Caught in the Acts
May 8, 2009Yes, I do plan to tell you a little about the films I saw at Hot Docs but, first, I want to mention something a bit more personal…
Last night, I went to see the new play, Caught in the Acts, a comedy written by my friend Karen Robinet and presented by Theatre Kent.
I knew it would be funny because Karen has a great sense of humour–dark and sharp and quite smart. And it is funny. I really enjoyed it!
The play is about a small-town amateur theatre troupe–much like the one presenting and performing this–that finds itself the recipient of a government arts grant to the tune of fifteen grand. Naturally, they’re pretty excited until they learn the grant comes with a couple strings attached… 1. they must present one of Shakespeare’s plays, and 2. they will be under the direction of once-mighty professional director Tony Symington, whose career has fallen on hard times. Very hard times. They’re not too thrilled about either prospect but they decide to go along with it. Now, there’s a reason you don’t often come across small-town amateur theatre troupes who choose to tackle Shakespeare. Symington (naive? oblivous? in denial?) insists that they can do anything they put their minds to, and pushes ahead. But then rehearsals start and he finds himself with a Hamlet who is a “doood”-spouting dreadlocked eco-geek and a Ghost who injects his performance with spooky oooOOOOOooooOOOoooohs and a getup that features a bed sheet over his head and black socks on his feet and, er, nothing in between. “I didn’t know “Casper The Friendly Ghost” had been adapted for the stage,” snarks one character.
The play is a couple hours long, structured as half a dozen or so acts with a blackout between each for stage and wardrobe changes. I enjoyed the witty banter and subtle hints about some mystery in the past of a couple of the characters, so each act just flew by. The set stayed basically the same throughout–it was the rehearsal space for the Primrose Players–and although it appeared (to this newbie, anyway) as a very small stage, it seemed just the right size for this performance in that there was an feeling of intimacy that, I think, only helped the audience to care more for the characters.
The performances were a real eye-opener for me, as I am not a habitué of the theatre (amateur or professional). I really didn’t know what to expect but I found that the actors gave lively, fun performances and exercised quite skilled comic timing. Tony Symington would’ve loved them!
I spoke with Karen during the intermission and she told me that this is the first time in Theatre Kent’s 31-year history that an original play has been produced. That it was written by a local makes it even more special, I think. Karen works as a journalist and has written for a number of different newspapers in Southwestern Ontario. She is also a veteran of community theatre, and based her play on that experience. I am totally impressed!
Kudos to Karen and to director Glenda Lansens, as well as to the entire cast (Dennis O’Neil, Keith Burnett, Cindy FitzGerald, Mark Stacey, Don McCutcheon, Stewart Morton, Jan Holt , and Annette O’Neil) and crew!
