Love and laughter take centre stage in a raucously funny courtship comedy. With summer finally here, the bees are buzzing, the birds are singing and romance is in the air as the racy new comedy The Birds and The Bees comes to the Drayton Festival Theatre from July 25 to Aug. 11.
Set in two adjoining bedrooms on a modern Canadian farm, the play tackles love, lust, science, family dynamics … and the artificial insemination of turkeys.
Sarah has left her husband and moved back home to live with her mother Gail until she sorts out her life.
An avid beekeeper, Gail isn’t offering Sarah the compassion she needs. Gail also has other things on her mind – like wondering why her honeybees are dropping dead all of a sudden.
Then there’s Gail’s neighbour Earl, a farm tenant (and ladies’ man), who keeps dropping in unannounced, and Ben, an eager 23-year-old master’s student intent on studying the collapsing bee colonies, who’s about to get a big lesson in pollination.
Veteran director Marti Maraden is joined by set designer Samantha Burson, costume designer Rebecca Wolsley and lighting designer Davida Tkach.
Gabrielle Jones is Gail, a divorced woman who copes with her loneliness by keeping herself busy with bees.
Stacy Smith is Sarah, Gail’s 30-something daughter and is a turkey farmer who left her husband of 11 years to live with her mother until she figures out what to do about her situation.
Terry Barna is Earl, Gail’s frisky neighbour who is forthcoming with details about his boisterous sex life.
Thomas Duplessie is Ben, an enthusiastic, young masters student who visits Gail’s farm to study her declining bee population.
Regular performance tickets are $46 for adults and $27 for youth under 20 years of age.
Tickets may be purchased in person at the Drayton Festival Theatre, online at www.draytonentertainment.com/birds-bees or by calling the box office at 519-638-5555 or toll free at 1-855-drayton (372-9866).
