Two for the price of one
Hubtown Theatre promises to have audience 'in stitches' with double comedy night
TRURO — For a play about an old ex-girlfriend turning a married couple's world upside down, and another about a show that goes horribly wrong, "the audience is going to be in stitches."
That's the anticipation of Hubtown Theatre president Niki Henderson, who is directing the former, for a production later this month.
From March 22 to 25, the community theatre company will be hosting two shows for the price of one — Wanda's Visit, and The One-act Play That Goes Wrong — both of which will be highly amusing, said Henderson.
"I think both plays put together are going to give the community a delightful, entertaining experience."
WANDA'S VISIT
The first play performed, Wanda's Visit, will be Henderson's directorial debut. After 10 years of playing different roles on stage and in productions, and two years of being the troupe's president, she felt ready to take on the challenge.
And for her, this 40-minute comedy is the perfect starting point.
The play, written by Christopher Durang, centers around a couple who have fallen into a routine after 10 years of marriage. Henderson explained they've heard everything the other has to say, and their life together has become stale as a result.
That is until the husband's exgirlfriend shows up for a visit.
"I'm still laughing every single time, and it's been months," said Henderson regarding her enjoyment of the play. "That's with me just reading it on my own about 10 times before I even thought about bringing it to the stage."
One of her favourite parts about the play so far is the cast.
"They mesh so well together," said Henderson. "Part of directing is making sure you cast well, and I think I did that.
"They're all really enjoying the experience, they're having a lot of fun, they're off-book and, to be honest, I think they could go on stage at any time."
THE ONE-ACT PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
If Wanda's Visit is the entertaining opener, then The Oneact Play That Goes Wrong could be considered the main event.
An hour-long comedic playwithin-play written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, it features a theatre troupe who suddenly gain a large inheritance, using it to put on a murder-mystery show — which, as the name implies, devolves into numerous, frantic blunders.
"I first saw a full-length version of this on Broadway in New York," said Marlene Sears, director and Hubtown veteran. "It was really funny, but it wasn't viable for us because it's a very large and complicated set. Then we learned there was a one-act play of the same name."
To Sears, the comedy is derived from the performers' expectations compared to the reality of their failing show.
"Think of a group of actors that are doing their best, thinking they're wonderful, thinking they're great, and then things start to happen around them — something falls, a line is missed, light cues are late. (These) kind of things that if you were putting on a normal show, you would never want to see."
Sears has been a member of Hubtown since 1983. She has directed so many plays that she's unsure whether this one is her 21st or 22nd. She said what keeps her sticking around is the audience.
"I love sitting in the theatre when the play is on, watching the audience," said Sears. "Are they getting the joke? Watching the reactions ... to me, that's very satisfying."
Like Henderson, she believes these two plays will stir the audience like no other.
"I think they're going to love it," she laughed. "They'll recognize some familiar faces, and there are some who are relatively new, so it's a great mix. I think they're going to find it very, very funny."
One of those faces is John Clark. Having performed with Hubtown back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he took a 20year hiatus after moving to Toronto.
Though he moved back to Truro about 10 years ago, it was only recently that he bumped into some old friends from Hubtown, while Christmas shopping in Walmart, who told him there was an upcoming audition.
Clark will be playing the role of the director Chris, who also plays the detective character in the murder-mystery.
As for the play, he's excited to get back on stage.
The productions will run at the Marigold Cultural Centre from March 22 to 25. Tickets can be purchased online at marigoldcentre.ca for $24 each.