Four plays are making their world debuts tonight in Prince George. All of them are written by one playwright, and he is also a local scribe. There's a four-night run for this unveiling.
Devon Flynn is a Prince George writer, actor and comedian. He also sits on the board of the Nechako Community Theatrics Society (NCTS) where one of the others on the executive happened to know he had some undisclosed scripts tucked away in his files at home.
When the NCTS sat down to plan out their fall activities, Laura Bennett brought Flynn's literary nuggets to the attention of the other organizers.
"I was very passionate about getting Devon's play out there," said Bennett.
"I really wanted to support someone within our own group and get some recognition for his writing. I encouraged him to present his scripts to the board, he did that and the board decided to create an event."
Tonight is the grand opening of the four plays chosen for the event. The first half of the night will be a trio of short plays penned by Flynn: Anyone Wanna Be A Hero? (directed by Debora Volpiana), Flight 815 and Awards Show (the latter both directed by Bennett).
Following the intermission, the second half of the night will be a one-hour show entitled Drama Play directed by Flynn himself.
"They all have a comedic element to them," said Bennett.
"We just had to get enough people out to have enough players in the casts. Some actors are in more than one play. The largest play - Drama Play - has a cast of 18 people. The smallest cast is Awards Show and it has two actors and a few others who get involved. Some of the actors are only in one, some are in up to three, and Devon has taken a couple of roles as well."
The mandate of the NCTS is to use theatre as a platform for community development, make the performing arts open to everyone, and reach out to sectors of the community that can most benefit from this inclusiveness. For example, some of the actors in these plays are associated with AiMHi and Project Friendship. They have special needs and they also have special talents.
In this suite of dramatic productions, the NCTS was able to double down on the mandate. The actors, directors, backstage and front-of-house participants are always local volunteers, but this time even the scripts come from local hands.
The night is called Guns, Angels & Thespians. Showtime is 7 p.m. (doors at 6:30) at Art Space. Tickets are $15 in advance (at Books & Company) or $20 at the door. Tonight is opening night, with shows to follow on Dec. 9 and 10.
