Tuesday, December 9, 1997

Christmas Presence (Dec 9-23, 1997)

A memorable theatre event unfolds before your eyes in the unslickest Christmas show ever to take place outside of a living room. These magical evenings of readings, music, sketches, monologues, short stories and reminiscences have become an essential part of the Christmas season for many. No two nights are the same. This year various musicians are featured with local singer/songwriter Michael Hart, joining Ron Reed in a celebration of the birth of Christ.


Dec 9, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23

Friday, December 5, 1997

REMNANT (Dec 5-20, 1997)


by Ron Reed

Five generations have passed since The Plaguing suddenly destroyed most human civilization. Now, in the ruins of that devastated world, in what used to be a theatre in the heart of Vancouver, a remnant gathers to hear the lost tales of their clan, to celebrate The Christ Mass for the first time in memory. Filled with hope and startling flashes of humour, this powerful evocation of light in the heart of darkness premiered at Pacific Theatre in 1989, and has gone on to win acclaim with subsequent productions in Detroit and Edmonton.

CAST
Barlow Sho'r - Dean Paul Gibson *
Widbee Nu1 - Cindy Block *
Lonr - Paul Muir *
Annagail Book'r - Erla Faye Forsyth *
Kristn Taler - Pam Raven (Muir) *

Director - Morris Ertman *
Set, Lights - Kevin McAllister
Stage Manager - Kelly O *

Friday, November 7, 1997

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (Nov 7-22, 1997)

by Arthur Miller

Celebrate Canada's Year Of Asia Pacific with this remarkable production. This gripping drama was originally set among New York's Italian immigrant families, caught in a complex clash of family allegiance, the fight to keep personal honour in the face of a new culture, and the pervasive influence of powerful gangs from the old country. Now Terry Jang-Barclay's brilliant re-conception moves the story to the heart of Vancouver's Asian Community.

Guest Production by the Building Bridges Equity Co-op

Thursday, October 9, 1997

DOCTOR FAUSTUS (Oct 9-11, 1997)

DOCTOR FAUSTUS
by Christopher Marlowe
Guest Production: English Suitcase Theatre

Kevin Williamson, who brought us his adaptation of Macbeth, now brings to the PT stage his English Suitcase Theatre version of this classic tale of a doctor who sells his soul to the devil. In addition to the public performances, school students will see daytime shows.

Dr Faustus - Kevin Williamson
Mephistopheles - Lisa Wegner
The Chorus, Valdes, Lucifer, Emperor Carolus - J. Morgan Drmaj

Friday, September 26, 1997

Class of '77 (Sep 26-27, 1997)

scenario developed by Tim Dixon and Francis Boyle

Pacific Theatre's brand new annual fundraiser brings you together with an all-star, all-fave, all-PT cast of twenty for this interactive Tony'n'Tina style high school reunion. Dance to the disco sounds of your DJ for the evening, Rockin' Ronnie Reed! Feel the heat as Dirk "Customized" Van Stralen encounters Lucia "For Your Eyes Only" Frangione! Yawn through the Ruenion Address of Class President Tim "Tricky" Dixon! Experience the nostalgia, the laughs, the regrets, the triumphs, the snacks and maybe even a littl emystery as the Class of '77 reunites - "still crazy after all these years!"

Revived for subsequent performance in 1998.

Thursday, August 21, 1997

The Go-Between (Aug 21, 1997)

by Jeanne Murray Walker

A work-in-progress staged reading of a new play by Jeanne Murray Walker, with playwright talkback to follow the show. Featuring Erla Faye Forsyth, Ron Reed, Tim Dixon, J.P. Allen, Gina Chiarelli and Lisa Benner.

(The public staged reading culminated a one-week script development workshop with Jeanne, coming out of the Lamb's Players Writers Week the previous January - later re-titled "Ice Crossing." Paul Muir replaced one of the actors listed above.)

Thursday, May 29, 1997

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (May 29 - Jun 14, 1997)

by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart

In the Vanderhof household, everyone "goes on about the business of living in the fullest sense of the word." All is peaceful anarchy until Alice, the white sheep of the family, brings home her all-too-ordinary Wall Street boyfriend! Considered by many to be the great comedy of the century, this big-hearted, big-cast Broadway hit from the 1920s will showcase gifted non-professional actors playing a host of unforgettable characters.

A Pacific Theatre Community Show

*

Director: Jenn Brose (Ohlhauser)

Friday, April 11, 1997

TENT MEETING (Apr 11 - May 3, 1997)

by Morris Ertman & Ron Reed
World Premiere of revised version

This nostalgic visit to the Canadian prairies of the 1930s first appeared on Alberta stages and audeinces were enchanted. Now e've commissioned playwright Ron Reed and dramaturg Frank Moher to develop that original script, retaining all the charm, character and thrilling gospel singing of the original hit!

Joyous! Anyone raised on Prairie church singing would be hard put not to clap hands and tap toes."
The Edmonton Journal


CAST
George Hoveland / Bob Lefsrud - Ron Reed
Pastor Ernest Douglas / Ben Reimer - Francis Boyle
Reverend Elroy Phillips - Don Noble
Sam Lundquist / Angus McPhee - Jonathan Bruce
Dolly Hoveland - Karen Parent

Director - Morris Ertman
Set - Morris Ertman
Light - Kevin McAllister
Costumes - Meg Ross
Dramaturg - Frank Moher
Stage Manager - Nicole Vieira
Technical Director - Rose Pelleirn
Props - Kevin Brady (company apprentice)

Funding - The Cultural Services Branch of the Government of British Columbia, The Leon And Thea Koerner Foundation, The Vancouver Foundation

*

From the Project Creator

Tent Meeting started as a labour of love really, a tribute to a time touched through the memories of my parents and the nostalgic living out of that memory in a gospel quartet, of which my Dad was a part, rehearsing in our living room. Theirs was not the tight, polished harmony of the Blackwood Brothers or the Stamps Quartet, whose records graced our modest family collection, but the music that came to life in that farm house rollicked with the same passions expressed on those albums and those voices became touchstones to a yearning of spirit that to this day is awakened in me with the swing of the bass line in "On The Jericho Road," the exuberant harmonies of "Walking In Jerusalem," or the longing reflected in the phrasing and lyrics of "Softly And Tenderly Jesus Is Calling."

Thirteen years ago, a company of actor/singers and this writer/director assembled in Edmonton, Alberta, to create a theatrical event, a recollection of a time just beyond their reach when tents were erected in small towns all across North America and revivals of the heart were brought about with travelling evangelists and quartets. The play was called Tent Meeting and its development was a celebration of the magic that occurred when whole communities gathered together under a canvas roof to sing and cajole friends and neighbours into the presence of a living God, to invite them to follow a tug in their hearts brought on by songs whose melodies somehow would not let you go, and the relief from that lump in your throat was a walk away, down an aisle covered in sawdust.

My son Luke spent the first summer of his life listening in on that rehearsal, and the sounds of my two-fingered typing as I worked through the dialogue that threaded the music together in that first production. It seems poetic to think that as his voice changes and begins to find its adult timbre, I have the privilege of revisiting this celebration of religion and life, inspired by my own parents and a small country church where, as a six-year-old, I first sang in public a gospel tune called "Dare To Be A Daniel."

It was the original production of Tent Meeting that introduced Ron Reed to me and his passion after seeing the piece was truly flattering. It has been a privilege to collaborate with him in the further development of the script in a way that, I trust, has resulted in a story that with greater clarity opens a window to a time when faith was as integrated in the lives of communities as a trip to the grocer.

I trust you enjoy the journey, as I have, and leave the theatre inspired to look in garage sales for recordings of groups with names like "The Stamps Quartet," Hovie Lister and the "Sensational Statesmen," and of course "The Blackwood Brothers," to play on your dusty outdated turntables.

Morris Ertman

Friday, February 21, 1997

HOLY MO & SPEW BOY (Feb 21 - Mar 8, 1997)

by Lucia Frangione
A Potluck Production
A post-modern Old Testament comedy

HOLY MO! was the hit of the 1994 Vancouver Fringe Festival, its off-the-wall comedy and reverent irreverence winning it a wildly enthusiastic reception from everybody! Critics, fringe-goers, even children delighted in this epic three-woman deconstruction of the story of Moses. And then there was... SPEW BOY! An equally wacky reinvention of the life of King David.

A Guest Production by Potluck Productions

*

CAST
Bufoona, a fool - Erla Faye Forsyth
Follie, a troubadour - Lucia Frangione
Guff, a flunky - Anita Wittenberg

Music - Rene Russell
Director - Don Noble
Stage Manager - Kelly O
Lights - Jim Wenting
Cart Design - Rene Joshi

*

Playwright's Notes

Holy Mo & Spew Boy is based on the lives of Moses and King David. Warning: Direct Biblical quotes include violence, sex, and offensive behavior. We encourage you to read the book.

This play means more to me than anything else I have ever done to doate. I suppose that is why I jumped at the chance to do it again when Pacific Theatre offered us the space and support to do it. I can't begin to tell you how the whole concept of Holy Mo & Spew Boy began. In some ways I wrote it as a challenge to the things I have struggled with. One, being a woman in the arts, two, being an artist with the title "Christian" thrust upon my shoulders. When we first began two of my dear actor friends sat me down and told me that "girls just aren't as funny as guys." We started rehearsals for our 1994 Holy Mo tour in a church lobby . The elders got a hold of the script an decided to kick us out on the grounds of blasphemy. We countered with an offer to see a run-through of the show. Our audience consisted of a mass of grim-faced bespectacled men, pencils and illegally copied scripts in hand. We said a quick and fervent prayer behind the circus wagon and began. During the show, laughter burst from them, almost by accident. They banged their pots and pans, shouting "Mo is a twinkie!" with tears running down their faces. At the end of the show, they laid their hands on our wagon, blessed us, and sent us off on our ministering way with a frying pan full of donations.

This play is really about faith. Faith that three women can be allowed to share the stories of these amazing Bilical characters with everyone, not just a select, sanctified few. Faith that we can get a few laughs, even if we are "only girls." Faith that truth is worth any offence taken, and will stand for itself without us having to convince our audiences to believe anything. Faith that my "faith" and my "art" amount to the same thing in the end.

Lucia Frangione

Friday, January 24, 1997

MASS APPEAL (Jan 24 - Feb 15, 1997)

by Bill C. Davis

Mark Dolson is a fiery young idealist who has become a candidate for the priesthood. Father Tim Farley is the well-loved, complacent senior priest assigned to put him in his place. But when controversey erupts over the young man's past, the priest finds his own life and beliefs on trial.

CAST
Mark Dolson - Dirk Van Stralen (Kevin Brady, understudy)
Tim Farley - Tim Dixon

Director - Jeremy Tow