So many stories are packed within playwright Norm Foster’s comedy Office Hours – and all are funny, although some darkly so. Driftwood Players will bring this play to the stage – actually to many stages on the Sunshine Coast – starting this Friday, May 12.
An unappreciated news reporter (played by Stephen Archibald) yells at a chippy young producer (Pam Schutz) but only when she’s not within earshot. He would like to be covering the big stuff – something other than the dead racehorse or the controversy about the naked Cupid statue – but when a one-armed man (Bill Forst) enters the scene, the news reporter suddenly becomes the news.
In another scene, a producer (Steven Schwabl) fawns over a famous Hollywood director (Trudi D’Ambrumenil) much to the disgust of his assistant (Radhika Samwald). Maybe the director’s idea mill really has dried up because her idea for a story is sounding very familiar. Or perhaps it has more to do with that scotch she’s drinking.
Marital shenanigans prompt a tiff between wife (Francesca Ryan) and husband (Aaron Fuller). A lawyer (Julian Alphilbert) plans a romantic tryst but gets a surprise visit from his mom and dad (Coreena Savien, Stephen Archibald). He chooses that moment to tell them that he’s gay, with strange reactions. And then there’s that pushy week-at-a-glance planner salesman who enters all their lives, along with the overweight jockey and the guy about to jump from the ledge.
What do all these characters have in common? Some lie, afraid to speak out about what they really think, and some speak the truth but at a cost.
Director Richard Lund has acted in this play before in Langley where he took on two roles. He regards it as a mystery of sorts since clues are dropped into the various scenes, the clues intertwine, linking the characters, and the story circles back.
You don’t have to go far from your home for this Driftwood production. It comes to you, whether you live in Gibsons or Madeira Park. It opens Friday, May 12 at the Roberts Creek Hall at 7:30 p.m., moves to the Sunshine Coast Botanical Gardens pavilion on Saturday, May 13, and holds a matinée on Sunday, May 14 at 2 p.m. at Harmony Hall in Gibsons. A gourmet dinner theatre is offered by Chef Doug Davis at Pender Harbour Music School on Friday, May 19, then the play moves to the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre on May 20 and on to a final dinner theatre at Leo’s Tapas Bar and Grill in Gibsons on May 26.
It’s technically more difficult to perform this way because each stage is different and the cast must adapt rapidly, but it allows for more audience. Tickets are waiting online at share-there.com and in person at The Blackberry Shop and Laedeli Gifts in Gibsons, the Sechelt Visitor Centre, and EarthFair Store in Madeira Park.
