Hudson Village Theatre’s 15th summer season opener delivers showbiz Kismet

This is summer entertainment as it should be – a professional performance with Kismet. Or, four veteran stage and screen actors confidently coaxing lots of grins, giggles and, at times, belly laughs out of a relaxed and appreciative audience with a plot and quick one-liners everyone can easily relate to.

Convincingly carried off by Hudson stage favourites Karen Cromar, Melanie Doerr, Andrew Johnston and Vlasta Vrana, the play, a story about two sets of middle-aged single best friends who go “looking” for romance, love and compatibility in the personal ads, is guest directed by Gordon McCall, outgoing artistic and executive director of Montreal’s Centaur Theatre.

“I’m very happy with the cast and very pleased with the audience response,” said McCall. “The limited stage space presented quite a challenge for us, but we managed to modify the script to suit the circumstances.”

The comedy effortlessly strikes a chord in the hearts of so many of us baby-boomers who survived the dating frenzy of the 80s, with nary a cell phone in hand, by recapturing the mood with the music of such well-known artists as Gordon Lightfoot and Van Morrison.

A most deserving nod goes to set and costume designer Anouk Looten for artfully creating a radio DJ studio with an everyday window blind.

Echoing the nature of its permanent venue, the former Hudson village train station, HVT recently introduced a new four-ticket package, the Flex Pass. Similar to a subscription, but with much more choice, the pass includes seats for the summer season, is valid until May 2008 and earns you a 10 per cent discount.

Looking is booked to run until Sunday, July 8 at 28 Wharf Road in Hudson. Evening performances are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $29 and $26 with Flex Passes starting at $93. Call the box office at 450-458-5361 or purchase online at www.villagetheatre.ca.