Article appeared in the May 26 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
Scene from a play
The three back-to-back productions held this weekend kept local actors in the spot light, many of whom have graced stages in the past. While this was Tina Leath’s first performance since acting in high school plays, Thora McInnis has previously performed in ‘The Vagina Monologues’ in 2010. They went head-to-head in a two-woman play called, ‘The Way of All Fish’, a play about status and power in the corporate world.
Scott Cameron, Mike Gielas, Sheila Hillier, and Karmen Johnson injected some humour with a play that followed, entitled, ‘Check Please!’, which kept the audience in stitches. Written by international playwright, Jonathan Rand, the play presents a number of worst-case scenario blind dates. ‘Check Please!’ is the number one most-produced short play for the five consecutive years.
‘This is a Play’, topping off the weekend performances, was a play within a play. Acted by Rose Flaig, Heidi Gingrich, Rob Jantz, and Pierre Brandelius , the focus was on the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters acting in the play, rather than on a story line. All of these actors have been involved with the Gimli theatre Association in past years.
Saturday’s 8 p.m. show played to a sold out audience of 80 people, while the Friday evening and Sunday matinee also had a respectable showing.
Last year the theatre held 21 shows over the summer, eight of which were sell-outs.
“The target is to have a sell out at every show, but a lot is based on the weather,” said Pierre Parent, who coordinates the summer theatre events each year.
The A-Spire Theatre is the only one in the province to hold a summer theatre event each year, according to Parent. It has grown from an annual audience of about 600 people to 1,400 during the 2010 season.
“It is now an established fact in Gimli. The response that we get is tremendous…People enjoy this to a great extent because they enjoy the intimacy (of the space). The audience can see the actors sweat,” said Parent.
The line up for the 2011 summer season includes troops from Winnipeg, Virden, and Brandon. Themes run the gamut from a lonely housewife who finds herself, to a true wartime story, a detective story, and the exploration of change in a Mennonite community, as well as comedic ‘week in the life of’ story .
The Gimli Theatre Association continues to work on developing its audience base. Members will be trying to draw in a younger crowd, possibly by offering acting lessons for young people. They will be meeting in the fall to discuss ways to develop the summer theatre further.
“We’re going to keep this puppy going as much as we can,” said Parent.
Tickets, modestly priced at $10 per show, are available at Tergesen’s store in Gimli, or by calling (204) 642-8785.
