RNZ has produced many radio adaptations of stage plays and Four Flat Whites in Italy by Roger Hall is one of them – recorded in two parts, each being just under an hour. We jump straight in with Adrian (Stuart Devenie) explaining “Holidays. Travel. Not always the same thing.” As a well-versed traveller myself, Four Flat Whites is a great balance of yearning to go back travelling and remembering the all-consuming simple stresses which go with it all.

Adrian and Alison (Cathy Downes) are a retired librarian couple who were meant to be joining their good friends, Tim and Erica, on holiday in Italy. But while playing bridge with their new neighbours, Harry (George Henare) and Judy (Linda Milligan), Erica calls to inform them that Tim has broken his ankle and they won’t be able to go to Italy, so close to the departure date, and he was meant to be their driver! Adrian and Alison don’t drive. Alison is distraught – they’re not the kind of people who can afford to just pop over to Italy whenever they want. Harry, frustrated that the Bridge game has stopped, declares “We’ll come, I’ll drive, two clubs!”

Harry and Judy are not exactly the kind of people bookworm, money-conscious Adrian and Alison would have picked to go with them on their Italian travels. They are National supporters, proud of how much sex they’re having and generally have a rather happy-go-lucky attitude to life. Adrian, who narrates directly to us, is fully aware of how stuffy he and Alison are and is more willing to go with the flow than Alison. Alison, the adamant planner, loves to stick to the guidebook and the budget.

These two couples always verge on ripping each other’s heads open, but never do. They are sensible, able to recognise when the other is hurt and offer solutions. This creates an interesting push-pull dynamic between them, and also allows the characters to open up. Not to mention the flirtatious nature that grows between Adrian and Judy. They come across as real New Zealanders, real people, and there are moments where I genuinely laugh out loud because there are good comedic moments in the play. 

In Part One, they travel to Venice and Rome, and we end with them trying to get off the ring road in the vague direction of the villa they rented in Tuscany. Part Two takes place largely in this Tuscan villa, right as the 2007 Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final takes place between New Zealand and France. I certainly remember that game, and our defeat forces Adrian and Alison to take a good hard look at their relationship and their past. 

Four Flat Whites in Italy is a pleasant journey. Unfortunately, the play is riddled with sexist views that aren’t challenged or remedied. While rather plausible for the age of the characters and the times in which it is set, this still frustrates me a little. Pushing characters ever so slightly more would have revealed a deeper, more complex drama. These views were largely vocalised by Harry, believing the men should bond with a glass of hard liquor on the balcony while the women “bond” while doing the dishes. Adrian tries to rectify this but only in a fleeting way in which Harry still wins. Harry also tries to compliment Alison, saying she would be attractive woman if she dressed better and put on make-up. She get offended at this, rightly so, but we don’t get any of her internal dialogue about her feelings towards her appearance or her body, not even when she and Judy go shopping – the dramas there are more centred around money and treating herself.

The characters’ emotional depths are also not equally shared. Adrian is clearly the protagonist as the narrator, and he and Alison have the most troubling and emotionally complicated recent past to navigate. Indeed, Alison is the hardest character to like, with her staunch belief in following the schedule, and while she does have her redeeming moments, I would like a bit more emotional unburdening on her part. The recent past she shares with Adrian is truly traumatic, and if she hasn’t forgiven Adrian and herself by now then that is an untouched dramatic goldmine to be mined. 

Harry and Judy have no such quandaries to navigate. Of the two, Judy has a bit more depth to her as a character, but even though her revealing her feelings towards children and the church in Part One is a good start, there’s no follow up conversation which I believe I would have enjoyed diving into, especially if it was with Alison. Harry himself is extremely good at lightening the mood, but nothing ever really gets under his skin, keeping him the most superficial character.

While the characters and the situation feel real, I would have liked it if all the characters were a little more flawed. I find that Four Flat Whites in Italy lacks the drama I would have anticipated from this kind of set up. Nevertheless it is a gentle travel journey with some zing one can easily dive into during these lockdown times.

Listen here: Part One and Part Two. 

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