It's a buffet for theatre enthusiasts. And you won't go home hungry. Theatre Cambrian presents two weekends of dinner theatre productions featuring three plays bound to tickle many palates. The spotlight shines on three plays : Noel Coward's Private Lives, Norm Foster's The Melville Boys and Bill Manhoff's The Owl and the Pussycat.
This was Angel Mannisto's first time directing a drama production. When she's not on stage acting and singing, she's usually directing musicals. "I like how it touches on many emotions," Mannisto said about directing The Melville Boys.
"There's drama. Usually a lot of our productions are funny or a farce. To deal with heavy subjects, I really enjoyed it. As an actress it's more challenging because it's not something you get to do often. So it's very exciting to direct others to do the same thing."
Written in 1983, The Melville Boys was Foster's second play and probably the one he's best known for. The story follows two brothers Lee (played by Jeff Burton) and Owen Melville (played by Kalvin Blanchard) who go to a lakeside cabin for a weekend of fishing and relaxation.
They meet two sisters (played by Kathryn Piche and Alyssa Roy) and the play blossoms into a funny yet serious look at four lives in transition. "It's interesting to see in this story how the two brothers have mirrored relationships that the two sisters have with each other as well," said Mannisto. "The interaction they have just shows how much each character grows from the beginning of the play to the end. They all have a distinct change that the audience can see."
Private Lives also deals with the relationships between four people -- with a little more sizzle and scandal. Amanda and Elyot are divorced for five years when by chance they meet up again. They've remarried and are honeymooning on the French Coast when they spot each other on neighbouring hotel balconies.
Those lovin' feelings are reignited and Amanda and Elyot indulge fully, leaving their new spouses behind until a week or so later when all four meet again. "At the end of act two, there's a huge fight," said director Dale Pepin, "and I mean roll around on the floor, beat the crap out of each other fight."
The actors who play Amanda and Elyot (Sharon Kurdell and Thomas Stewart) actually choreographed their own fight scene. "When I direct, I like to have cast input," said Pepin. "I have an idea, a vision and you figure out how to get there ... it's really a collaborative effort."
As for collaboration, two is the magic number for The Owl and the Pussycat. When the play's director relocated to Toronto for work, he didn't have a problem returning to Sudbury to do the show. A longtime Theatre Cambrian actor, Jim McLaughlin also has one of the lead roles. Kate McColeman plays Doris. Originally from Sudbury, McColeman is living in Toronto these days.
McLaughlin and McColeman spent a lot of time rehearsing via Skype. "We probably won't get on the stage until the day of the show," said McLaughin. McLaughlin loves the simplicity of the play he saw performed once in a pub. The play focuses on aspiring author Felix and the woman he has evicted from his apartment, Doris, an aspiring actress who also accepts gifts and money in exchange for companionship.
"They're both losers really," laughed McLaughlin. "He thinks he's really intellectual and really intense. She's kind of a loser socially... on an emotionally level they are both childish way. They kind of get together in the end. It's a nice story. Not in a contrived, Pretty Woman kind of way. In a real way."