Actor Wilbur McDougall sighs as he sits down beside his mother, playwright Sarah McDougall.
He is painfully familiar with her latest play, Things I Hate about Mother, which premieres at the Otago Festival of the Arts on Friday.
"It's a bit weird, really, because I have to act like I do when I'm around Mum. There are lots of lines I remember from my childhood," Wilbur says.
"One of the characters, Francis, is ridiculously like me. Mum gave him mental issues as an insurance policy, so nobody can say it's me."
Things I Hate About Mother is a story of a Pakeha family which examines the love and tension between mothers and sons.
"It's a love story. Mums and sons love each other, but drive each other mad," Sarah says.
"I started researching it by talking to blokes I knew about what they hated about their mothers. A lot of them had very funny things to say," she says.
"It's all about what's passed on."
"The nagging and hassling is what gets to me," Wilbur continues.
"I used to hassle Mum when I was young, but it's totally on the other foot now. She's always hassling me."
"No, I don't," Sarah interjects.
"Yes, you do," Wilbur replies.
"Yeah, I guess I do," she says with a laugh.
"Mum's always the caretaker," she says.
"I had an image of him [Wilbur] standing on a ledge reaching for something and precariously balanced. And when I yell at him to be careful he falls over. It's when you say 'watch out' that they fall over and injure themselves."
McDougall and her husband, Broad Bay artist Ewan McDougall, have two other children, Melissa (35) and Paul (28).
Wilbur (22) studied drama for three years at the University of Otago and is a presenter on the Channel 9 television show Cow TV.
His band, Too Daze, is also part of the play.
McDougall's previous plays include Bullies and Blake, Up the Duff, Whare Moana and last year's Hairway to Heaven, which won a Listener award for best new play.
The play is directed by Julie Edwards, choreographed by Caroline Claver and accompanied by filmwork by John Irwin.
The cast is Jel Davenport, Wilbur McDougall, Elsa McKeown, Michael Metzger and Hilary Norris.
After each performance the audience will be invited to discuss the play in a brief forum with the cast.
Things I Hate About Mother is playing at 8pm in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery for the duration of the Otago Festival of the Arts.
