A gaggle of misfits and mystics, debtors and prima donnas, gather around an ordinary table laden with frog, nutmeg and a birdcage in an original new play by Gibsons resident Linda Norris, No Ordinary Séance. What's not ordinary about this gathering is that they are all seeking an answer to one question who killed Victoria?
Accusations abound, characters are defamed, and birds are set loose on an unsuspecting public during this latest Driftwood Players production to be performed at a variety of Coast restaurants along with a special meal, opening on May 3.
There's also a healthy serving of corn on this table corny puns and a tendency for the cast to burst into Broadway style song and this gives the play its comic touch.
Norris has adapted the story for dinner theatre from a murder mystery premise. Coast fans may remember her as the co-writer of the local comedy Gibsons Gold a few years ago and her role in supporting the Gibsons' United Church gospel choir. She's back, not only as a playwright, but as a director.
Anna Diehl plays the effusive psychic along with her sidekick (Carole Carlton) who will lead the others, all of whom knew Victoria, on their journey to the spiritual ether where they will contact the late victim and determine her killer.
The audience will have a chance to guess the murderer before the denouement. Some Driftwood favourites are performing once more: Bill Forst plays the older gentleman with a trophy date (Paola Rodriguez), Dianna Barton preens and flutters in her form fitting evening dress, Simone Tyrrell plays the elegant and analytical doctor and Cathrine Fuller acts as narrator.
"The cast and crew are terrific," said Norris, noting that Sandi McGinnis, now president of Driftwood, will be the stage manager who will also provide sound effects.
Dinner theatre is new for this group; it was a role formerly filled by the now defunct Peninsula Players whose popular shows were mounted at Pebbles Restaurant in Sechelt.
"We saw it as an opportunity," said Forst. "Marilyn Browning of the Peninsula Players helped us out with the format."
No Ordinary Séance opens with dinner and play at 6:30 p.m. on May 3 and 4 at Leo's Restaurant in Gibsons, then moves to the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club in Roberts Creek for May 11 and a special 12:30 p.m. performance on May 12, Mother's Day. The cast will be at the old stomping ground for dinner theatre, Pebbles in Sechelt, on May 16 and 17 and at the Garden Bay Pub and Restaurant on May 24 and 25, closing at Rockwater Resort on May 31 and June 1. Tickets for these dinner and play combos can be had from each venue individually for $40.
See www.driftwoodplayers.ca for more details.
