Canmore’s Pine Tree Players community theatre group invites the public to attend upcoming audition nights for its spring production of one act plays.
Auditions will take place this Sunday to Tuesday (Jan. 10-12) at 7 p.m. each night at Canmore’s Miners’ Union Hall.
A play selection committee has chosen the works they wish to present, but it ultimately depends on community members who come out for auditions.
“Right now we’d be looking for 11 males possibly and 12 females,” said Pine Tree Players’ vice-president Louise Shore. “Age is fairly open, we’ve done miracles making people younger, so sometimes age doesn’t matter and we make it work.
“We had a one act play last year that you could have performed either way; it called for four males and two females and we did it with four females and two male, we don’t rule anything out.”
For everyone that comes out, the theatre group does as best as possible to give a part or role within Pine Tree, with one of the main missions being to involve as many people as possible.
The one act plays are geared toward novices and are a great place to get your feet wet and discover new interests on and off stage.
“Last year we had a one act play where one person only had nine lines, so it just gives you that little bit of the experience and the confidence that you may go on from there to being in a full length play, or decide you enjoy Pine Tree and next time want to get involved with props, painting or stage management,” Shore said.
The theatre group’s last production, Mending Fences, included nine actors, with seven of them never having set foot on the stage in Pine Tree before.
“Some of them hadn’t done anything since high school, some hadn’t done anything at all and if you talk to any one of them today they would say the experience was great,” Shore said.
“Shed the fear, because there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. It’s all for fun, no one is collecting a paycheque – everyone is in it for the fun of it and making connections.”
As it stands, seven one act plays will be shown April 14-16 and 21-23, and it’s yet to be determined which will be a part of the Alberta Drama Festival Association (ADFA) regional one-act play festival being hosted by Canmore April 29-30.
“We’ve been at this festival many times, and we haven’t hosted it in awhile, so the other regional players are anxious to come here,” said Shore.
The regional communities which may take part include Bragg Creek, High River, Okotoks, Strathmore, Cochrane and Airdrie.
The commitment actors will make when taking part will be for three months of rehearsals.
“The rehearsal schedule is not as onerous as it would be for a full length play. When the plays are cast, the director will sit with the cast to figure out a schedule to accommodate the actors,” Shore said. “I would say the average is usually twice a week, and as we get closer to April they might rehearse three to four times prior to the show opening, but with a one act play it’s a much shorter rehearsal schedule.”
Pine Tree Players requests those who wish to audition to attend at 7 p.m. sharp to help ensure scheduled timelines. Visit www.pinetreeplayers.ca for more information, or email [email protected] for further inquiries.
