A local community theatre troupe is preparing to hit the stage for its 2022-23 season.
After two years of pandemic restrictions, cancellations, and limited performance options, Theatre Kent is mounting three productions this year, including Almost, Maine; Remember, Maggy; and the classic You Can’t Take it With You, which was actually the first show Theatre Kent ever performed back in 1978.
Auditions for Almost, Maine are being held September 14 and 15.
“This is a show I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” director Erika Downie says. “It’s just a gorgeous show about what a community, what love, what people can really be about.“
Downie is encouraging everyone, including those in the LGBTQ2S+, Black, Indigenous, and Asian communities and the mosaic of people who make up Chatham-Kent, to come give theatre a try.
“We are going to be casting this show as colourfully as we possibly can under that rainbow spectrum of humanity.”
Almost, Maine Written by John Cariani, directed by Erika Downie
Fellowship Hall, St. Andrew’s United Church, Chatham
November 25-26, 2022
On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend — almost — in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.
Auditions will be held September 14th and 15th, 7-10pm. To book your audition spot, email theatrekent@gmail.com. Call backs will take place September 19th at 7pm.
Remember, Maggie? Written by Matt Murray and Carol Anne Murray, directed by Dan White
Chatham Cultural Centre
February 10-11, 2023
This year’s Western Ontario Drama League (WODL) out-of-festival entry follows two antithetical sisters and the journey of their complex and often hilarious relationship over the span of five years. Kate, a widowed housewife and Maggy, a pill-popping/alcoholic actress, battle to stay connected while dealing with the progression of their sharp-tongued Irish mother’s Alzheimer’s; together with a family secret which, if revealed, threatens to destroy their already fragile relationship.
You Can’t Take It With You – Written George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, directed by Tony Erdelyi|
Chatham Cultural Centre
May 12-13, 2023
The family of Martin Vanderhof lives “just around the corner from Columbia University — but don’t go looking for it.” Grandpa, as Martin is more commonly known, is the paterfamilias of a large and extended family of charming eccentrics. His granddaughter, Alice, is an attractive and loving girl who is still embarrassed by her family’s idiosyncrasies. When Alice falls for her boss, Tony, a handsome scion of Wall Street, she fears that their two families – so unlike in manner, politics and finances – will never come together. But why be obsessed by money? After all, you can’t take it with you…
