Actors rehearse a scene from April Bright at Bronson Centre
Ghosts, mysteries, sorrow and secrets from Dublin are expected in Ottawa on Feb.12, the opening night of the play April Bright, performed by the award-winning Tara Players Theatre of Ottawa.
Despite a few challenges, the cast and crew feel confident.
The original director, Caryl McKay fell ill and was unable to return after Christmas. David Parry, president of the theatre group is the new director.
“It was a difficult transition, but David is a very experienced director,” says producer Margit Tauchner. She is certain he has “stepped up to the plate.”
It can be challenging to maintain the thrust of what the previous director did, while inserting a new point of view, Parry says.
“I usually know the play significantly better than any actor on stage, and this was not quite so true this time.”
Cast member Kevin Reilly has been acting in Ottawa for nearly 20 years.
He didn’t find the director switch problematic. Reilly believes the biggest challenge is the play itself, because there are two plays going on at the same time.
April Bright features scenes from two different time periods; the 1990s and 1940s. A young couple moves into a new house in Dublin that is haunted by its previous owners. While neither family realizes the other is there, their stories unfold simultaneously onstage.
“It’s much harder to pick up on the cues,” says Reilly, “because your cue might be coming from a line from the other situation that’s going on onstage rather than your own situation.”
Parry also sees challenges arising from the double storyline. In plays with flashbacks to different time periods, it is difficult to let the audience know quickly which period a certain character is from.
It is even more of a challenge with April Bright, because the two generations are onstage at the same time and cannot be isolated.
“We have to try to find other ways in which we can tag those people as one particular generation or another,” he says. “You have to set this convention up fairly quickly so people are not completely confused by the whole thing.”
The Tara Players Theatre of Ottawa has been performing Irish plays more than 30 years. April Bright was written by Dermot Bolger, a young Irish playwright.
But Parry says the play appeals to an Ottawa audience because it is modern and could be set anywhere.
While their mandate is to foster Irish culture, he says, they “don’t overemphasize the Irishness.”
They appeal to people who just like good theatre, says Tauchner.
April Bright is entered in the Eastern Ontario Drama League’s Spring Play Festival. The Tara Players have picked up a number of awards at previous EODL festivals.
Last October, Parry was awarded best director for his work in Losers.
The play also received the people’s choice award, while cast member Dale Maceachern won an award for outstanding male actor.
Judges from EODL will adjudicate April Bright on closing night.
It runs from Feb. 12-21 at the Arts Court Theatre.