A Christmas-themed play about life on the streets will open the Grey Wellington Theatre Guild’s 2016-17 season this week.
The guild is set to stage Frozen Dreams, Robert Ainsworth’s award-winning tale of a group of homeless people who band together to help one of their number find a way to cook a frozen turkey, gifted to him by a well-meaning charity.
Co-director Helen Craigie describes the play as a drama with comedic moments.
“It’s a Canadian play about the homeless in Toronto, who receive a turkey, frozen, and how they’re going to try and make the perfect Christmas, with no means of cooking a turkey,” says Craigie.
Characters in the story include street dwellers, a social services worker and a police officer.
“It’s quite a diverse group of people … and you see a family, they become a family,” says Caroline Wollis, co-director. “There’s kind of a roller coaster of emotions with this play. You’ll be up, you’ll be down, you’re going to be shocked, you’ll be sad and happy.”
Wollis added the play will show audiences life from the very different perspective of people living on the street.
The story will take audiences through “every facet of emotion … from one to the other in seconds,” said Craigie. “It’s just a really good story.”
In order to reflect the realities of life on the street, the play contains language some may find offensive, the directors caution. However, notes Wollis, “it’s not gratuitous at all.”
The cast of Frozen Dreams includes a mix of seasoned actors and newcomers to the local stage. Stage veterans Dave Moran of Mount Forest and Bart Penwarden of Guelph, join Chris MacKay of Palmerston and Ann Lawless, both in their first stage roles with the guild, in portraying members of the homeless community.
Minto resident Patricia Von Westerholt and John Hogg of Harriston portray a sympathetic social worker and a highly efficient police officer respectively.
Frozen Dreams runs Nov. 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 at 7:30pm and Nov. 20 at 2pm at the Harriston Town Hall Theatre. Tickets, $15, are available from Harriston Home Hardware, Walsh’s IDA in Mount Forest or call 519-338-2778. In the spirt of the season, and the production, the guild will be accepting donations for local food banks at every show. For more information go to greywellingtontheatre.com.
Casting call
The guild is also set to cast for the comedy Second Time Around. Written by Henry Denkers, the play is about a couple of senior citizens in love and the reactions of their offspring when they decide to move in together.
A reading will be held on Nov. 22 at 7pm at the Harriston Town Hall Theatre.
Auditions are set for Nov. 29, also at the theatre.
The play requires four males and four females, all adults of various ages, and will be staged in late April and early May, 2017. The casting is open to everyone, regardless of experience.
For more information contact director John Hogg at 519-338-2602 or email gwtg@wightman.ca.
