Three’s a charm and that is what Sidekick Players are hoping for with their third Zoom performance.
Director Carroll Lefebvre has put together a stellar cast of Sidekick favourites for another Norm Foster play, Halfway There.
“We’ve named this the Sidekick Foster Zoom Fest,” said Lefebvre. “Our audiences love his work. His scripts are funny and poignant. There are always a lot of laughs and several life lessons in each one. Halfway There is no exception.”
The action is set in Junior’s diner in the town of Stewiacke, N.S., whose claim to fame is that it is exactly halfway between the North Pole and the equator. The town itself now admits that due to more accurate measurements, the town of Alton, N.S., can claim that distinction.
Every day at 4:30 p.m. three women gather at the diner for a Kaffeeklatsch with their friend and waitress Janine (Marcia Strang). Together Violet (Brenda DeJong), Rita (Carol Jones) and Mary Ellen (Cathy Collis) update each other on their private lives and rake over the town’s gossip.
As Janine says, “There are no secrets in Stewiacke.”
What stirs things up is the arrival of a handsome new doctor Sean Merritt (Mark East), who will take over the town’s regular doctor’s practice for a month while he is away on missionary work.
Foster’s characters may seem at first to be a simple collection of types.
Rita is the vamp, Vi the wiseacre, Mary Ellen the mousy one, Janine the sensible one and Sean the bashful guy. The more we get to know each character the more we find how radically their private lives and thoughts contrast with how we have labelled them.
Foster is aware that the face people wear in private is not always the same face they wear in public and, as we discover, some of the jolliest of the characters are concealing the greatest unhappiness.
Halfway There will be presented in Zoom theatre, Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.
“Our first two plays were very successfully attended with over 100 people at each one,” said Lefebvre. “I have no doubt this one will be just as popular.”
Patrons must register with Sidekick to attend. There is no admission cost, although donations will be greatly appreciated.
“We’ve not asked for any money at all, but many patrons have enquired how they can pay something, so we’re offering that option with this play,” she said.
To register, send an email to [email protected] before May 21.
Donations can be sent by e-transfer to the same address.
