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Directed by Nathan Linders
Produced by Donna Gordan February 3 - 11, 2023 |
What our Audiences Said
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Opening night was lots of fun.
- Ken H (Oliver) Fabulous !! Enjoyed every minute! - Lefa S (Meota, SK) Just went to see this. They did an amazing job. Highly recommend you to go watch it. Support our SOAP productions - Monica N (Oliver) Awesome job!!! - Janette Heppell (Osoyoos) |
Fabulous show!!!
- Nicole L (Oliver) Great show! So much fun! - Cathryn P (Oliver) Great show! Playing next week too. Highly recommend 😊 - Gloria W (Osoyoos) Congratulations on the great show!!!! - Helen S (Osoyoos) |
Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed the performance tonight.
- Beth G (Oliver) Excellent show. Greatly enjoyed! - Janice C (Osoyoos) Just saw it😊. Well done. So much fun❤️ - Connie Y (Oliver) You were all fabulous! Great show. - Linda Marie (Oliver) |
Trailer |
Director's Thoughts |
Rehearsal Photos - January 19 |
Cast of Characters
O. Cloutie (Jen Jensen): Travelling woman (or often identifies as a man). For untold millennia, Cloutie has skipped a curling rink in the Celestial Brier. She is founder of First Fallen Angel Church, Closed Assembly of Satan, and a very a poor loser.
Wullie MacCrimmon (David Badger): A harness-and-shoe-maker, and a continuing Presbyterian. He skips his own curling rink. Like O. Cloutie, he prefers to win.
Reverend Pringle (Ari Kendrick): Skilled curler. Since the union of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, he has been the young minister at Grace United Church.
Annie Brown (Donna Macbeth): Wife of Malleable Charlie Brown. She attends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and does not curl. A little of Annie Brown goes a long way and there seems to be quite a lot of her. She also is a poor loser.
Pipe-fitting Charlie Brown (Jim Peltier): Plumber, who curls second for Wullie. Over the years, the joints of his Protestant soul have sprung many leaks, but he feels that time and corrosion will heal up anything.
Malleable Charlie Brown (Craig Bjornson): A blacksmith who curls third for Wullie. He has two problems: (1) an untrustworthy lower back, and (2) his wife, Annie.
Clock Charlie Brown (Garry Doll): A jeweler who curls lead for Wullie. He is the only Catholic on the team.
Macbeth (Bill Shields): A rather wordy and ambitious countryman of Wullie MacCrimmon, who curls third for O. Cloutie. Like Wullie, he is a continuing Presbyterian. He can appreciate Malleable Charlie Brown’s marital problem.
Judas Iscariot (Joe Rupcich): Lapsed Christian, who curls lead for O. Cloutie.
Guy Fawkes (Clem Jones): Explosive Englishman, who curls second for O. Cloutie.
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What's the Story?
The Black Bonspiel is set in the fictional rural town of Wildrose, Alberta in the mid-1930s.
Wullie MacCrimmon, a widower, is the town's shoe-maker, but like a good Scot he lives to curl. In fact, curling is "his only active religion". He and his rink are so expert that he attracts the attention of the Devil herself, who comes to Wildrose and makes Wullie an offer hard to resist. The Devil (also a keen curler - and how they keep good ice in hell is fully explained) promises Wullie that he'll win the Brier -- if on his death Wullie will undertake to come and curl in hell for the Devil’s team in the Celestial Brier. Wullie makes the Faustian deal -- but with the proviso that he will save his soul if he and his Wildrose rink can beat the Devil's rink in a challenge match. And so, Wullie and his friends -- with the help of the Reverend Pringle -- take on the Devil's crew of Judas Iscariot, Macbeth and Guy Fawkes in the most crucial curling match of all time, a matter of after-life and death. This is a fine, old-fashioned, funny story, firmly set in the Canadian prairies, as you'd expect from W. O. Mitchell. You might even call it a sweeping saga. Curling on a dry stage? How do they do it?Technical Tips video for other productions is available at https://youtu.be/FNTg4cqvo74
Special thank you goes out to the Osoyoos Curling Club who provided a full sheet of 16 curling stones for our use during this production! Behind the ScenesProducer -------------------- Donna Gordan
Director --------------------- Nathan Linders Stage Manager ----------- Jackie Brockholm Set Design & Construction ----- Tom Szalay Costumes --------------- Bernice Myllyniemi Props -------------------------- Louise Szalay Lighting Design -- Tom Szalay & Lily Knelson Lighting Operator -------------- Lily Knelson Sound Design --------------- Nathan Linders Sound Operator ----------- Jackie Brockholm Graphics, posters, programs ----- Tom Szalay Early Progress |
Playwright W. O. Mitchell (1914-1998)
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W. O. Mitchell was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. He studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Manitoba and then completed his BA and a teaching certificate at the University of Alberta in 1943.
An author of novels, short stories, and plays, Mitchell is best known for his 1947 novel, Who Has Seen The Wind, which has sold close to a million copies in North America, and the radio series and later a collection of short stories 1961, Jake and the Kid, which subsequently won the Stephen Leacock Award. Both of these portray life on the Canadian Prairies where he grew up in the early part of the 20th century. He has often been called the Mark Twain of Canada for his vivid tales of young boys' adventures. In addition to producing a large body of work, Mitchell served as professor of creative writing and writer-in-residence at several Canadian universities and was the director of the Banff Centre's writing division. He spent his later years in Calgary, Alberta, dying there in 1998. |