Swift Current Little Theatre certainly has a case of spring fever in their soon to be on stage spring production.
The local amateur theatre troupe is tackling another Norm Foster production, this time putting on the farce Skin Flick. A synopsis of the play is that it is the satirical story of how four ordinary people who get caught up in the business of making a porn film.
However, despite a strong language and adult content warning, the two act play does have a charming side and is filled with laughs despite the racy topic.
“It is tongue in cheek, but really it is not as bad as you think. We say that there is a language warning, but that all gets dealt with in probably the first five minutes. And then we make it clear that won’t be an issue any more,” stage veteran Ken Johnson admitted.
Johnson said going to the well for another Norm Foster production is just like putting on a comfortable old sweater for the theatre group.
“He has a variety of styles, this one is more of the farce. I liken it back to when we did something like Self-Help of his, it’s pure silly. Pure Fun,” Johnson said.
The on-stage quintet in Skin Flick feature three familiar male actors, with Johnson (Rollie Waters) again on stage with his long time acting buddy Bruce Rayner (Alex) plus Chris Martens (Byron). The female roles are being taken on by newcomers Lorry Harll (Daphne Waters) and Hayley Janz (Jill).
Johnson said it is always a challenge producing a farce, as the months of rehearsals tends to drag on as they perfect the production.
“Timing is always challenging, especially when you’re working with some people that you haven’t worked with before. We have two new actresses with us in Hayley (Jans) and Lorry (Harll),” Johnson noted. “It’s also the fact that if you’re rehearsing this for three months, the lines aren’t funny after a while. We all laughed about them the first half a dozen times we read them, but after a while you don’t remember the humour in them.”
“However, the lines are well written. They deliver themselves.”
Off stage, the key individuals in bringing the show to the stage are: Producer Ron Toles, Producer/Director Tara Garcia, Director Shayla Kulferst, Stage Manager Lindsay Woods, plus Assistant Stage Manager Dakota Theise.
Their spring production debuts at Beatty Playhouse in the Great Plains College on Friday, March 31 with a dinner theatre performance. They are back on stage on Saturday night for a pub night to close their opening weekend. Their five performance run wraps up with a trio of performances next week, starting with a Thursday, April 6 regular performance, followed by a pair of Pub Night shows on April 7 and 8.
Swift Current Little Theatre has the distinction of being the festival closing play on April 29 to wrap up Theatre Saskatchewan’s TheatreFest 2017 in North Battleford from April 24 to 29.
Ironically, two other Norm Foster plays (Hilda’s Yard and The Love List) will be included in the run of six plays performed during the festival.
Johnson added that fans of Swift Current Little Theatre will enjoy this fun spring fare.
“This is something they’ll enjoy I’m sure. We seemed to have captured the formula correctly before for Norm Foster, and I think we’re well on track for this one as well.”
