Monday, December 12, 1994

Friday, December 9, 1994

COTTON PATCH GOSPEL (Dec 9-31, 1994)

COTTON PATCH GOSPEL
by Tom Key & Russell Treyz
music by Harry Chapin

Jesus comes to modern Georgia in this witty, passionate bluegrass version of The Greatest Story Ever Retold. Pacific Theatre brings back the cast of this spring's hit for a December revival that is guaranteed to bring a whole new meaning to your Christmas season.
"Drop everything and go see Cotton Patch Gospel. Your feet will be tapping and your fingers will be snapping. You will be regaled." Christianity Today

Dec 9-31, 1994

Spencer Capier
Allen des Noyers
Tim Dixon
Ron Reed
Wyndham Thiessen
Director: Morris Ertman

Friday, October 21, 1994

VOICE OF THE PRAIRIE (Oct 21 - ?, 1994)

by John Olive

1925. The early days of radio. Davey, an itinerant storyteller, hoooks up with huckster Leon Schwab to travel the midwest, selling radios and thrilling audiences with reminiscences of life on the run with "Frankie The Blind Gir." Until one day, when romance and reality come face to face.

"First-rate entertainment. I can't remember when I last so enjoyed a play." The Register
"That rare thing: a small, skillful play with a deft heart" Los Angeles Times


Runs in rep with Damien until the opening of Cotton Patch Gospel, then revived for a 1-week run in the new year.

CAST
Davey - Dirk Van Stralen
Frankie - Erla Faye Forsyth
Leon - Tim Dixon

Director - J.P. Allen

*

5 Feb '95

Thanks v. much for a lovely show. I saw Voice Of The Prairie last Friday and though it a fine piece of work: nice play, well directed and with some lovely acting. I don't know quite what I was expecting - certainly nothing so deft and thoughtful. Thank you again for a most enjoyable show.

Christopher Newton,
Artistic Director,
Shaw Festival

Friday, October 14, 1994

DAMIEN (Oct 14 - ?, 1994)

by Aldyth Morris

One of the most controversial figures of his day, Father Damien was an uneducated Belgian priest who defied state, family and church to live and work among the outcast lepers of Molokai. This memorable one-man-show celebrates the life and remarkable vitality of an extraordinary man.

"A fiery, multi-layered performance. Riveting. A tour de force." Vancouver Courier
"Brilliant! A definite must see." Richmond Times

The inaugural production at the new theatre at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 12th & Hemlock, Vancouver.
Continues in rotating rep with Voice Of The Prairie until the opening of Cotton Patch Gospel.
Revived Apr 11-15 1995.

CAST
Damien - Ron Reed

Director - Morris Ertman

Wednesday, October 5, 1994

Popular Demand Readings (Oct 5 - Dec 6 1994)

Come hear public readings of five new plays, and choose the one which we'll premiere next spring!

Oct 5 1994: NAVY WIFE by Jason Milligan
With her husband assigned to overseas military service, a courageous young woman's brand-new faith must withstand life-changing decisions in one of the most tender, well-crafted new plays to come along in years.

Oct 18 1994: INVENTING CHICAGO by Jeanne Murray Walker
On the eve of a speech which can win him a prestigious chair at Harvard, a celebrated and charismatic theatre critic is confronted by a young woman devoted to him and his work. But it soon becomes apparent that she is not who she claims to be... A fascinating new play about identity, compulsion and ambition.

Nov 9 1994: FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE by Gillette Elvgren
A church community is torn apart as two marriages disintegrate in this highly theatrical and powerful play by the award-winning author of "I Am The Brother Of Dragons."

Nov 22 1994: OSWALD'S TRAVELING PROPHECY SHOW by Tim Anderson
A modern day prophet turns his family into an out-at-the-elbows theatre troupe, but what begins as an effort to spread the good news threatens to end the family altogether. Astute, bitingly funny and profoundly moving.

Dec 6 1994: HARMON AND RUTH by Paul G. Enger
The gentle, human story of a middle-aged couple whose quiet love and faith is called on to weather the impending loss of ther farm and painful struggles with their sons, as the changing world threatens everything they care about.

Friday, June 17, 1994

Friday, May 13, 1994

THE RANGER NED STORY / THE TOP TEN THOUSAND OF ALL TIME (May 13-21, 1994)

THE RANGER NED STORY, by Scott Hafso
THE TOP TEN THOUSAND OF ALL TIME, by Ron Reed

May 13, 14, 20, 21
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Parish Hall


Ranger Ned Cast
Ron Reed
Gina Chiarelli
Mark Hopkins
?

Director - Tim Dixon

Top Ten Thousand Cast
Ron Reed
Director - Tim Dixon

Friday, April 15, 1994

DADDY'S AMEN / PRIVATE MOMENTS (Apr 15-23, 1994)

by Jennifer Morison

Apr 15, 16, 22, 23
In the Holy Trinity Parish Hall

Daddy's Amen Cast
Karl Petersen
Kate Newman
Paul Fieber

Director - Ron Reed


Private Moments Cast
Chris Hawley
etc

Director - Cynthia Hopkins

Friday, March 25, 1994

COTTON PATCH GOSPEL (Mar 25 - Apr 2, 1994)

by Tom Key & Russell Treyz
music by Harry Chapin

Premieres in the upstairs sanctuary of Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Vancouver)
Continues on tour to Bellingham, Harrison, etc. until May 7.
Revived Dec 1994 in the new theatre

CAST
Spencer Capier
Allen des Noyers
Tim Dixon
Ron Reed
Wyndham Thiessen

Director - Morris Ertman

Saturday, January 1, 1994

1994: Spring Season

We won't be opening our new theatre until the fall, but that's not stopping us from doing plays, let me tell you! Six, count 'em, six plays from February to May (well, some people insist on calling our Murder Mystery Fundraiser a play - others of us have more stringent definitions...)

We're starting this theatrical avalanche with a revival of the most popular show we've produced - Cotton Patch Gospel. I don't suppose there's a show that would better embody the heart of our theatre company than this. It's "the greatest story ever retold" - the life of Christ set in modern Georgia, backed by a hot bluegrass band. Cotton Patch is an energetic, funny, dramatic, irreverent and profoundly Christian piece of theatre that thrills audiences whether they come willing to believe the story or not. Ron Reed and Allen Desnoyers, co-founders of Pacific Theatre back in 1984 and members of our 1990 cast, will be featured, along with Tim Dixon, who'll be part of PT's Rep Company this fall.

Following its Easter Week run in the Holy Tirinity sanctuary (just upstairs from our eventual theatre home), we're taking the show on the road to local churches until May 7. Nothing could be better for a community outreach, a fundraiser or a dinner-theatre setting. For tour booking information, call Karen Elgersma.

In mid-April we'll be showing you another side of our work - Community Shows, where professional company members work with non-professional casts and crews to create fine amateur productions. Daddy's Amen, the story of a young woman coming to terms with the death of her minister father, was the first play ever comissioned by Pacific Theatre and, while we have presented it as a public reading (to overwhelming response), the piece has never been fully performed. Private Moments is also a Premiere, the highly personal story of three very different music students whose need to perform and excel proves costly. Outstanding non-professional casts under the direction of Artistic Director Ron Reed and Church Resource Director Cindy Hopkins will bring to life these touching dramas from the pen of Jennifer Morison.

Then in May you'll see another professional production, a Workshop presentation of two quirky, comic one-acts with a bit of a punch. Scott Hafso's The Ranger Ned Story was the hit of the Edmonton Fringe a few years ago: the host of a long-forgotten kids' TV show appears one morning in a yuppie living room to help sort out the career crisis of a former Junior Forest Ranger. Ron Reed's The Top Ten Thousand Of All Time is an evocative one-man-show about a late-night disc jockey with an unusual audience demographic...