St. Albert Theatre Troupe closes season with Evening of One-Acts

Traditionally directors mount light, comedic fare for dinner theatre productions. In its season closer, St. Albert Theatre Troupe is taking this idea and experimenting with add-on innovations.

As part of its goal of remaining relevant to modern audiences, the troupe is mounting its first ever Evening of One-Acts running April 27 to 29, May 4 to 6, and May 11 to 13 at Kinsmen Banquet Hall.

The dinner theatre evening with its four distinct playlets promises to be the sort of thing St. Albert audiences respond to: intelligence, irreverence, diversity and accessibility.

For director Cory Christensen, the short plays are interwoven with one major theme.

“All the relationships are hinged on love. That’s the thread that runs through these shows,” said Christensen.

Working in tandem with Christensen is co-director Carolyn Zahovskis. The two actors have known each other a dozen years and became fast friends working on several productions together including Sound of Music.

“I’m a crazy list maker, but her organization skills have kept me on track. I have a strong vision and a real passion and compassion for the arts. She’s swept up in it too. But she’s directed before and this is my first time. My over-excitement is my strength and her strength is keeping me on track. I carry it to new heights and she keeps things grounded,” Christensen said.

The first show is Jeffrey Hatcher’s Three Viewings. Unlike previous productions, this show is divided into three, one-person short plays each running about 30 minutes. A funeral parlour is the setting for these darkly humoured, but touching playlets.

“I first saw this about 10 years ago and fell in love with it. They are very real people. The humour is a little dark, but real. I don’t like trite theatre. I like plays that make you feel, make you think.”

In the opener, Tell-Tale, actor Dale Wilson plays the role of Emil, a mild-mannered undertaker who has a burning, unspoken passion for a female realtor that crashes his funerals handing out business cards.

The second short play, The Thief of Tears, is a more complicated story of a beautiful drifter who makes her living stealing jewelry from corpses.

When Mac’s (Rita Jenkins) grandmother dies without leaving her a promised heirloom, she goes to the funeral attempting to pry a ring off her grandmother’s stone cold finger.

“In going back to get the ring, she has to go back to face her past, and she has to learn to love and forgive herself.”

The third playlet is Thirteen Things About Ed Carpoletti. Virginia (Judy McFerran) is a newly widowed matron whose husband, a wheeler-dealer road construction builder, has died leaving her close to $3 million in debt to the banks, family and the mob. She is basically bankrupt.

“He (deceased husband) cooks up a scheme and he saves her from the grave. It’s so beautifully written. His love for her saves the day.”

The evening’s last piece is playwright Le Wilhelm’s The Power and The Glory, a comedy about two women friends providing support during a period of emotional distress as they ascend a high rise in a glass elevator without wearing panties.

“It’s like the old Bing Crosby-Bob Hope buddy road trips except this one is a trip in an elevator. When I saw it, people were in the aisles laughing. It’s about love and friendship, confidence and self-assurance, and how we get caught up in body image.”

This broad array of concepts merely reflects the inventive nature of St. Albert Theatre Troupe’s performing artists and their increasing urge to attempt new ideas.

“This has it all. It looks good. It feels good. The actors are amazing. It’s what I think good theatre is all about. It entertains. It teaches you a little. It has laughs. It has tears. It’s entertainment at its best.”