With winter approaching, if you feel you’re not quite ready for the annual deep freeze, Pine Tree Players will warm you up with its new comedy, This Ruddy Desert.
This Ruddy Desert features several firsts for the local theatre company. It’s not only the world premiere of the play (nope, you can’t even Google it), it’s director Louise Shore’s first full-length play at the helm and it will feature three actors who will take their first curtain calls.
The cast includes Marianne Gagne-Simard (Milly Marshdom), William Doyle (George Marshdom), Pia Anthony (Jane Derby), Doon Wilkins (John Derby), Codie Reed (Rachel Black) and Christopher Yee (Sam Black).
This Ruddy Desert, written in two acts by Golden B.C. playwright Ralph van Drielen, is contempory in timeframe, farcical in nature and set in the Nevada desert near Area 51.
After getting her directorial feet wet in 2012 by directing the one-act play When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet and winning an award at the Alberta Drama Festival Association Foothills Zone competition, Shore decided to tackle this year’s offering of Desert.
“We had a call for submissions for plays,” she said, “and someone from Canmore who knows Ralph got hold of him and said ‘you’d better send these guys a play.’ We had a get-together in July of about a dozen people and did some play excerpt reading. Ralph was here for it and we decided to go with his play.
“It’s unusual to have someone not want to direct their own baby; he just gave us his play and said ‘get someone to direct it.’ After a powwow, I realized I should direct it. The guy’s got a sense of humour, I’ll tell you, it’s very different, and he’ll be here for one of the presentations.”
Those presentations take place at the Canmore Miners’ Union Hall in November, with Pay What You Can Night, Nov. 13. This Ruddy Desert officially opens Nov. 15 and will run Nov. 15-17 and Nov. 21-23. Tickets are available for $20 at Café Books and Cellar Door in Canmore, starting this week.
“We’ve been rehearsing through September and October,” said Shore, “and it’s been going really well. Three of our cast (Gagne-Simard, Doyle and Anthony) have never set foot on stage before, but they’re doing great. We’re having a lot of fun with it.
“For me, Shirley Tooke has been mentoring me as far as directing goes and directing a play that’s never been seen has some challenges. The night he (van Drielen) comes to see it, I’ll be incredibly nervous.
“But everything is getting close to being ready. We’re painting and finishing the set, getting all the last minute things done.”
Stage design is by Shore and Audra Stevenson, while Gerry McAuley is stage manager and Martin Finnerty is handling lighting.
