Sylvan Lake Theatre’s production of ‘The Birds and The Bees’ is coming to Sylvan Lake on April 5 and 6 at Ecole H.J. Cody High School.
The show directed by Tanya Ryga features Roxzane Armstrong as Gail, Ash Rose as Sarah, Everett Dool as Ben, and Sylvan Lake local Tom Bradshaw as Earl.
The experience of playing Earl has been a great one, Bradshaw said.
“My favorite moment was the night Earl got booed off the stage after dumping Gail (Armstrong) in the middle of the second act. It started with one woman and then about five others joined in. That’s when I knew I had truly found Earl. “
Right now, life is tough for many people, he added.
“Every show I get to perform a role that makes them forget their troubles and laugh for a few hours. To me that’s priceless.”
Ryga said the comedy, written by Mark Crawford is about love, sex, and climate change.
“The show is a comedy with a great deal of resonance. It has a fantastic script with very snappy clever dialogue and the characters in it have relationships that are anything but simple.”
The show’s main characters Earl (Bradshaw) and Gail (Armstrong) live on farms on opposite sides of the road and have both lost their spouse to the others twenty years prior.
Each of them takes their spouse leaving them differently, Ryga said.
“For Gail (Armstrong), she just sorta turned inside out and for Earl (Bradshaw), it was a wake-up call.”
The play also focuses on two younger characters, Gail’s daughter Sarah (Rose) who had just recently left her husband of 11 years and Ben (Dool) a university student who has come to study the bees by Gail’s farm.
“It’s a multi-generational romance and all four are wacky characters trying so hard and it is so damn funny,” Ryga said.
Audiences can’t help but respond during the show.
“During performances, you can hear members of the audience groaning, to going oh no. They can’t not voice what they are feeling as they watch this show,” Ryga said.
Prior to coming to Sylvan Lake the production done in partnership with the Central Alberta Theatre saw success in Red Deer.
“The reception was phenomenal. After the preview, the show pretty much had packed houses and standing ovations every night in Red Deer. We are so excited to be bringing it home to Sylvan Lake,” Ryga said.
“Now that we are presenting this show in Sylvan Lake in a couple of weeks, I don’t think of it as bringing it in as the show always came from Sylvan. I come from Sylvan and Bradshaw who is starring in it comes from Sylvan as well.”
Tickets for both showings in Sylvan Lake are still available to purchase for $30 plus GST and the show is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
The play is two acts long and will have one intermission during which honey-themed snacks made by a professional baker and mocktails will be available to purchase.