Group of ladies comes together to enjoy theatre
Theatre NorthWest has a famous fan base. The Prince George professional theatre company boasts one of the most loyal and sizable audiences in the nation, for a market of this kind.
If there is a case study, it is the group of ladies that have been joining together to watch TNW plays for the past 21 years. Four times a year they convene over a weekend and take in the show on offer. They haven’t missed a one.
What’s particularly remarkable is they don’t all live in Prince George. In fact, to start with, none of them lived in Prince George. The original set lived in Fraser Lake and would make the drive together, staying at a hotel and getting some shopping and other activities in while they were here.
Slowly they evolved and today they include Gloria Olafson, Rhonda Henry, Karina Vanderlee, Kathleen Fontaine, Beverly Best and Sonja Baker.
“They only allowed me in because they could stay at my house,” said Best, to peals of laughter from the others. It’s a frequent reaction.
“When we would come down from Fraser Lake there would sometimes be darkness, snow, moose on the highway, but we always did it,” said Fontaine.
That hasn’t changed, but other circumstances have. Henry, for example, now lives in Victoria. That has had an effect on the economy. She uses a WestJet rewards card to rack up airline points each season so she can affordably fly to Prince George four times a year, because she refuses to bow out of this rare klatch of friends.
“When I moved away I was sad about this, at first, but then I just realized the plane flies both ways,” she said.
“We’re together through thick and thin,” said Vanderlee.
“I just got married and they did my wedding, too,” said Best.
“The theatre is a tie that binds us together,” said Olafson. “It’s a connection we share. We get to be with each other, and we know the play is going to give us something to talk about and think about. I don’t even really look into what the play is about, beforehand. I trust Theatre NorthWest is going to give us something excellent to watch, so it’s just about us enjoying the moment.”
There have been transitions over the years in artistic directors. They give unanimous applause for the plays of the current TNW director Jack Grinhaus, raving about his choices in scripts, actors and other design work. They are excited for the ones still to come this season after being bowled over with appreciation for kickoff play Jake’s Gift this past run.
“Some women get together at the spa. Sometimes a group will get together every year or two for a girl’s trip to Vegas or something. But we get to do this four times a year and there’s always the play to make us think and laugh and talk,” said Fontaine.
“I missed one,” Olafson said sheepishly. “My husband booked our holidays without realizing. That’s the last time he got to do that.” More laughter. “We did take our husbands,” said Olafson, the laughter still coming in waves. “Once.”
“I wondered which one of us was going to bring that up,” said Fontaine. “I think they all realized it wasn’t a good idea.”
As an indication about how powerful this TNW bond is among the women, the last time one of them bought a house, the real estate choice hinged on proximity to the theatre, so they could all meet there for a good ol’ fashioned sleepover each time they convened for a play. They even have matching pajamas for these occasions.
They get together on the Friday night for homemade pizza, then sleep in and have girl-time on Saturday followed by the play that night, then Sunday there is a breakfast of Swedish pancakes before they go their separate ways.
“It’s so much fun but we had to stop talking about it,” said Best. “People kept wanting to join our group. It’s a great idea, so start your own Theatre NorthWest club.”
They think it’s a good idea, too, for TNW to market a line of their own pajamas.