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Dinner theatre returns in Qualicum Bay with Boiler Room Suite

At the Lighthouse Community Hall on Saturday, Aug. 1

Dinner theatre is returning to the Lighthouse Community Hall in Qualicum Bay on Saturday, August 1.

Scrumpy Theatre from Victoria is presenting the award winning play Boiler Room Suite.

Hall manager Sheena McCorquodale said Scrumpy is a professional theatre group and the evening promises to be a great night out.

The dinner theatre starts at 6:30 p.m. and includes a gourmet meal with locally sourced food.

McCorquodale said they have two hall volunteers with extensive cooking experience who will be cooking the gourmet meal.

John Fowler has an extensive background in the culinary world and Polly Bryden also has an impressive foodie resume.

She said the menu for the event includes salmon with maple glaze or pork tenderloin medallions with hunter sauce on a bed of wild rice and garden fresh vegetables.

“We are pulling out all the stops. We have fresh salmon from Qualicum First Nations so the meal will be incredible,” she said.

Boiler Room Suite was written by Rex Deverell back in the seventies when he was a theological student and working with homeless people in Regina.

The play is about two skid row winos who have climbed into the boiler room of an abandoned hotel on the Prairies to seek refuge from winter — and from the world, until it turns kinder.

Aggie Rose is a former actress, and Sprugg is a failed poet. Together, they act out their fantasies, trying to bring a little warmth and a little human kindness to each other’s lives.

McCorquodale said the language is relatively tame and there is no raunchiness and audiences can expect some high calibre performances from the cast.

“These are professional actors performing in an award winning play by an award winning playwright.  While the subject matter is serious and really touches home to the bone, there is a lot of comedy involved in it,” she said.

Boiler Room Suite is the winner of the 1977 Canadian Authors Association Award for drama.

Rex Deverell set a record for the greatest number of years as a playwright-in-residence in a Canadian theatre (Globe Theatre, Regina 1975-1990). He won a Canadian Authors Award in 1978 for his play, Boiler Room Suite (1978).

Making up the cast are Naomi Simpson as Aggie Rose, Mark Carins as Sprugg and Julian Cervello in the role of Peter.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.  If you buy a group of nine tickets you will get one free.

Tickets are available online or at the Salish Sea Market in Bowser, Georgia Park Store in Bowser, Mulberry Bush Books in Qualicum Beach and Cranky Dog Music in Parksville. Visit www.lighhousecommunityhall.ca.