In their 17th year of staging plays, the Springdale Players have been using The Boardinghouse, by Vern Harden, to fill the Liberty Hall dinner theatre to its rafters with good smells and even more raucous laughter.
“When people come to Liberty Hall they want good food and a good laugh,” said director Diane Carr.
While the dinner of roast beef, ham, salads, fresh and cooked vegetables, rolls, fruit, wine and dessert was the work of a team of culinary angels that came in the form of volunteers, and some of the cast members, it was the performance that became the highlight of the evenings.
The Boardinghouse and its cast rival the skills of other larger theatres and the performance was packed with laughs, love, and just a dash of suspense.
“Tonight was an exceptional night,” said Joey Jensen, who played Tweenie, referring to the Feb. 16 performance. Even some of the cast members weren’t able to contain their giggles at the absolute, yet still amiable, silliness of the script.
The real moments of enjoyment by the cast that broke the barrier between actors and audience added to the performance. “I would have bet money nobody made me laugh, but it did happen,” said Grant Harris, who played Dr. Sni-Fell.
The cast was also able to incorporate some of the audience members and their own past experiences on a whim while sticking to the script, which only highlights their talents.
The Springdale Players are a local amateur theatre, stretching out around the Hoadley and Rimbey areas. “Some of us have all different walks of life. We all come together,” said Carr.
“Nobody works harder than Diane, she makes it easy for us,” Harris added.
In its first year only one play was going to be held. Now there are eight showings per season and rehearsals begin in October.
Carr uses that time to coach newer cast members to wait for the laughs as well as blocking, movements and language to make the performances easy and natural.
Although Carr hasn’t used Harden’s plays before she would look into using another. “It fitted all our criteria. They have to be long enough and not too long, they have to be clean.”
She also felt the play suited the actors, which worked well because the Springdale Players use some typecasting to get the best results.
“I think one of the secrets is what they call typecasting. We don’t have a 23-year-old man playing a 78-year-old man,” said Jensen.
The play was selling approximately 120 tickets per night. “Our plays have been selling out since the beginning . . . People come out here on the coldest day of the year. We’re grateful to the audience,” said Carr.