More from Mike James

‘Regrets I have a few…’ When Sinatra sings about having ‘too few regrets to mention’ in his song ‘My Way’, I’m pretty sure most people my age start thinking: ‘actually I do have quite a few - so maybe there’s something wrong with me!’ Statistics are against us pensioners. The older we are, the more chance we have to rack up a whole load of decisions that seemed a good idea at the time but now don’t seem so smart. Bronnie Ware (in her book ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’) itemised the things that people worry most over when they get towards the end of their life. Her research unearthed five of most common ‘regrets’.

These are:

1) I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself - not the life others expected of me.

2) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

3) I wish I had the courage to express my true feelings.

4) I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends.

5) I wish I’d let just myself be happier.

In ‘Ok Boomer’, the play we are presenting at the PlayFest, the main character, Cameron - a recent septuagenarian, retired and now living on his own - ticks off many of the worries listed above - and (literally) goes on a journey to confront those demons . It is true that many of us, in our younger days, may have vaguely thought about retirement in a “cottage by the sea” kind of way, while secretly nurturing negative ideas about ageing - of what we think we are capable of as we get older. And this can seriously affect our self-esteem later on. In fact, the whole thing can turn into a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. We become what we expect to be! So in our workshop production, we hope to draw attention to some of these problems - and go some way to celebrating ageing in a positive and optimistic manner. Anyway, I’m pleased to say that, with the unlikely assistance of a young and fully signed up ‘Gen Z’ Starbuck’s barista, our hero manages to overcome his depression – finding a fresh approach to life in his later years – and finally replacing his many regrets with a more hopeful vision of the future!