Village Theatre opens 15th season

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

Hudson’s Village Theatre opened its 15th summer season with a bang last night with the gala opening of Looking,

a comedy by Norm Foster, arguably Village Theatre’s favourite playwright.

Bonus: it’s directed by Gordon McCall, who, after 10 years at the helm of the Centaur Theatre, knows a thing or two about English theatre.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Village Theatre publicity co-ordinator Carolyn Flower. “It’s summer fare. That’s where we started, all those years ago (1993, to be precise), in the summer under a tent. Between Neil Simon and Norm Foster, and... Wingfield’s Folly, it’s really an award-

winning line-up.”

Especially when the real ‘awards’ are belly laughs.

“We produce more Norm Foster plays than any other theatre in Canada, and he’s got a pretty good track record of delivering great comedies,” she added. “Our audience gets a kick out of him.”

Looking will run until July 8. Other shows on the summer schedule for Village Theatre include Neil Simon’s Chapter Two — the story of a windowed author’s attempts to move on in life and love after his wife’s death — which will run from July 12 to 29, 4 Strong Winds, by Michael Booth Palmer and Harry Parsons, runs Aug. 2 to 19, and a limited engagement of Wingfield’s Folly, from Aug. 23 to 26. ‘Folly’ was written by Dan Needles and will be helmed by Douglas Beattie. Tickets for all shows can be purchased by calling the theatre box office or online at the theatre’s website.

In addition to the theatre fare, Village Theatre is quickly becoming the destination of choice for bluegrass music aficionados.

“There’s a tremendous hardcore bluegrass following out there and we’re kind of becoming the place to see it,” Flower said. Bluegrass artists Michael Jerome Browne and the Twin Rivers String Band will play July 23 at 8 p.m.

The non-profit professional theatre — the only one of its kind in the area — faces an ongoing challenge in terms of raising funds and awareness of the theatre, nestled onto Hudson’s scenic Wharf Road in the old train station there.

“Ticket sales only represent about 50 per cent of our costs. We cover the rest will fundraising and corporate sponsorships. We try to make sure we’re doing all the right things, making people aware of what we’re all about, and we just keep plugging in material that we think people will want to see,” she said.

Hudson Village Theatre is located at 28 Wharf Rd. in Hudson. Tickets are available by calling 450-458-5361 or online at www.villagetheatre.ca.