St LukeB次元官网网址檚 Players return to the stage this month with a pair of timeless plays.
The curtain rises Oct. 11 on St. LukeB次元官网网址檚 latest offering, a pair of one-act plays: The Twelve-Pound Look, and Separate Tables B次元官网网址� Table No. 7.
The Twelve-Pound Look may have been written more than a century ago, but the play by J.M. Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) tackles relationship issues that still ring true today.
On the eve of Harry SimsB次元官网网址� knighthood, his much younger wife hires a typist to handle all of his congratulatory mail. The typist arrives and it turns out to be HarryB次元官网网址檚 ex-wife.
B次元官网网址淗e doesnB次元官网网址檛 understand that she is happy, and she wasnB次元官网网址檛 happy with his success,B次元官网网址� said the playB次元官网网址檚 director Michael King.
He said the pair then try to explain their way of thinking to each other in the play that has been performed almost constantly somewhere since it was first published in 1910. The play stars Carl Powell, Ada Guna, Steve Eastman and Wendy Cornock.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 kind of a favourite play of the suffragette. ItB次元官网网址檚 from that time period from before women had the right to vote, itB次元官网网址檚 very ahead of itB次元官网网址檚 time,B次元官网网址� said King.
The second play is based on the second-act of Terence RattiganB次元官网网址檚 1953 play Separate Tables, which became a movie starring David Niven and Deborah Kerr. It focuses on Major Pollock, the extroverted alter-ego of a shy and mild-mannered man.
B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 not outgoing, unless heB次元官网网址檚 the Major. And thenB次元官网网址檚 itB次元官网网址檚 all B次元官网网址榃hat ho and pip pip and all that rot.B次元官网网址� But thatB次元官网网址檚 not who he is, heB次元官网网址檚 created that,B次元官网网址� said King.
But the version performed by St. LukeB次元官网网址檚 Players will be somewhat different than the story published by Rattigan and made into a movie.
B次元官网网址淭he offence the Major gets arrested for in the [original] play is nudging young ladies in the cinema. And a lot of the lines in it didnB次元官网网址檛 make a lot of sense,B次元官网网址� said King, adding that RattiganB次元官网网址檚 original version had the Major being arrested for soliciting young men.
B次元官网网址淗is publishers or agents talked him out of publishing it that way because they were afraid the British people wouldnB次元官网网址檛 accept it,B次元官网网址� said King, who has taken the play back to the way it was originally written.
B次元官网网址淪uddenly when we changed these words around, the other lines made sense. ItB次元官网网址檚 just as appropriate today as when it was written, except we never saw it as it was written.B次元官网网址�
The play stars Eric Grace as the Major, and features a cast of Rosalind Coleman, Heather Lee, Penny Pitcher, Joy Farrell, Ada Guna, Colleen Davis, Lisa Jackson, Trisha Tonkin, Nick Atkinson and Roland Wille.
B次元官网网址淎ll the other characters have to go through their own search to figure out if they are OK with the Major. They have all figured out he is a bit of a fraud, and they all speak their opinions on it,B次元官网网址� said King, calling the final outcome wonderful. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a beautiful play and it means as much today as when it was written, probably more.B次元官网网址�
But bringing the play to the St. LukeB次元官网网址檚 stage presented more than a few challenges.
B次元官网网址淚t was a bit of a tough rehearsal process,B次元官网网址� said King, adding with so many Shakespeare productions taking place in the city, along with the Fringe Festival, it was hard to fill the characters in the cast.
King eventually approached Grace, who he had worked with before, about the role of the Major, but he was travelling to China for the summer.
B次元官网网址淗e is absolutely amazing. He came and had about six or seven rehearsals with us, then was off to China,B次元官网网址� said King, adding Grace returned at the end of September to pick up with rehearsals.
This is KingB次元官网网址檚 fourth production with St. LukeB次元官网网址檚, and says this is the favourite thing heB次元官网网址檚 worked on.
B次元官网网址淏oth plays are about people who are searching for answers, searching for themselves.B次元官网网址�
Shows run at St. LukeB次元官网网址檚 Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Rd., at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21, along with 2 p.m. matinees Oct. 14, 15, 21 and 22.
Tickets cost $16 and are available at the door as well as through .
