QUALICUM BEACH — ECHO Players in Qualicum Beach this week announced a whole new season of theatrical excitement, with an array of comedies, a murder mystery, a drama and a family Christmas production on tap.
The season opens in October with Laura by Vera Caspary and George Sklar.
Directed by the experienced ECHO member Werner Koch, this is a play set in the 1940s. It involves the unraveling of the baffling murder of our heroine Laura and is a fine example of the American Detective genre.
In December, ECHO offers Blitzen by Julian Wiles, a warm, moving story about a family who re-discover the magic of Christmas following a hurricane which leaves their home in a shambles.
Directed by Eileen Butts, a long-serving member of ECHO Players who recently directed Anne of Green Gables for B2B, it will be an ideal Christmas entertainment for the whole family.
The first of this season’s comedies appears in February, 2012 with You can’t get there from here by Pat Cook and directed by Wendy Punter.
Wendy directed the popular Over the River and Through the Woods last season.
Strange happenings at a bed and breakfast draw the attention of a reporter with hilarious consequences.
Dancing at Lughnasa, by Tony award-winning playwright Brian Friel, will run in April, 2012, directed by Sue Murguly.
Set in Donegal, Ireland during the 1930s and filled with drama and laughter, it involves theatregoers in the lives of the five Mundy sisters and their older brother, a retired priest.
It was made into a successful movie, starring Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon.
This production will be ECHO Players’ entry in Theatre BC’s North Island Zone Festival.
The season ends in May and June with the hilarious comedy Office Hours by Norm Foster, one of Canada’s best-known playwrights.
Directed by Gerri Hemphill, it features the mores and morals of the modern office, some humorous, others savage and bizarre, all delivered in Foster’s sharply funny and witty dialogue.
In addition, the Annual Vancouver Island One Act Play Festival will be held at the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach during the first week of November, 2011.
Details about these plays are available in the 2011/2012 season brochure at the Village Theatre.
They are also posted on ECHO Players’ website at www.echoplayers.ca).
To enquire about season tickets, phone the Box Office at 250-752-3522.
— Submitted by ECHO Players