Drama is once again flowing from amateur thespians onto local stages.
Pocket Theatre is an upstart production company filling a large artistic pothole since the demise of Prince George Theatre Workshop. Some of the city's best community actors got together for the funeral.
OK, it wasn't a funeral for past acting groups, it was the central plot devise for Dearly Departed, a comedy about a dysfunctional family forced to get together at the graveside of the "mean and surly" family patriarch.
It was like watching a herd of horses break loose from a confined coral and run free. The city's sharpest thespian enthusiasts finally had a place to let their skills shine. It was a large cast - too many to identify individually for good work. It spoke to director Dominic Maguire's coaching credentials that all 12 cast members were victorious in their duties.
The most important element to a successful community theatre acting job is expressing extreme emotions in a natural manner and small emotions too. What sets great hockey players apart from good ones is their abilities without the puck: positioning, readiness, forechecking and counterattacking for those in possession. Actors are called upon for much the same scenario. A good actor will deliver the lines with believable characterization, but when they are standing still as others speak, do they still look natural and silently support the dialogue? This cast - each of them - did so.
It is a fast-paced comedy with very little slapstick; the laughs are in the jokes and gestures. That makes dialogue delivery and facial expressions critical. Opening night produced very few belly laughs but a solid string of chuckles and titters all the way through.
The script was the play's weakest link, with mediocre plot pacing, too much stationary speech (a notable exception being the sparkling wit in a soliloquy by the funeral's Rev. Hooker), and although it was sprinkled in funniness it never got itself over the hilarious hill.
However, co-writers David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones provided each character with a lot of space to be recognized as people, they gave each actor an opportunity to emote, and it all came in a memorable package. Good actors would have plenty to work with, and this cast was a load of good actors applied believably to the many characters.
The 1-306 lecture theatre at CNC is where the play is presented. It runs tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 at Books and Company, VideoNexus and at the door. There are two occasions that best draw people together. One is weddings. This is the other, and Pocket Theatre really did a good job of putting the "fun" in funeral.
