ON STAGE
What: Wintertime
Where: Canadian College of Performing Arts, 1701 Elgin Rd.
When: Nov. 29-Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.; weekend matin茅es 2 p.m.
Tickets, info: ccpacanada.eventbrite.com, 250-595-9970
The first day of winter is still three weeks away, but that hasn鈥檛 stopped a troupe of aspiring theatre professionals.
On a whiter-than-white stage adorned with nymphs, a Christmas tree, a stone fireplace and a four-poster bed, Wintertime was already in full swing on a recent November day inside the Canadian College of Performing Arts theatre in Oak Bay.
The students of Company C, an ensemble comprising graduates of CCPA鈥檚 two-year performing arts diploma program, were busy rehearsing scenes for the show, which begins its four-day run tonight.
Playwright Charles Mee鈥檚 romantic-comedy takes place in this winter wonderland, a cabin where two young lovers, Jonathan and Ariel, had hoped to spend a quiet, romantic New Year鈥檚 weekend together.
They鈥檙e shocked to discover that Jonathan鈥檚 parents, Frank and Maria, had the same idea, but with a twist. Unbeknownst to each other, Frank shows up with his male lover Edmund, and Maria with her paramour Francois.
To complicate matters in this suddenly crowded house, two lesbian neighbours show up, as well as a delivery person named Bob, and a flirtatious French doctor who makes house calls.
As tempers flare and the couples bicker, attempt to rationalize their behaviour or reassure partners who feel betrayed, opportunities for physical comedy聽abound.
In one sequence, Frank bursts in carrying a snowshoe over his shoulder, narrowly missing Ariel鈥檚 head as he suddenly swings around.
The sequence took an unexpected turn during rehearsal, when a snowshoe hoisted by actor Willie Knauff got too close to actor Megan Littlejohn鈥檚 head for comfort.
鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be a farce if somebody didn鈥檛 get bumped in the head during rehearsal,鈥� said director Sara-Jeanne Hosie with a聽laugh.
Hosie encouraged her cast to become an integral part of the creative process, replacing preconceived notions about their characters with ideas of their own. Knauff said the snowshoe-in-the-back-of-the-head gag was just one example. 鈥淭here were a lot of opportunities for us bring our own light into this.鈥�
Hosie calls Mee an amazing playwright. 鈥淗e encourages you as a director, during the creative process, to throw in all the elements,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e likes his plays to be full, and he encourages music and dance.鈥�
The Stratford-based director put her own spin on the material by incorporating a Greek chorus, with snow-white nymphs supporting the story through movement, speech and music she composed herself.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 been able to bring something from their own background to the table, not least their gymnastic training,鈥� said Knauff 鈥� as castmate Vinny Keats, drawing upon years of gymnastic training, pulled off an聽athletic stunt that brings new聽meaning to the term 鈥渂edspins.鈥�
It鈥檚 that collaborative approach, and Hosie鈥檚 openness to ideas from the cast, has made rehearsing Wintertime so fruitful, Knauff said.
Hosie and Heather Burns, CCPA鈥檚 interim artistic and education director, chose Wintertime as Company C鈥檚 second show of its season for a couple of reasons, Hosie said.
鈥淲e knew how many women we have in the company and how few men, and we really wanted to find a play that supported that,鈥� she said, adding it offers students an opportunity to work on language as well as their comedic and musical sides.
鈥淭he other reason is because all the issues in this play are so timely. I think it鈥檚 important for all layers of relationships and diversity, with the way the world is today, to be shown onstage and supported.鈥�
Describing Wintertime as 鈥渁n amazing play,鈥� Knauff said he was impressed by how in his stage directions, Mee encourages the use of people with 鈥渄ifferent abilities and mobility and what have you,鈥� he said.
鈥淓veryone is represented, but not through a political lens. It鈥檚 not about the difficulties of being a homosexual or a lesbian or bisexual or whatever. It鈥檚 showing everyone as human beings.鈥�