to have the chance to celebrate all that,” she says.
The Grandparents Club tours NSW and Victoria from May 30 to August 7. For a full list of dates, visit the website.
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