McDougall will host a session at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum this Saturday, September 20, at 10am, where she hopes to meet former bodgies and widgies and hear their stories of the past. She is also hoping to gather memorabilia and photographs to be used in a display in association with her new play Moon at the Bottom of the Garden, to be staged during Arts Festival Dunedin.
The terms bodgies and widgies refer to the young men and women involved in a rocker-style youth subculture in New Zealand during the 1950s and whose behaviour shocked conservative society.
McDougall's Moon at the Bottom of the Garden explores the legacy of the notorious ''jukebox murder'' in 1955, in which one bodgie killed another. The play traces the ongoing, inter-generational consequences for the fictional Rosie, the widgie at the heart of the killing.
''Of course, the bodgies and widgies of Dunedin - many of whom congregated around the Beau Monde Milk Bar - are now in their 70s,'' McDougall said.
''I think it's important to look at preserving the stories and the culture now for the future.
''[Saturday's session] will be some light relief on election day - people can go out to vote and then pop in to Toitu and see me.''
Sarah McDougall's Moon at the Bottom of the Garden will be staged at various times from October 10 to 19 in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery auditorium.
Visit www.moonproductions.co.nz.
