ECHO Players has announced its 2022-23 season of live community theatre in Qualicum Beach.
Four main stage productions will be presented at the Village Theatre (110 Second Ave W) this season, as well as the Vancouver Island One Act Play Festival, an ECHO Youth Theatre main stage production, a variety show fundraiser Spam and Maple Syrup Sallies Fo(u)rth, educational programs and summer theatre productions.
The first main stage offering is the Noel Coward classic Blithe Spirit. The comedy tells the tale of socialite and novelist Charles Condomine who is re-married, but literally haunted by the ghost of his late first wife, Elvira. Blithe Spirit runs Oct. 13 to Oct. 30.
Next up is the family-friendly holiday production A Visit from St. Nicholas or The Night Before Christmas by Lowell Swortzel, which runs Dec. 8 to Dec. 27. It is set on Christmas Eve 1822 and Clement Clark Moore’s house in New York City is not as quiet as a mouse. Having written a poem for his children as they await St. Nick’s arrival, but not wanting to be known as a poet for children, Moore burns the poem so it can never leave the house… or can it? Cousin Harriet enlists the children’s memory in hopes of rewriting the poem and publishing it for all young people to enjoy.
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The third play of the season is the drama The Children by Lucy Kirkwood. The production will be on stage from March 2 to March 19, 2023. The play is a recipient of two 2017 Tony Award nominations. After the meltdown of a nuclear power plant on the English coast, a aging husband and wife, both nuclear engineers, struggle with the question of personal accountability in conflict with immediate family obligations.
The final main stage production of the season is Mary’s Wedding by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte, which runs April 27 to May 14, 2023. It is a romantic historical dream play set in 1914 and tells the story of Mary and Charlie, two young lovers in rural Alberta — from the Canadian Prairies to the battlefields of France.
Season tickets are on sale now by phone (250-752-3522). Individual production tickets will be on sale starting in September. Visit www.echoplayers.ca for more information or call 250 752-3522. For those who purchase season ticket packages before Aug. 15, there is a chance to win a night at the Chateau Victoria.
ECHO Players is a not-for-profit community theatre group which has been presenting live community theatre on the Village Theatre stage for almost 50 years.
— NEWS Staff, submitted